Entry rules

When making your entries (and any resit entries), it’s essential you plan carefully, taking the entry and certification rules into consideration.

You will need to check unit and/or combinations are valid using the entry codes booklets and resit rules will not be broken.

To register candidates for Cambridge Technicals (2012), you need to make candidate entries. Candidates should be entered for either the full qualification or individual units. They should not be entered for both. There are no entry or resit rules.

To register candidates for Cambridge Technicals (2016), you first need to be approved for each qualification suite, eg IT or Media.

You then need to make qualification entries. These provide OCR with detailed data for each candidate, showing each qualification to be taken. This is also known as the ‘named entry route’. In addition, you will also need to make test unit entries for timetabled tests.

A qualification entry allows the candidate to have one attempt at each examined unit and access to all of the internally assessed units.

Candidates can have two further attempts at an examined unit at Level 3 and one further attempt at Level 2. A test unit resit fee is charged for each additional attempt. Resubmissions of internally assessed units are free of charge.

Being absent from a tested unit is not classed as an attempt but you will need to make another test unit entry when entering again in a later series. There will be a charge for this unless candidates are withdrawn on medical grounds or following bereavement – we will refund these entry fees if they are withdrawn up to one week before the results publication date.

If a candidate fails two attempts at a mandatory tested unit (and all of the other rules of combination are met), they will receive an ‘unclassified’ result for the overall qualification as they now cannot achieve the full qualification under that qualification entry. A new qualification entry (re-entry) is required to attempt the test again.

A qualification re-entry is classed as a new, full qualification entry, ie access to all internal units which they can attempt as many times as they like.

One free attempt at the test included in the re-entry fee (a second unit test resit entry fee would apply). 

Where a qualification re-entry has been made, a candidate’s achievements from their original entry will be carried over towards achievement of the full qualification under the new entry (subject to the rules of combination).

Centres should not re-enter a candidate until any outstanding claims/tests has been awarded, as when a qualification re-entry has been made, it is no longer possible to access any units under the original entry.

A qualification re-entry can only be made for the qualification size currently entered for and is separate to the top up or move down process:

• If you are moving candidates down to a smaller qualification and it includes an examined unit that has already been failed twice, we recommend you move down first and then re-enter for the smaller qualification.
• If you are topping up to a larger qualification and it includes an examined unit that has already been failed twice, we recommend you re-enter for the smaller qualification first and then top-up.

After the unit test entries deadline, it is possible to make late entries for a charge (see the fees list). 

If you make very late entries (after the late entry deadline), there may not be time to send you question papers before the exam. In which case, you can use the spare copies we send you. Alternatively, if you have not made any entries for that unit previously, we will upload the question papers to Interchange and will contact you with the instructions on how to download these.