AS and A Level Science

Additional answer space

From the June 2019 series, students will have a fixed number of answer lines and additional answer space to write their answers for AS and A Levels in Biology (A and B), Geology or Physics (A and B).

This change will affect questions which assess the quality of extended responses, and follows a review of previous exam series where we noticed students were writing answers which didn't fit in the space provided.

Additional answer space will be clearly labelled as 'additional', and students should only use this space if it is required. We would encourage teachers to keep reminding students about the importance of writing concise answers to questions.

We have updated the sample assessment materials to reflect this change and they are now available from the relevant qualifications pages which are listed below. To access them, go to Assessment > Sample assessment materials.

We have previously made similar changes to our AS and A Level Chemistry exams.

If you have any queries about this update, please call our Customer Support Centre on 01223 553998 or email science@ocr.org.uk.

Qualifications

• Biology A - H020, H420 (from 2015)
• Biology B (Advancing Biology) - H022, H422 (from 2015)
• Geology - H014, H414 (from 2017)
• Physics A - H156, H556 (from 2015)
• Physics B (Advancing Physics) - H157, H557 (from 2015)