OCR is withdrawing AS Chemistry B (Salters) after June 2027 — the full A-level and Chemistry A are not on that list.
Book a Free ConsultationOCR runs two entirely separate A-Level Chemistry specifications in parallel: Chemistry A (H032 at AS, H432 at the full A-level) and Chemistry B, Salters (H033 at AS, H433 at the full A-level). OCR is withdrawing AS Level Chemistry B (Salters) after the 2026/2027 academic year — final first teach September 2026, final assessment June 2027, no resit after that series. A-level H433 and both levels of Chemistry A are absent from that same withdrawal notice.
Our expert OCR A-Level Chemistry tutors help Year 12 students on both Chemistry A and Chemistry B (Salters) build strong AS-year foundations, whichever specification their sixth form has chosen. See how our approach works on the Chemistry tutoring page.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppSearch results for this exact term split three ways, and none of them states the withdrawal at all. An independent coach’s marketing page presents a single generic autumn-spring-summer topic roadmap as if it were the only OCR chemistry route, with no mention of Chemistry B, Salters, or of any specification being withdrawn. Two Scribd listings are ad-gated with no readable content behind them. A Facebook post from a parent asking for a Year 12 OCR chemistry tutor could not be read past its login wall. This page sets out what OCR’s own specification and withdrawal documents actually say, sourced directly and checked on 7 September 2026.
A Year 12 student sits one of two structurally different OCR chemistry routes for both years of the course. The choice between them is made by the school before the course starts, not something a student switches into mid-way. Chemistry A (H032 at AS, H432 at the full A-level) organises its content into numbered modules: the AS course covers Modules 1 to 4 of a six-module specification, examined in two 70-mark papers. Chemistry B, Salters (H033 at AS, H433 at the full A-level) instead teaches the same underlying chemistry through 10 context-led “storylines” — real-world scenarios such as fuels, medicines and the ozone layer. At AS, 5 of the 10 storylines are examined.
If a child’s exercise books or past papers carry module numbers — Module 1, Module 2 and so on — they are on Chemistry A. If they carry storyline titles instead — Elements of life, Developing fuels and similar — they are on Chemistry B, Salters. That distinction decides the rest of this page, because only one of the two AS qualifications is being withdrawn.
That choice is effectively fixed for both years once teaching starts. A department resources and timetables its staff against one specification per year group, not both, so a family cannot move a child from Chemistry A onto Chemistry B, Salters, or back, partway through Year 12 without changing school or repeating content already taught.
OCR confirmed it will withdraw AS Level Chemistry B (Salters) — qualification number 601/5446/9 — after the 2026/2027 academic year. The final first-teach date is September 2026, so the Year 12 cohort starting the AS in that month is the last OCR will allow a school to enter onto it, and the final assessment opportunity is June 2027, with no resit series after that.
OCR’s stated reason is national, not specific to Salters chemistry: “The demand for AS Levels nationally has declined significantly over the past decade, after the qualifications were decoupled from A Levels and no longer mandatory as part of an A Level.” AS Chemistry B (Salters) sits inside a wider set of AS qualifications OCR withdrew for that same reason, rather than a decision made about Salters chemistry on its own.
If your child’s sixth form is moving a Salters cohort straight onto the two-year A-level, our OCR A-Level Chemistry tutors can help bridge that change without a stand-alone AS exam along the way.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppA school that has already entered a Year 12 cohort for AS Chemistry B (Salters) beginning September 2026 can see that cohort through to the June 2027 series. What it cannot do is enter a fresh Year 12 cohort onto the AS from September 2027 onward — those students move directly onto the two-year A-level (H433) with no stand-alone AS award along the way.
No — and the distinction is worth being precise about, because a parent who has read that “OCR is dropping Salters chemistry” could otherwise assume the whole route is ending. It is not. Checked directly against OCR’s own qualification-withdrawals page on 7 September 2026, H433, the full A-level in Chemistry B (Salters), does not appear anywhere in either of its withdrawal tables. Neither does H032 or H432, the AS and full A-level versions of Chemistry A.
That is a negative finding, not a prediction. H433 not appearing in a specific published notice, checked on a specific date, is different from a guarantee that it will run forever — OCR could add it to a future notice. What can be said with confidence is only what that notice, read on 7 September 2026, actually names: one qualification, the AS-only award in Chemistry B, Salters.
For a family checking which specification applies, the fastest way to confirm is the four-character code on a mock exam paper, the school’s own scheme of work, or a subject option form: H033 or H433 means Chemistry B, Salters; H032 or H432 means Chemistry A. The code does not change once teaching for a cohort has started.
| Qualification | Level | Code | In OCR’s withdrawal notice, checked 7 Sep 2026? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chemistry B, Salters | AS | H033 | Yes — final assessment June 2027, no resit |
| Chemistry B, Salters | A-level | H433 | Not listed |
| Chemistry A | AS | H032 | Not listed |
| Chemistry A | A-level | H432 | Not listed |
Source: OCR qualification withdrawals notice, checked 7 September 2026.
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For a Year 12 student starting the AS in September 2026, the course itself has not changed — only its future. AS Level Chemistry B (Salters) examines 5 of the specification’s 10 storylines: Elements of life, Developing fuels, Elements from the sea, The ozone story, and What’s in a medicine? The remaining 5 storylines belong to the second year of the full A-level and are never examined at AS.
Assessment is two written papers — Foundations of chemistry and Chemistry in depth — each worth 70 marks and running 1 hour 30 minutes, weighted 50% apiece. Both include synoptic assessment, meaning either paper can draw on content from across the storylines rather than only the ones it is nominally about.
One component the AS course does not carry at all is the practical endorsement. That is reported as a pass/fail outcome alongside the grade, but only for students completing the full A-level, as component 04; a student stopping at AS after the June 2027 series receives no practical endorsement judgement, because OCR places that component entirely in the second year.
For contrast — and to show this is a Salters-specific event, not a Year 12 chemistry-wide one — AS Level Chemistry A (H032) examines Modules 1 to 4 of the specification’s six-module content: Development of practical skills in chemistry, Foundations in chemistry, Periodic table and energy, and Core organic chemistry. It is assessed in two papers of the same shape as Chemistry B’s — Breadth in chemistry and Depth in chemistry, 70 marks each, 1 hour 30 minutes, weighted 50/50 — though each paper draws on all four modules rather than being tied to specific storylines.
AS Chemistry A carries no withdrawal notice in the same document, checked on the same date, 7 September 2026. OCR gives Chemistry A no end date, at either AS or full A-level. A Year 12 student on H032 is on the specification exactly as OCR intends it to continue. Students moving up from GCSE can see how OCR’s GCSE-to-A-level chemistry routes build on each other on our GCSE Chemistry page.
| AS paper | Specification | Marks | Length | Weighting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foundations of chemistry | Chemistry B, Salters (H033) | 70 | 1 hour 30 minutes | 50% |
| Chemistry in depth | Chemistry B, Salters (H033) | 70 | 1 hour 30 minutes | 50% |
| Breadth in chemistry | Chemistry A (H032) | 70 | 1 hour 30 minutes | 50% |
| Depth in chemistry | Chemistry A (H032) | 70 | 1 hour 30 minutes | 50% |
Source: OCR specification-at-a-glance pages for H032/H432 and H033/H433.
Set side by side, the two OCR chemistry routes now diverge in exactly one respect for Year 12: Chemistry B, Salters carries a real, dated AS deadline — final teach September 2026, final assessment June 2027, no resit after — while Chemistry A carries none. Everything else that makes A-level chemistry demanding — the storylines or modules, the paper structure, the two years of content — applies to both specifications equally, checked against OCR’s own documents on 7 September 2026.
Our OCR A-Level Chemistry tutors work storyline by storyline through Chemistry B (Salters), building exam technique for both the Foundations of chemistry and Chemistry in depth papers.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppYes. OCR's own words: “We will withdraw the AS Level Chemistry B (Salters) (H033) qualification after the next academic year. The final first teach date will be September 2026. The final assessment opportunity will be June 2027.” There is no resit opportunity after that June 2027 series. The qualification's number on OCR's withdrawal table is 601/5446/9. A school entering a Year 12 cohort onto H033 from September 2026 can still see that cohort through to the final June 2027 series, but cannot enter a fresh cohort onto the AS the following year.
OCR's withdrawal notice, checked directly on 7 September 2026, names only the AS-only qualification, H033. H433, the full two-year A-level in Chemistry B (Salters), does not appear anywhere in either of that notice's withdrawal tables. That is what the notice states on that date — it is not a promise that H433 will run indefinitely, only an accurate report of what OCR has and has not published.
No. Checked against the same OCR withdrawal notice on 7 September 2026, neither H032 (AS Chemistry A) nor H432 (full A-level Chemistry A) appears in it. OCR gives Chemistry A no withdrawal date at either level. The event is specific to the Salters qualification, not a Year 12 chemistry-wide change. The two OCR chemistry specifications are examined completely differently — Chemistry A through six numbered modules rather than storylines — so a family should check which one applies before assuming the withdrawal is relevant to them.
5 of the specification's 10 storylines: Elements of life, Developing fuels, Elements from the sea, The ozone story, and What's in a medicine? The other 5 storylines belong to the second year of the full A-level and are never assessed at AS. Both AS papers, Foundations of chemistry and Chemistry in depth, are worth 70 marks each, weighted 50% apiece, and include synoptic assessment across the 5 storylines.
No. The practical endorsement is component 04 of the full A-level (H433) only, reported as a separate pass/fail outcome alongside the grade rather than contributing marks to it. A student who stops at AS after the June 2027 series receives no practical endorsement judgement, because OCR's specification places that component entirely in the second year of the course. This differs from the two written AS papers, Foundations of chemistry and Chemistry in depth, which are both externally marked and do contribute directly to the AS grade.
AS Chemistry A (H032) examines Modules 1 to 4 of the specification's six-module content — Development of practical skills in chemistry, Foundations in chemistry, Periodic table and energy, and Core organic chemistry — in two 70-mark papers, Breadth in chemistry and Depth in chemistry, each 1 hour 30 minutes and weighted 50/50. It carries no withdrawal notice and no end date from OCR.
OCR's stated reason is national, not specific to Salters chemistry: “The demand for AS Levels nationally has declined significantly over the past decade, after the qualifications were decoupled from A Levels and no longer mandatory as part of an A Level.” AS Chemistry B (Salters) is one of a wider set of AS qualifications OCR withdrew for that reason in the same 2026 notice, not a decision made about this specification on its own.
Check the four-character code on a mock exam paper, the school's own scheme of work, or a subject option form. H033 (AS) or H433 (A-level) means Chemistry B, Salters; H032 (AS) or H432 (A-level) means Chemistry A. The two specifications are examined completely differently — Chemistry B, Salters through 10 storylines rather than numbered modules — so the code is the only reliable way to be certain, and it does not change once teaching for a cohort has started.
Our specialist tutors work with Year 12 and Year 13 students on both OCR chemistry specifications, Chemistry A and Chemistry B (Salters), building each programme around a student's own exam board, route and target grade. Leading Tuition is rated 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 58 reviews, and 91% of our students go on to achieve their desired grades. Read more on the A-Level Chemistry page or explore A-Level tutoring across every subject.
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