The exam board OCR has paused its planned changes to a geography GCSE paper amid 鈥渦nanswered questions鈥 about the future of qualifications during the government鈥檚 curriculum review. A new GCSE geography paper B specification – numbered J386 – But in an update to schools today, the exam board told leaders to 鈥渃ontinue to teach our current GCSE geography B specification (J384) for the remainder of this academic year and from September 2025鈥. OCR said it was 鈥渁lways mindful of your workload and want to make sure you have everything you need to prepare for the delivery of any new qualification鈥. It said its decision was the result of 鈥渇eedback and two other key factors鈥 鈥 one of which was the government鈥檚 curriculum and assessment review, which will not issue its final report until the autumn. 鈥淲ith many unanswered questions about the future of GCSEs, we believe it鈥檚 wise to wait for the Department for Education鈥檚 review outcomes later this year before making significant changes.鈥 Improvements to current paper planned The other factor was the 鈥渄evelopment process and timelines鈥. 鈥淲e aim to develop the best possible qualifications for you and your students, and provide you with clarity and sufficient planning time for any changes we may make. 鈥淲e鈥檙e currently unsure how much longer the development process will take and, as the summer term approaches, want to offer you more certainty for next year.鈥 OCR added that it had received 鈥渓ots of feedback鈥 about the proposed new paper, for which it was 鈥渆xtremely grateful鈥. It wants to use the feedback to make 鈥渟ome smaller improvements to our current specification (J384)鈥. Options being explored include offering enhanced support with new and updated resources, 鈥渋mproved accessibility鈥 and 鈥渇actual content updates to the specification鈥. 鈥淲e鈥檒l notify you in advance of any changes we’ll be making. However, our aim will be to enhance the experience of our qualification for you and your students.鈥 The exam board also apologised 鈥渇or any inconvenience this news may cause. 鈥淧lease don鈥檛 hesitate to get in touch if you have any queries or concerns 鈥 we’d be happy to help.鈥
Joseph Trooper 26 February 2025 Jesus! Just have one exam board for each subject. It鈥檒l stop the trusts gaming the system; replacing more rigorous/relatively 鈥榟arder鈥 courses with 鈥榚asier鈥 ones to boost their results鈥ike my trust did.