The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) has fined Cambridge OCR £270,000 for serious errors in its physics A- and AS-level exam papers administered in summer 2025.

Cambridge OCR, a department of Cambridge University Press and Assessment, apologised on 16 April for the mistakes.

Between April and October 2025, 12 errors were found in Cambridge OCR’s AS and A-level physics assessment materials, affecting more than 14,000 students.

Some of these errors were identified before exams took place, allowing Cambridge OCR to issue corrections to schools in advance, while others were only identified afterwards.

In some cases, Cambridge OCR acted before results were released, including by awarding full marks to all candidates for the affected questions. However, two errors were only identified after results day.

The correction of these results led to 37 students receiving a one grade increase. Of the incorrect grades, 33 were issued to AS-level students because of an exam paper error, while four occurred because of an A-level mark scheme error.

Ofqual said that Cambridge OCR also “failed to have in place clear arrangements for Special Consideration – by which schools could request adjustments to marks because of errors”.

This failure led to three results being issued which were higher than they should have been – OCR has decided these will remain unchanged so as not to disadvantage the students involved.

Ofqual said it considered mitigating factors when deciding on the £270,000 fine, including Cambridge OCR’s acceptance of the breaches, and the steps it took to minimise the impact on students.

Cambridge OCR has announced an action plan to prevent similar errors from occurring again, including strong technical checking across AS- and A-level physics papers. Ofqual has made clear it will take further action should the plan not be implemented.

Ofqual’s Executive Director for Delivery, Amanda Swann, said: “Students deserve quality exam assessment materials. After years of hard study, these unacceptable failures caused anxiety for students during their exam season. Some were issued incorrect grades.

“We will always act to protect students’ interests and maintain public confidence in our qualifications system.”

Managing director of Cambridge OCR, Myles McGinley, said: “We accept this judgment and we are very sorry to the students and teachers who were affected by these mistakes. We did not meet the high standards that students and teachers deserve, and that we set for ourselves.

“When these issues came to light, we acted to support students and minimise any impact. We undertook a detailed root cause analysis, using the findings to improve our processes.”

McGinley added: “We are determined to learn from this and to improve, and we are continually refining our processes. We’re grateful to all the physics teachers, students, subject experts, and Ofqual, for their scrutiny, feedback and insights that have helped improve our approach.”