Cambridge Nationals: Changes to resit rules for externally examined units

Following the June 2018 series and as part of our annual review process, we wanted to make sure our Cambridge Nationals qualifications continue to be fit for purpose. We have decided to take the opportunity to make the ‘resit rule’ consistent across the Cambridge Nationals suite. 

This will also align the Cambridge Nationals with the wider educational environment. 

What is the resit rule? 

Currently, Cambridge Nationals in Child Development, Enterprise and Marketing and Information Technologies have one opportunity to resit the external exam. 

From November 2019, this rule will also apply to the following qualifications: 

• Creative iMedia Level 1/2 Award/Certificate - J807, J817 
• Principles in Engineering and Engineering Business Level 1/2 Award/Certificate - J830, J840 
• Engineering Design Level 1/2 Award/Certificate - J831, J841 
• Engineering Manufacture Level 1/2 Award/Certificate - J832, J842 
• Systems Control in Engineering Level 1/2 Award/Certificate - J833, J843 
• Health and Social Care Level 1/2 Award/Certificate - J801, J811 
• Sport Studies Level 1/2 Award/Certificate - J803, J813 
• Sport Science Level 1/2 Award/Certificate - J802, J812 

The resit rule for the legacy Cambridge Nationals in ICT is under review. 

These changes allow candidates to be entered for two attempts at the external exam before certificating (‘cashing in’) for the overall qualification. We will continue to automatically take the best result of all assessments when the qualifications are certificated for the first time. 

More information is available from the Cambridge Nationals entry rules page. 

Who will this apply to and from when? 

This change will apply to current Year 10 candidates going forward. Candidates who are in Year 11 may have already taken an examined unit, and if they want to improve their results, they may enter again for the January and/or June 2019 series. 

You should ensure you make certification entries for these Year 11 candidates in the June 2019 series so the best results can be used towards their qualification grade. 

This does not affect any existing rules around the submission of moderated evidence. 

Further support and guidance 

Take a look at our admin overview – this outlines the main processes and guides you to the relevant, detailed information on our website. 

The updated specifications for these qualifications are available on the qualification web pages. 

We run free webinars on how to administer Cambridge Nationals; go to the CPD Hub for more information. 

We are improving our guidance around synopticity in the centre-assessed units and will be providing an update about this soon.

If you have any queries about this update, please call our Customer Contact Centre on 02476 851509 or email vocational.qualifications@ocr.org.uk.