OCR As Media Studies Paper 1 2025 Mark Scheme

Download the official OCR AS Media Studies H009/01 Media Today mark scheme from the June 2025 examination series. This examiner-approved PDF contains the complete OCR marking guidance used during live assessment, including indicative content, level descriptors, academic-theory references, assessment-objective breakdowns, and examiner expectations for all questions in the Media Today paper.

The OCR H009/01 June 2025 mark scheme provides detailed examiner commentary on media language, representation, media industries, audience theory, genre conventions, political and cultural contexts, and long-form television drama analysis. Students and teachers can use this document to understand exactly how OCR examiners awarded marks during the live AS Media Studies examination series.

Question 1 focuses on social contexts in video games using Animal Crossing: New Horizons. OCR outlines acceptable responses involving the Covid-19 pandemic, online communities, gaming franchises, social-media convergence, Nintendo’s family-friendly brand identity, multiplayer gaming culture, online distribution, and audience interaction through platforms such as Twitch and YouTube.

Question 2 analyses how Lady Gaga’s “Million Reasons” music video uses media language to create meaning. The mark scheme highlights narrative sequencing, cinematography, symbolism, intertextuality, editing, costume, camera work, genre conventions, religion, bricolage, and references to artists such as Madonna and films including *Thelma and Louise*. OCR also explains how candidates should analyse denotation, connotation, and audience interpretation using accurate media terminology.

Question 3 examines technological developments in the film industry through Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Examiner guidance includes CGI, IMAX, Disney+, streaming distribution, global release strategies, franchise convergence, special effects, online marketing, vertical integration, and changing cinema-to-streaming release patterns in the digital age.

The extended-response Question 4 explores genre codes and conventions in long-form television dramas. OCR provides extensive indicative content for set episodes including *Mr Robot*, *Killing Eve*, *Atypical*, and *Stranger Things*. The mark scheme references genre hybridity, narrative theory, Neale’s genre theory, Todorov’s narratology, Barthes’ enigma codes, Propp’s character roles, streaming-platform economics, high-production values, audience expectations, and Netflix/Amazon distribution strategies.

Question 5 analyses stereotypes in unseen newspaper front pages. OCR explains how candidates should compare media language, representation, anchorage, political ideology, audience influence, stereotypes, typography, image positioning, and semiotics across the Daily Mirror and Daily Express. The mark scheme specifically references Hall’s representation theory, Barthes’ semiotics, Gerbner’s cultivation theory, and wider debates around ideology and audience interpretation.

Question 6 focuses on how political and cultural contexts influence newspaper audience categorisation using The Daily Telegraph. OCR examiner guidance discusses psychographic profiling, political ideology, paywalls, online journalism, culture wars, audience data, Curran and Seaton’s media-industry theories, Gauntlett’s identity theory, regulation, Brexit, streaming competition, and digital-news convergence.

The document also includes detailed level descriptors for AO1 and AO2 assessment objectives, examiner annotation guidance, marking conventions, subject-specific marking instructions, and the official assessment-objective grid showing mark allocation across all six questions in the paper.

This OCR AS Media Studies H009/01 mark scheme is ideal for examiner-standard revision, self-assessment, essay planning, classroom discussion, teacher marking, and understanding OCR expectations for media-analysis and evaluative-writing tasks. Pair this document with the official OCR H009/01 June 2025 question paper for complete examiner-style revision and assessment preparation. Updated for the 2025/2026 academic year, fully mobile-friendly, and instantly downloadable.

This document is designed for OCR AS Media Studies students preparing for the 2026 examination series, resit candidates improving Media Today exam performance, home-educated learners, and independent candidates studying media language, representation, industries, audiences, and contexts.

It is especially useful for students learning how OCR examiners assess media analysis, genre theory, representation, audience theory, and extended evaluative responses during live marking. Teachers, tutors, sixth-form media departments, revision-course providers, and intervention coordinators can also use this official OCR mark scheme for examiner-standard feedback, mock assessments, essay benchmarking, and classroom analysis activities.