Entry Level
From September 2006 we are offering qualifications and learning materials to support the full range of pupils, including those with special needs.
About the Entry Level course
The Entry Level course is designed to meet the needs of students at KS4 for whom GCSE-level courses are not realistic or appropriate. It can also support the teaching of lower-attaining candidates in GCSE classes.
The Entry Level course consists of 39 short topics ('Items') with an emphasis on hands-on practical work. They are equally divided between biology, chemistry and physics. Each Item takes about five hours. It has a more flexible approach than GCSE courses because it does not have to conform to GCSE criteria. The emphasis is on positive achievement through the realisation of short-term goals,
The OCR Science Plus course has been very successful and the new course is based on this.
However 25 units in the new course have a distinctive C21 flavour, and are directly related to either GCSE Science modules or GCSE Additional Science (Applied) modules. You can see which units relate closely to C21 by looking at the codes in the right-hand column on the list given on pages 6 and 7 of the specification you can download from OCR Entry Level key documents. (A is C21, B is Gateway Science).
The course is supported by resources from OUP and a specification and assessment from OCR. See OCR OCR Entry Level Science.
Entry Level resources
The OUP resources consist of activities with corresponding teacher guidance, and a single full colour text book. The activities and textbook are clearly linked to Items in the specification.
This file is based on the introduction to the OUP teachers and technicians pack:
a general introduction Courses followed by students
The Entry Level items are linked to the 2006 GCSE Science course, and some students will take the Foundation Tier exam. Teachers using the Entry Level course with their students also tell us that some of them will subsequently move to the C21 GCSE Applied Science course.
Specification and assessment
The specification and assessment are produced by OCR and can lead into both the OCR GCSE science suites: Twenty First Century Science and Gateway Science.
These two files show the links between Entry level and two of the Twenty First Century GCSE course:
