OCR Admin Guide: Vocational Qualifications 2013/4

309 Pages·2014·4.54 MB·English

A d m i n G u i d e :
V o c a t i o n a l Q u a l i f i c a t i o n s
2 0 1 3 / 1 4
Overview
This document is structured in chronological order of activity. Each box in the flow chart below
corresponds to a section in this Guide.

Section 3
Centre Approval

Section 4
Entries

Section 5
Access Arrangements
and
Special Consideration

Section 6 Section 8 Section 10
Remote Assessment Visiting Moderation e-Test Assessment
Arrangements Arrangements Arrangements

Section 7 Section 9
Verified Assessment Examination
Arrangements Arrangements

Section 11
Results and
Certification

Section 12
Post-Results Services

© OCR 2013
© OCR 2013
Contents
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Purpose and scope of the Admin Guide 1
1.2 Qualification update 1
1.3 Forms of assessment 2
1.4 Obtaining further support and information 3
1.5 Contacting OCR 3
2 Key Dates 5
3 Centre Approval 7
3.1 What is centre approval? 7
3.2 Applying for centre approval 7
3.3 Credit checking 7
4 Entries 8
4.1 What are candidate entries? 8
4.2 Entry routes 8
4.3 Qualification entry summary 9
4.4 Qualification entry deadlines 9
4.5 Entry fees 10
4.6 Information required to make named entries 11
4.7 Information required to make unnamed entries 12
4.8 Making qualification entries 12
4.9 Viewing entries 14
4.10 Making test entries for Certificates in Management Consulting 15
4.11 Amending or withdrawing entries 15
5 Access Arrangements and Special Consideration 16
5.1 Access arrangements and reasonable adjustments 16
5.2 Special consideration 17
6 Remote Assessment Arrangements 18
6.1 Assessment 18
6.2 Certification claims 18
6.3 Making an online claim 18
6.4 Submitting candidate work following an online claim 21
6.5 Processing an online claim 22
6.6 Making a paper-based claim 22
6.7 Feedback reports 25
6.8 Centre malpractice guidance 25
7 Verified Assessment Arrangements 26
7.1 External verifier allocation and visits 26
7.2 Centre assessment 26
7.3 Evidence 27
7.4 Making claims 28
7.5 External verification 29
7.6 External verifier reports 29
7.7 Direct claim status (DCS) 29
7.8 Centre malpractice guidance 30
8 Visiting Moderation Arrangements 31
8.1 Visiting Moderator allocation and visits 31
8.2 Centre assessment 32
8.3 Making an online claim 32
OCR Admin Guide: Vocational Qualifications 2013/14
8.4 Sampling 33
8.5 Preparing for the moderation visit 33
8.6 The moderation visit 34
8.7 After the moderation visit 34
8.8 Centre malpractice guidance 34
9 Examination Arrangements 35
9.1 Timetabled and window-based test dates 35
9.2 Centre responsibilities 37
9.3 Assessment materials 37
9.4 Material security 38
9.5 Examination equipment 38
9.6 Identity of candidates 39
9.7 Invigilator arrangements 40
9.8 Printing arrangements 40
9.9 Centre malpractice guidance 40
9.10 Submitting tests for marking 41
10 e-Test Assessment Arrangements 43
10.1 About e-tests 43
10.2 Signing up for e-testing 44
10.3 Practice e-tests 44
10.4 Entering for e-tests 45
10.5 Scheduling e-tests 46
10.6 e-Test fees 47
10.7 Preparing candidates for e-tests 47
10.8 Conducting e-tests 48
10.9 Security 49
10.10 Claiming units from other awarding bodies 49
11 Results and Certification 50
11.1 When will results and/or certificates be issued? 50
11.2 What will centres receive? 51
11.3 Certificates 51
11.4 Replacement certificates 52
12 Post-Results Services 53
12.1 Missing or incomplete results 53
12.2 Enquiries about results 53
12.3 Access to scripts 55
13 Entry Codes 57
13.1 Advice and Guidance 58
13.2 Bookkeeping and Accounting 65
13.3 Business and Administration 66
13.4 Business Enterprise and Support 92
13.5 Contact Centres 96
13.6 Customer Service 105
13.7 Health and Safety 109
13.8 Health and Social Care 110
13.9 ICT 183
13.10 Languages 213
13.11 Learning and Development 237
13.12 Life and Living Skills 240
13.13 Logistics 251
13.14 Management 259
13.15 Police 265
13.16 Product Design and Development 267
OCR Admin Guide: Vocational Qualifications 2013/14
13.17 Retail 268
13.18 Science and Maths 276
13.19 Skills for Life 277
13.20 Sport and Recreation 278
13.21 Teacher/Trainer 287
14 Reference 300
14.1 Glossary 300
14.2 Documents referred to in the text 301
14.3 Useful websites 301
OCR Admin Guide: Vocational Qualifications 2013/14

1 Introduction
1.1 Purpose and scope of the Admin Guide
The purpose of this Admin Guide is to assist exams officers and teachers within registered OCR
centres with the administration of OCR vocational qualifications. This document should be read in
conjunction with JCQ guidance and the OCR centre handbooks for each qualification.
This Admin Guide is also available to download from the OCR website (www.ocr.org.uk). We will
notify centres of any amendments to the Admin Guide in a circular or notice to centres. The
following qualifications have their own administrative guides:
14–19 qualifications Cambridge Technicals
(including GCE AS/A Level, GCSE,
Cambridge Progression Qualifications
Cambridge Nationals, Principal
Learning and Project)
Essential Skills Wales
Apprenticeships
Functional Skills
Asset Languages
OCR Nationals
1.2 Qualification update
All qualifications within this Guide have an accreditation period assigned to them, which means
that they have a start date and an end date. Many current qualifications are expiring during
2013/14 and this is indicated within the Entry Codes section of this Guide. We also publish a
monthly notification of last entry/certification dates, which is available from the key dates page of
the OCR website.
Some new qualifications are being introduced during 2013/14 and, at the time of printing, details
may not yet be available. Up-to-date supplements to this Guide will be provided on the OCR
website.
We took the opportunity of the introduction of the QCF to improve and streamline our
administrative processes, e.g. making it more straightforward to claim qualifications online (see
Section 6.3). However, we still have some processes running alongside each other until the current
qualifications expire (and both processes are described within this Guide).
Apprenticeships
Currently, we offer the component qualifications for the following Apprenticeship Frameworks:
Advanced Fitness (Level 3) IT, Software, Web and Telecoms
Professionals (Level 2/3)
Business and Administration (Level 2/3/4)
IT Application Specialist (Level 2/3)
Children and Young People’s Workforce
(Level 2/3) Logistics Operations (Level 3)
Contact Centre Operations (Level 2/3) Management and Team Leading
(Level 2/3)
Creative and Digital Media (Level 3)
OCR Admin Guide: Vocational Qualifications 2013/14 1
Customer Service (Level 2/3) Professional Services (Level 4)
Driving Goods Vehicles (Level 2) Retail (Level 2/3)
Employment Related Services (Level 3) Supporting Teaching and Learning in
Schools (Level 2/3)
Health and Social Care (Level 2/3)
Warehousing and Storage (Level 2).
Instructing Exercise and Fitness (Level 2)
Apprenticeships are currently made up of the following components:
Competence – Was covered by an NVQ; now QCF competence equivalent.
Knowledge – Was the Technical Certificate; now QCF knowledge equivalent.
Transferable skills (Functional Skills/Essential Skills Wales) – Functional Skills is the
mandatory component of all Apprenticeship frameworks, except for Wales where centres are
required to use Essential Skills Wales as the mandatory component.
Employee Rights and Responsibilities (ERR) – This must now be formally assessed.
Personal, Learning and Thinking Skills (PLTS) – In England, PLTS have been introduced
to the framework and must be formally assessed.
For further information on OCR’s Apprenticeships, please see the OCR website at
www.ocr.org.uk/apprenticeships, where you can also download our Admin Guide: Apprenticeships.
For more information on Apprenticeship Frameworks, please see the National Apprenticeship
Service website at www.apprenticeships.org.uk.
1.3 Forms of assessment
Qualifications are referred to as being unitised, which means that the assessment has been split
into separately assessed units, often taken at different stages of the learning.
Some qualifications consist of a mixture of assessment. The form of assessment for each unit is
provided in the Entry Codes section of this Guide. Assessments have been split into the following
groups as they have similar arrangements:
Remote assessments – These are usually on-demand, portfolio-based qualifications, which
can take place any time at a centre’s request. The candidate work is then sent to be
moderated or examined remotely by an OCR examiner-moderator.
Verified assessments – These are centre-assessed qualifications which are externally
verified by an OCR external verifier during a centre visit.
Paper-based examinations – These are exams or tests which take place on timetabled
OCR-set dates, on dates scheduled by the centre within an OCR-set testing window or
on demand within the centre.
e-Tests – These are computer-based exams or tests which take place on demand or on
dates scheduled by the centre within an OCR-set testing window.
Please note that OCR assessors are not available to conduct any assessment from
18 to 31 August 2014.
OCR Admin Guide: Vocational Qualifications 2013/14 2
1.4 Obtaining further support and information
A glossary of common terms has been provided at the end of this Guide, together with a list of
where to obtain copies of documents referred to within the Guide.
OCR website
The best way to obtain up-to-date information is via the OCR website at www.ocr.org.uk. The
website includes essential support materials such as centre handbooks, model assignments,
sample and past question papers, together with details about entries, results and fees. New
administrative and qualification information is added regularly.
Interchange
Interchange (https://interchange.ocr.org.uk) is a free, secure website that has been developed to
help exams officers and teachers carry out day-to-day administrative functions online quickly and
efficiently. The site allows you to check your approval status, make and view entries and claims,
view achievements and access external verifier and feedback reports. As Interchange is updated
daily, it is always the place to view the most accurate information. In order to use Interchange for
the first time, you just need to register your centre by returning the Interchange Agreement. This,
together with a quick start guide, can be downloaded from the OCR website at
www.ocr.org.uk/interchange.
OCR support and training
OCR’s Customer Admin Support Team (CAST) offers free training specifically for groups of exams
officers, as well as attending network meetings. To find out more about the training we can offer to
give you more confidence in administering OCR qualifications, or to invite us to your network
meetings, please see www.ocr.org.uk/examsofficers or email the team at [email protected].
We also offer professional development for teachers. You can find out what professional
development is available for each qualification by accessing the OCR website at
www.ocr.org.uk/professionaldevelopment. Our professional development includes online training, a
series of premier events and face-to-face training for coursework and controlled assessment units.
If you would like more information, please contact us at [email protected].
Community
Our social network site enables teachers to share best practice, offer guidance and upload and
access a range of support materials such as lesson plans, presentations, videos and links to other
helpful sites. Visit www.social.ocr.org.uk to find out more.
1.5 Contacting OCR
For general enquiries, please contact the OCR Customer Contact Centre:
Telephone: [phone] (08:00–17:30 Monday to Friday)
Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
(Please include centre name and number in the email.)
Post: OCR, Westwood Way, Coventry, CV4 8JQ
OCR Admin Guide: Vocational Qualifications 2013/14 3