The new Cambridge Nationals specification was accredited today :

http://www.ocr.org.uk/news/2012/item_014.aspx

We are in the process of developing resources for the new specification – check back soon.

The has been a major upheaval of ICT at KS3 & 4 in England with a much greater emphasis being placed on computing. So where does this leave us with our new qualification ?

Well it looks like the new Cambridge Nationals is well suited to computing. The relevant units are :

• Unit R008: Introduction to computer programming 29
• Unit R009: Exploring computer hardware and networks 31
• Unit R010: Developing control systems

Many teachers may be concerned with the new skills they will need to develop but there are a wealth of resources out there usch as Code Academy, Scratch and Kodu which will send them well on their way.

With Mr Gove throwing his weight around and hammering vocational qualifications it is quite a relief that year 9 pupils who have already started the OCR Nationals course will count in the 2014 performance tables :

http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/doc/k/key%20stage%204%20performance%20tables.docx

http://www.ocr.org.uk/news/2012/item_008.aspx

It remains to be seem what will happen with the new Cambridge suite of qualifications and performance tables but because the course is based on the recommendations of the Wolf Report the chances are looking good.

We intend to start putting together a range of resources for Cambridge Nationals ICT and making them available on this site. We should hopefully have some draft Nationals ICT resources available by Summer 2012 but are awaiting formal accreditation of the Cambridge Nationals ICT course before we dive in and get going building the final resources.

OCR have just launched their new Cambridge Nationals ICT qualification at the BETT show and there are quite a few changes worth noting compared with the old course.

Firstly the shelf life of the 2010 OCR Nationals ICT suite was dissapointing – with notification that the last entry date was 31 August 2012. In effect this means that the qualification was only available for 2 year groups – which was a shame because it was actually a vwery good course. Anyone would think that the new Cambridge Nationals ICT course is a result of political pressure