UK
How you’d get it

How you’d get this certificate

  1. Zavmo teaches you. You learn the units one-to-one with an AI tutor, on your own work.
  2. You register with an approved centre. That is a college, training provider or employer Cambridge OCR has approved to offer this qualification. Zavmo is not an approved centre, so you register with them, not with us.
  3. The centre assesses, and Cambridge OCR awards. A qualified assessor at the centre judges your evidence, and the certificate comes from Cambridge OCR.

More on studying for a qualification

01What it is

Cambridge OCR Level 3 Alternative Academic Qualifications Cambridge Advanced Nationals in Applied Science qualification information including specification, exam materials, teaching resources, learning resources

These are the units Cambridge OCR registers against this qualification. It is a catalogue, not a syllabus. Which of them you take depends on the combination the qualification requires, and that is set by the awarding body rather than by us. Every unit here is regulated. Zavmo teaches towards them on your own work.

Zavmo is not an awarding body, is not an approved centre, and is not affiliated with Cambridge OCR. It does the teaching and the mapping. Cambridge OCR sets this qualification and awards it, and a qualified human assessor makes the assessment decision.

02The units

What each unit actually teaches you to do

Analytical techniques in chemistry Real unit · Cambridge OCR
This unit covers analytical techniques in chemistry, including methods to categorise and separate chemical substances. You'll develop skills in quantitative and qualitative analysis, and understand the principles of spectroscopic techniques and how to interpret chemical spectra.

What you'll be able to do

  • Describe techniques used to categorise and separate chemical substances.
  • Apply quantitative and qualitative analytical techniques to quantify and identify substances.
  • Explain the principles of spectroscopic techniques and interpret spectra for chemical substances.
Environmental studies Real unit · Cambridge OCR
You'll explore ecosystems and biodiversity, examining the impact of human activity and natural events on the environment. The unit includes waste management, environmental conservation strategies, and fieldwork to analyse environmental data and assess conservation efforts.

What you'll be able to do

  • Describe the key components of different ecosystems and their biodiversity
  • Analyse the impact of human activity on the environment
  • Analyse the impact of natural events on the environment
  • Evaluate different waste management strategies and their effectiveness
  • Assess environmental management and conservation strategies
  • Conduct fieldwork to collect and analyse environmental data
Forensic biology Real unit · Cambridge OCR
This unit introduces forensic biology disciplines and the types of evidence analysed, such as cells, tissues, and organs. You'll understand crime scene investigation procedures and apply analytical techniques to interpret forensic biological evidence.

What you'll be able to do

  • Identify the different disciplines within forensic biology and the types of evidence they analyse
  • Describe the structure and function of cells, tissues and organs relevant to forensic biology
  • Explain the procedures involved in crime scene investigation and evidence collection
  • Apply analytical techniques to interpret forensic evidence
Fundamentals of science Real unit · Cambridge OCR
You'll gain foundational knowledge of scientific principles including cell structure, bioenergetics, biological molecules, biodiversity, atomic structure, quantitative chemistry, bonding, reaction rates, electricity, motion, and medical physics.

What you'll be able to do

  • Describe cell structure and the principles of microscopy.
  • Explain the principles of bioenergetics.
  • Describe the structure and function of biological molecules.
  • Explain biodiversity and the dynamics of ecosystems.
  • Describe atomic structure and the organisation of the periodic table.
  • Apply quantitative chemistry principles to solve problems.
  • Explain different types of structure and bonding in chemical substances.
  • Analyse rates of reactions and enthalpy changes.
  • Explain the principles of electricity.
  • Describe the principles of motion.
  • Explain the principles of medical physics.
Investigating science Real unit · Cambridge OCR
You'll learn to plan, perform, analyse, and evaluate scientific investigations. The unit includes defining objectives, selecting methods, managing resources, following safety procedures, and communicating results.

What you'll be able to do

  • Plan a scientific investigation, including defining objectives, selecting appropriate methods, and managing resources.
  • Perform a scientific investigation, following established protocols and safety procedures.
  • Analyse and communicate the results of a scientific investigation, using appropriate formats and techniques.
  • Evaluate a scientific investigation, identifying strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement.
Medical physics Real unit · Cambridge OCR
You'll study medical physics applications, focusing on both ionising and non-ionising diagnostic and therapeutic techniques. The unit covers principles and uses of ultrasound, MRI, infrared thermography, and planning for diagnosis and therapy.

What you'll be able to do

  • Describe the application of non-ionising diagnosis techniques in medical physics
  • Describe the application of ionising diagnosis techniques in medical physics
  • Describe the application of ionising therapy techniques in medical physics
  • Describe the application of non-ionising therapy techniques in medical physics
  • Develop plans for diagnosis and therapy using medical physics techniques
Science in society Real unit · Cambridge OCR
This unit covers the roles and responsibilities of scientists, ethical conduct in research, handling and analysing scientific data, evaluating scientific developments, and communicating science effectively to the public.

What you'll be able to do

  • Describe the roles and responsibilities of scientists in different fields.
  • Handle scientific data effectively, including collection, analysis, and interpretation.
  • Evaluate the impact of scientific developments on society.
  • Communicate scientific information clearly and effectively to different audiences.
By email

Free, by email

Is this the right qualification for you?

One email to help you decide: the facts, what it teaches, the jobs it leads to and where to start free. With a link back here. Nothing else follows unless you confirm your address.

Your employer, or 'self-employed'

Study the units online with a personal AI tutor, for £70 a month. Your first Future Fluency module is free.

03The standards

The national standards these units are built against

What the job actually needs, in the words employers and awarding bodies already use for the work itself.

  • Plan and conduct scientific or technical investigations

    Standard
04Where it leads

The jobs these credits are mapped to

A qualification is never a dead end here. Each of these is a job record this qualification is a mapped route into.

Showing 6 roles, drawn from 13 job records mapped to this qualification. Near-identical records are folded together, and each row says how many it stands for.

Where this can lead

Environmental Specialist

This work can lead to a role designing environmental strategy and reporting systems, or to managing a team of specialists with responsibility for environmental performance.

See the whole journey
Still deciding?

One email to help you decide: the facts, what it teaches, the jobs it leads to and where to start free. With a link back here. Nothing else follows unless you confirm your address.

05The credits

The credits, and who awards them

Level 3 credits are regulated, and they are awarded by Cambridge OCR rather than by Zavmo. They don’t vanish when a subscription ends or a website closes. They travel to any employer, and Zavmo keeps the map of what you have covered and what is next.

What you would be collecting

Analytical techniques in chemistryEnvironmental studiesForensic biologyFundamentals of scienceInvestigating scienceMedical physicsScience in society

Each one is a real unit registered against this qualification.

How you’d practise it

You don’t watch this. You do it.

You are not assessed on remembering this. You are assessed on applying it, analysing it, evaluating it and producing something. So that is what the practice is: projects, role play and your own live cases, with a tutor in the room.

The Coach The Coach · your practice partner Illustration
The Coach Rather than work through “Analytical techniques in chemistry” in the abstract, bring me the piece of it you are dealing with this week.
You I have got the write-up due Friday and I have not started it.
The Coach Then that is the lesson. Tell me what it has to say, and we will get the shape of it down before we worry about the words.
The same lesson on the real thing: the conversation in the middle, the thinking ladder on the left, and the criteria each answer is evidencing on the right.
  • Bring the real thing Apply

    “Analytical techniques in chemistry” is taught against the work in front of you rather than a worked example. You bring what you are doing this week and it becomes the practice.

How you would learn this

One to one, on the work you already do

A tutor sets the task against your own job and marks the reasoning, at your pace. There is no cohort to fall behind.

A lesson from Analytical techniques in chemistry, one of this qualification's own units.

Analytical techniques in chemistry Level 3

Applied to your work in any of these jobs

Which job do you mean?
Environmental SpecialistEnvironmental Policy AnalystBiodiversity AnalystEnvironmental Data AssociateEnvironmental AnalystScientist I

This unit covers analytical techniques in chemistry, including methods to categorise and separate chemical substances. Learners will develop skills in quantitative and qualitative analysis, and understand the principles of spectroscopic techniques and how to interpret chemical spectra.

How the thinking builds
  1. 1 Remember
  2. 2 Understand
  3. 3 Apply
  4. 4 Analyse
  5. 5 Evaluate
  6. 6 Create
An illustration of a Zavmo lesson, built from this role’s own route. The unit, its objective and every criterion above are the awarding body’s own words, not an example.

It is £70 a month, billed monthly. Your free first module is Future Fluency, and you can cancel any time. Teaching towards this qualification begins when you subscribe.

Your Plan Illustration

Built for Cambridge OCR Level 3 Alternative Academic Qualification Cambridge Advanced National in Applied Science (Certificate)

7 units in this credential, in the order it lists them, awarded by Cambridge OCR.

  1. Analytical techniques in chemistry
  2. Environmental studies
  3. Forensic biology
  4. Fundamentals of science
  5. Investigating science
  6. Medical physics

and 1 more in the full unit list below.

These are the real units of this credential, in its own order. Nothing here is marked done, because this plan has not been started by anyone yet. Yours would fill in as you go.

Free tools

Want a read on where you stand?

Three free tools, no account needed. Each one ends with a role, a level and a way in.

Read the Zavmo manifesto to understand how you will be taught Meet your tutors

Or try another one

Learned on your own work, taught one-to-one.

Everything you just read, learned one-to-one on the job you already do. Your free first module is Future Fluency, so you can see how the teaching works before you pay for anything.

Start my free AI Fluency module

No card. See how this qualification maps onto your role and meet the tutors who’d teach it, free. The learning begins when you subscribe. It’s £70 a month, billed monthly. Cancel any time and billing stops.

The title, level, credits, guided learning hours and unit learning outcomes on this page are taken from the Ofqual Register of Regulated Qualifications. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Where this data comes from.