Quality of marking: guide to the data submission process

Question 1

Introduction

Accepted Answer

In order to fulfil our regulatory and accreditation functions as set out in the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009, we require awarding organisations to provide exams delivery data for regulated qualifications.

Question 2

When will data be collected?

Accepted Answer

Data will be collected according to dates issued on data requests.

Question 3

What data will be collected?

Accepted Answer

Quality of marking data will be collected for GCSE, AS and A level, for online marked units and components for the qualifications specified in annex A.

Question 4

How will the data be collected?

Accepted Answer

Your data should be submitted to us in CSV format. Please refer to the separate guidance document to help you submit your files to us.

Question 5

General completion guidelines

Accepted Answer

All items on any question paper need to be included in the data request, regardless of type of marker. Where items are auto marked, please send separate file listing units and auto marked items
Only data arising from live monitoring should be included. Any data arising from standardisation, practice scripts or items should be excluded. Note that where systems use ‘daily qualification’ items, these should be included since they constitute a form of monitoring
Where markers have marked the same seed script or item on 2 or more occasions, all instances should be included in the data request
All markers on the panel and all monitoring data should be included for all items except in the following instances:
Markers who were stopped from marking on the whole script or all items and for whom their marks did not get passed on to candidates - in such cases, all items should be excluded
Markers who were stopped permanently from marking on one or more items and for whom their marks did not get passed on to candidates - in such cases, their marking for these items (only) should be excluded
Where markers were stopped but some of their marks were issued to candidates, the monitoring data for those examiners up until the point at which their marks were retained should be included - any subsequent data should be excluded
Any data from retired seeds or retired daily qualification items should be excluded
In any instances of missing data, the boards need to flag this up (indicating -2 in the field) and provide clear explanation in accompanying email or documentation
Where items are ‘clipped’ or ‘zoned’ together, the data should capture item sub group level as marks are awarded. For example, where a question is divided into sub items the data should reflect 1ci, 1cii and 1ciii rather than just 1c. Accordingly, the maximum mark in field 18 should reflect the maximum mark for the item in field 9. And, the examiner marks should be no greater than the maximum mark
A date time record is only required for mark 1
Backreading definition – where supervising examiners mark responses that have already been marked by supervisee examiners and compare the 2 marks as a way of monitoring supervisee marking (that is, it is the name for the basic process by which traditional paper-based marking was monitored and which is used also on some online marking systems). Only required where backreading is used and the marking systems capture both marks
Marking tolerances to be reported as what was in place at the time the marking took place (to acknowledge that some systems may change tolerances during the session)

Question 6

File format

Accepted Answer

The file must be CSV format and the first row must be headers as displayed in the ‘Name’ column of the table below. The subsequent rows must have the values of the data to be reported which must match the format and validation rules below.

Name	Description	Position	Validation Regular Expression	Description of Regular Expression
ExamSeries	Exam series data relates to, for example June 2023	1	`^(June)([ ][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9])$`	Full month name of exam series and year
ReportingDate	Date the file was due to be submitted regardless of when it was actually uploaded. Format accepted 120 ODBC canonical yyyy-mm-dd.	2	`^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]\|1[012])[-](0[1-9]\|[12][0-9]\|3[01])$`	The date in the following format: year (4 digits), a dash, month (2 digits), a dash, day (2 digits)
AwardingOrganisation	Name of the awarding organisation	3	`^.{1,100}$`	1 to 100 characters accepted
QualificationLevel	Level of qualification, for example GCSE	4	`^(GCSE\|AS\|A level)$`	One of the following list: GCSE, AS or A level
UnitOrComponentCode	Unit code	5	`^.{1,10}$`	1 to 10 characters accepted. Note: If a unit has sub components, they should be identifiable from a unique value within the unit code, for example MA02 1, MA02 2
SpecificationCode	Specification code also known as Subject Award Code and Cash-in Code	6	`^.{1,7}$`	1 to 7 characters accepted. Note that specification codes must exist on the JCQ classifications-entries spreadsheet. If awarding organisations include the option, medium or tiering code (for example J567F, 4000GU, 4365H), then it should be included in this specification code field
SpecificationTitle	Specification title also known as subject title	7	`^.{1,150}$`	1 to 150 characters accepted
Candidate_Id	Anonymised. Note that just as with data containing centre number or candidate number identifier, where the same candidate response has been marked more than one time, this should have the same candidate identifier. Also, if different parts of a candidate’s script are seed items, again, these should have a common candidate identifier. This should be a numeric field	8	`^.{1,14}$`	1 to 14 digit integer accepted
ItemMark_ID	This should uniquely identify the item (question) on the component question paper, for example q3b or q5biii	9	`^.{1,10}$`	1 to 10 characters accepted
Mark1	(i) For seeded items, daily qualification items and backread items this should be the examiner mark. (ii) For sample double marked items this should be the mark awarded by the first examiner. Backread item data to be supplied where available and captured on marking systems.	10	`^\d{1,3}$`	3-digit integer accepted.
Mark2	(i) For seeded items and daily qualification items this should be the definitive mark. (ii) For sample double marked items this should be the mark awarded by the second examiner. (iii) for backread items, this should be the mark awarded by senior examiner	11	`^\d{1,3}$`	3-digit integer accepted
DateTimeStampMark1	This should be date and time recorded in your system when the marks are inputted or uploaded. The format should be: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS. This is to help us with sequencing marking information	12	`^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]\|1[012])[-](0[1-9]\|[12][0-9]\|3[01])$`	DATETIME in the following format: year (4 digits), a dash, month (2 digits), a dash, day (2 digits), a space, hour (2 digits), a colon, minutes (2 digits), a colon, seconds (2 digits). 2999-12-31 00:00:00.000 accepted if date time not available
Examiner1_ID	Please supply an examiner ID. Each examiner should have their own ID which is used consistently in the data. For seed items, sample double marked items daily qualification and backread items, this will correspond to the examiner associated with Mark 1	13	`^.{1,20}$`	1 to 20 characters accepted
Examiner2_ID	For sample double marked items and backread items, this field should be the ID which corresponds to the examiner associated with Mark 2.	14	`^.{1,20}$`	1 to 20 characters accepted. For seed or daily qualification items, this field should have a value of -2 entered
RoleOfExaminer1	Role or seniority of examiner 1. Indicate role of examiner on the marking panel as shown in the last column	15	`^(1\|2\|3\|4\|5\|6)$`	Assistant Examiner = 1 Team Leader = 2 Senior Team Leader = 3 Assistant Principal Examiner = 4 Principal Examiner = 5 Chief or Chair of Examiners = 6
RoleOfExaminer2	Role or seniority of examiner 2. For sample double marked items, as above, indicate role of examiner on the marking panel as shown in last column	16	`^(1\|2\|3\|4\|5\|6\|-2)$`	Assistant Examiner = 1 Team Leader = 2 Senior Team Leader = 3 Assistant Principal Examiner = 4 Principal Examiner = 5 Chief or Chair of Examiners = 6 For seed or daily qualification items, this field should have a value of -2
FinalMarkAwarded	Final mark for this item issued to candidate for the item identified in field 9. This should reflect any post-results adjustments as a result of reviews of marking.	17	`^\d{1,3}$`	3-digit integer. If optional question and candidate did not attempt it this field should have -2
MaxMark	This should be the maximum mark available for the item identified in field 9	18	`^\d{1,3}$`	3-digit integer accepted.
Mark_Type	Please indicate monitoring mark type as shown in last column. NB where backread item data to be supplied where available and captured on marking systems	19	`^(1\|2\|3\|4)$`	1 = seed marked items 2 = sample double marked items 3 = daily qualification items 4 = backread items
DistributionMethod	If the component is distributed to examiners at ‘script level’ – that is, a whole candidate script is distributed to an individual examiner, indicate 1. If the component is distributed to examiners at ‘item level’ – that is, items from any individual candidate script are distributed to multiple examiners, indicate 2. No other values	20	`^(1\|2)$`	1 or 2 accepted
ItemTolerance	This field is for the mark tolerance or range of acceptable marks for the item identified in field 9. Where tolerance is used, and it is, for example, a tolerance of +/-1 marks, this should be indicated as 1. If there is zero tolerance, enter 0. Where acceptable marks are used, each acceptable mark should be entered and separated by semi-colons, for example 23;24;25;26; If there is only one acceptable mark, this should be entered as a single integer, followed by a semi-colon, for example 23;	21	`^\d{1,2}(?:;\d{1,2}){0,3}$`	Up to a 2-digit integer accepted. Or, for acceptable values, a range of 2-digit integers separated by semi-colons without spaces. If the concept of tolerance is not applied to this item, please enter -2
ScriptTolerance	This field is for the mark tolerance or range of acceptable marks for the script identified in field 5; and in the case of ‘acceptable values’, also for field 9. Where script tolerance is used, and it is, for example, a tolerance of +/-3 marks, this should be indicated as 3. If there is zero tolerance, enter 0. Where acceptable marks are used, each acceptable mark should be entered and separated by semi-colons, for example 45;46;47;48; If there is only one acceptable mark, this should be entered as a single integer, followed by a semi-colon, for example 23;	22	`^\d{1,2}(?:;\d{1,2}){0,3}$`	Up to a 2-digit integer accepted. Or, for acceptable values, a range of 2-digit integers separated by semi-colons without spaces. If the concept of tolerance is not applied to this script, please enter -2
ScriptTolerance_ABS	This is for the absolute mark difference tolerance if applicable.	23	`^\d{1,2}$`	Up to a 2-digit integer accepted. If the concept of an absolute mark difference tolerance is not applied to this component, this field should have a value of -2 entered

Question 7

Annex A – list of subjects and levels

Accepted Answer

Within a subject area, where both reformed and legacy qualifications were available in summer 2018, we only require marker monitoring data for reformed qualifications. There is one exception to this – for A Level Mathematics we require both legacy and reformed. You should provide data for each unit/component in all of the qualifications offered in this subject which are marked online, and have candidates sitting these examinations in England.

Name	Description	Position	Validation Regular Expression	Description of Regular Expression
ExamSeries	Exam series data relates to, for example June 2023	1	`^(June)([ ][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9])$`	Full month name of exam series and year
ReportingDate	Date the file was due to be submitted regardless of when it was actually uploaded. Format accepted 120 ODBC canonical yyyy-mm-dd.	2	`^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]\|1[012])[-](0[1-9]\|[12][0-9]\|3[01])$`	The date in the following format: year (4 digits), a dash, month (2 digits), a dash, day (2 digits)
AwardingOrganisation	Name of the awarding organisation	3	`^.{1,100}$`	1 to 100 characters accepted
QualificationLevel	Level of qualification, for example GCSE	4	`^(GCSE\|AS\|A level)$`	One of the following list: GCSE, AS or A level
UnitOrComponentCode	Unit code	5	`^.{1,10}$`	1 to 10 characters accepted. Note: If a unit has sub components, they should be identifiable from a unique value within the unit code, for example MA02 1, MA02 2
SpecificationCode	Specification code also known as Subject Award Code and Cash-in Code	6	`^.{1,7}$`	1 to 7 characters accepted. Note that specification codes must exist on the JCQ classifications-entries spreadsheet. If awarding organisations include the option, medium or tiering code (for example J567F, 4000GU, 4365H), then it should be included in this specification code field
SpecificationTitle	Specification title also known as subject title	7	`^.{1,150}$`	1 to 150 characters accepted
Candidate_Id	Anonymised. Note that just as with data containing centre number or candidate number identifier, where the same candidate response has been marked more than one time, this should have the same candidate identifier. Also, if different parts of a candidate’s script are seed items, again, these should have a common candidate identifier. This should be a numeric field	8	`^.{1,14}$`	1 to 14 digit integer accepted
ItemMark_ID	This should uniquely identify the item (question) on the component question paper, for example q3b or q5biii	9	`^.{1,10}$`	1 to 10 characters accepted
Mark1	(i) For seeded items, daily qualification items and backread items this should be the examiner mark. (ii) For sample double marked items this should be the mark awarded by the first examiner. Backread item data to be supplied where available and captured on marking systems.	10	`^\d{1,3}$`	3-digit integer accepted.
Mark2	(i) For seeded items and daily qualification items this should be the definitive mark. (ii) For sample double marked items this should be the mark awarded by the second examiner. (iii) for backread items, this should be the mark awarded by senior examiner	11	`^\d{1,3}$`	3-digit integer accepted
DateTimeStampMark1	This should be date and time recorded in your system when the marks are inputted or uploaded. The format should be: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS. This is to help us with sequencing marking information	12	`^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]\|1[012])[-](0[1-9]\|[12][0-9]\|3[01])$`	DATETIME in the following format: year (4 digits), a dash, month (2 digits), a dash, day (2 digits), a space, hour (2 digits), a colon, minutes (2 digits), a colon, seconds (2 digits). 2999-12-31 00:00:00.000 accepted if date time not available
Examiner1_ID	Please supply an examiner ID. Each examiner should have their own ID which is used consistently in the data. For seed items, sample double marked items daily qualification and backread items, this will correspond to the examiner associated with Mark 1	13	`^.{1,20}$`	1 to 20 characters accepted
Examiner2_ID	For sample double marked items and backread items, this field should be the ID which corresponds to the examiner associated with Mark 2.	14	`^.{1,20}$`	1 to 20 characters accepted. For seed or daily qualification items, this field should have a value of -2 entered
RoleOfExaminer1	Role or seniority of examiner 1. Indicate role of examiner on the marking panel as shown in the last column	15	`^(1\|2\|3\|4\|5\|6)$`	Assistant Examiner = 1 Team Leader = 2 Senior Team Leader = 3 Assistant Principal Examiner = 4 Principal Examiner = 5 Chief or Chair of Examiners = 6
RoleOfExaminer2	Role or seniority of examiner 2. For sample double marked items, as above, indicate role of examiner on the marking panel as shown in last column	16	`^(1\|2\|3\|4\|5\|6\|-2)$`	Assistant Examiner = 1 Team Leader = 2 Senior Team Leader = 3 Assistant Principal Examiner = 4 Principal Examiner = 5 Chief or Chair of Examiners = 6 For seed or daily qualification items, this field should have a value of -2
FinalMarkAwarded	Final mark for this item issued to candidate for the item identified in field 9. This should reflect any post-results adjustments as a result of reviews of marking.	17	`^\d{1,3}$`	3-digit integer. If optional question and candidate did not attempt it this field should have -2
MaxMark	This should be the maximum mark available for the item identified in field 9	18	`^\d{1,3}$`	3-digit integer accepted.
Mark_Type	Please indicate monitoring mark type as shown in last column. NB where backread item data to be supplied where available and captured on marking systems	19	`^(1\|2\|3\|4)$`	1 = seed marked items 2 = sample double marked items 3 = daily qualification items 4 = backread items
DistributionMethod	If the component is distributed to examiners at ‘script level’ – that is, a whole candidate script is distributed to an individual examiner, indicate 1. If the component is distributed to examiners at ‘item level’ – that is, items from any individual candidate script are distributed to multiple examiners, indicate 2. No other values	20	`^(1\|2)$`	1 or 2 accepted
ItemTolerance	This field is for the mark tolerance or range of acceptable marks for the item identified in field 9. Where tolerance is used, and it is, for example, a tolerance of +/-1 marks, this should be indicated as 1. If there is zero tolerance, enter 0. Where acceptable marks are used, each acceptable mark should be entered and separated by semi-colons, for example 23;24;25;26; If there is only one acceptable mark, this should be entered as a single integer, followed by a semi-colon, for example 23;	21	`^\d{1,2}(?:;\d{1,2}){0,3}$`	Up to a 2-digit integer accepted. Or, for acceptable values, a range of 2-digit integers separated by semi-colons without spaces. If the concept of tolerance is not applied to this item, please enter -2
ScriptTolerance	This field is for the mark tolerance or range of acceptable marks for the script identified in field 5; and in the case of ‘acceptable values’, also for field 9. Where script tolerance is used, and it is, for example, a tolerance of +/-3 marks, this should be indicated as 3. If there is zero tolerance, enter 0. Where acceptable marks are used, each acceptable mark should be entered and separated by semi-colons, for example 45;46;47;48; If there is only one acceptable mark, this should be entered as a single integer, followed by a semi-colon, for example 23;	22	`^\d{1,2}(?:;\d{1,2}){0,3}$`	Up to a 2-digit integer accepted. Or, for acceptable values, a range of 2-digit integers separated by semi-colons without spaces. If the concept of tolerance is not applied to this script, please enter -2
ScriptTolerance_ABS	This is for the absolute mark difference tolerance if applicable.	23	`^\d{1,2}$`	Up to a 2-digit integer accepted. If the concept of an absolute mark difference tolerance is not applied to this component, this field should have a value of -2 entered

Question 8

Contacts

Accepted Answer

For all queries relating to the data collection process, amendments to data previously provided, or for general guidance. please contact:

Data services

Ofqual
2nd floor, 1 Friargate
Station Square
Coventry
CV1 2GN

Email Data.Services@ofqual.gov.uk

	GCSE	AS	A level
Combined Science	Yes	n/a	n/a
Additional Science	Yes	n/a	n/a
Biology	Yes	Yes	Yes
Chemistry	Yes	Yes	Yes
Physics	Yes	Yes	Yes
French	Yes	Yes	Yes
German	Yes	Yes	Yes
Spanish	Yes	Yes	Yes
PE	Yes	Yes	Yes
Business	Yes	Yes	Yes
History	Yes	Yes	Yes
Geography	Yes	Yes	Yes
RS	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sociology	Yes	Yes	Yes
Psychology	Yes	Yes	Yes
Computing	Yes	Yes	Yes
Media	Yes	Yes	Yes
Music	Yes	n/a	n/a
English Language	Yes	Yes	Yes
English Literature	Yes	Yes	Yes
English Language and Literature	n/a	Yes	Yes
Mathematics	Yes	Yes	Yes
Economics	n/a	Yes	Yes

Quality of marking: guide to the data submission process

Applies to England