OCR National Certificate in ICT (Level 3 Vocational Award)
This new course begins for the first time this September and has been written to provide learners with a work-related level 3 qualification in ICT.
What will I learn?
This course has been written to provide learners with a work-related level 3 qualification in ICT. All the units in this course involve practical activities on the computer where you will use generic software tools to solve real-life problems. This makes the course accessible to all ability ranges and makes the learning interesting, fun and achievable.
At this stage there are only outline details of the course published, but for the Certificate you will need to complete 6 units of work of which the first 4 units are mandatory. These mandatory units are:
- Digital Business Communication
- Collaborative Working
- Problem Solving
- Creating a Digital Showcase
The optional 2 units will be chosen from a complete list of 25 units.
This vocational certificate is equivalent in standing to a traditional A level course and carries the same UCAS points towards University application.
What are the entry requirements?
5 A* - C in any subjects at GCSE. You will have covered some ICT in years 10 and 11 but you do not need to have studied ICT at GCSE level to do this course. It is expected, however, that you will have previously shown ability in using ICT software and hardware tools together with a genuine interest in extending your ICT capability by using common generic software tools.
How will I be assessed?
There are no examinations to sit! There are no stressful revision nights with you trying to cram as much information into your head as possible! You will not have to sit in a silent examination room trying hard to remember everything you have been taught!
For each unit you will produce an electronic portfolio of your work and each of these portfolios are assessed by your teacher in school and then moderated by the Examination Board.
The Certificate carries 3 possible awards – a Distinction (equivalent to an A grade at A level), a Merit (equivalent to a C grade at A level) or a Pass (equivalent to an E grade at A level).
Future opportunities
Since this course carries UCAS points it is an excellent course for students wishing to prepare themselves for Further and Higher Education. The practical knowledge, skills and understanding you learn in this course are especially relevant for employment where employers can immediately benefit from this industry-relevant, vocationally geared and stimulating course.
Is there anything I need to know?
This course combines well with any other course of study and provides an interesting and highly motivational way to achieve great levels of success without the pain of timetabled examinations. In particular, this course is well suited to those students who have enjoyed completing a level 2 vocational ICT course and wish to take their ICT capability to a higher level.