OCR (examination board)

Infobox Organization
name = OCR

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formation = 1998
purpose = Examination board
headquarters = Cambridge, UK
region_served = England, Wales and Northern Ireland
parent_organization = Cambridge Assessment
website = [http://www.ocr.org.uk/ www.ocr.org.uk]

OCR (Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations [ [http://www.ocr.org.uk/aboutus/ OCR > About OCR ] ] ) is an examination board that sets examinations and awards qualifications (including GCSEs and A-levels). It is one of England, Wales and Northern Ireland's five main examination boards: the others are AQA, Edexcel, the Welsh Joint Education Committee, and the CCEA.

OCR is based in Cambridge, with offices in Birmingham and Coventry. It is part of the University of Cambridge's Cambridge Assessment, which operates in over 150 countries and celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2008.

OCR also operates the [http://www.mill-wharf-training.co.uk/ Mill Wharf Training] centre in Birmingham, which provides educational training courses. However, OCR announced in 2006 that all but one of its offices in Birmingham would close later in the year and their work transfer to the [http://www.ocr.org.uk/contactus/ OCR offices in Coventry or Cambridge] .

History of OCR

The name OCR reflects the fact that, in December 1997, it was created through the amalgamation of the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES) and the Royal Society of Arts Examinations Board (RSAEB). At the time of the merger, UCLES's qualifications were offered by two wholly-owned subsidiaries: the Oxford and Cambridge Examinations and Assessments Council (OCEAC) for A Level and the Midland Examining Group (MEG) for GCSE and Certificate of Achievement. RSAEB offered vocational qualifications. After the merger, the OCR name replaced all previous names.

UCLES had previously taken over the University of Oxford Delegacy of Local Examinations (founded 1857) and the Oxford and Cambridge Schools Examinations Board (founded 1873). The Oxford Delegacy of Local Examinations (UODLE) and the Oxford and Cambridge Schools Examinations Board (OCSEB) were acquired by UCLES in 1995. The acquisition of RSAEB was completed in 1998 and brought a new range of qualifications and activities to the UCLES Group because RSEAB's principal activity was in vocational qualifications.

The formation of OCR represented the culmination of more than a decade of corporate activity on the part of UCLES, activity that came about as a response to the policies of successive British governments towards public examinations and the provision of qualifications as well as moves to strengthen the regulatory framework.

This process has not been without problems however and OCR came under fire in 2008 when it emerged its GCSE Music paper had the answers to one question printed on the back in the copyright section by accident.

All the UK schools examinations and vocational qualifiations of the UCLES Group were transferred to OCR on 1 October 1998. Subsequent physics syllabuses released by the OCR included the now infamous (fictional) units the "Ocrawatt" and "Ocrajoule" due to overzealous find-and-replace on MEG's part [ [http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg16221838.600-feedback.html New Scientist] ] (in previous and later syllabuses, the units were correctly written as "Megawatt" and "Megajoule".)

Cambridge Assessment is a non-teaching department of the University of Cambridge. Once, every UK exam board was linked to or was part of a British university. OCR is the only one left - by contrast, Edexcel is a commercial, profit-making company owned by Pearsons, the publishers.

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.ocr.org.uk/ OCR website]
* [http://www.gcsechanges.com/ GCSE website]
* [http://www.ocrnationals.com/ OCR Nationals website]
* [http://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/ Cambridge Assessment website]
* [http://www.mill-wharf-training.co.uk/ Mill Wharf Training]