Guidance

TQ Appeals: guide to the data submission process

Published 19 July 2021

Applies to England

Introduction

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.

What data will be collected?

Appeals data will be collected for all Technical Qualifications (TQs) within T levels for learners in England.

When will data be collected?

Data will be collected according to the reporting schedule which is agreed and maintained by Ofqual’s data services team.

Updates to formats and guidance

This guidance document will be updated regularly. Any changes to procedure will be incorporated into the guidance document.

How to submit your data

Your data should be submitted to us in CSV format. Please refer to the ‘Connecting to Ofqual’s data portal and uploading data’ document on our webpage to help you submit your files to us. If you need to ask us about a data submission please do contact the Data Services team by emailing data.services@ofqual.gov.uk, please do not send your data files via email to Data Services or to any other Ofqual email address, or via Contact the Regulator in the Portal.

Uploaded data

Once files have been successfully uploaded, the data will be validated against a set of validation rules. These are detailed in the sections below. If validation is successful, the data is automatically transferred into our systems and you will receive email confirmation. If the file is unsuccessful at any stage of validation you will receive an email with details of the validation failure. Please correct your file and resubmit it.

Amendments to data

Ofqual staff will not alter data once it has been submitted. If you find an error or omission after you’ve had a successful upload, please notify us by emailing data.services@ofqual.gov.uk. We need to reject the existing submission before you can upload a new file.

How your data will be used

This data will be used to undertake our regulatory activities and, where required, to produce Official Statistics to fulfil our responsibility as a government department.

General completion guidelines

Data should include appeals for all assessments taken within the reporting period.

File format

The file must be CSV format and the first row must be headers as displayed in the Name section of the list 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 / Accepted values
ReportingDate	Date the file was due to be submitted to Ofqual regardless of when it was actually uploaded (this date will be made available by Ofqual)	1	^(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])[/](0[1-9]|1[012])[/](20)\d\d $ or ^(20)\d\d[-](0[1- 9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])$	The date in the following format: day (2 digits), forward slash, month (2 digits), forward slash, year (4 digits), or: year (4 digits), a dash, month (2 digits), a dash, day (2 digits)
AssessmentSeries	Assessment series data relates to, for example June 2023	2	^(June)([ ][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9])$	Full month name and year of Assessment series for example June 2023
AwardingOrganisation	Acronym of the awarding organisation (AO)	3	^.{1,100}$	A valid AO Acronym Note: value must be consistent within the file
QualificationNumber	Unique identifier for the TQ as it appears in Ofqual’s Register of Regulated qualifications	4	^.{1,10}$	A valid qualification number
ComponentCode	Unique identifier for the component which the assessment relates to (assigned by the awarding organisation)	5	^.{1,10}$	1 to 10 characters
SubComponentType	TQ sub-component which the assessment falls under	6	^(Core Exam|Core Project|Occupational Specialism)$	Accepted values: Core Exam Core Project Occupational Specialism
AssessmentCode	Unique identifier for the assessment (assigned by the awarding organisation)	7	^.{1,10}$	1 to 10 characters
ULN	Unique Learner Number	8	^.{0000000001,99999 99999}$	A numeric value between 0000000001 and 9999999999
UCI	Unique Candidate Identifier	9	^.{1,13}$	A valid Unique Candidate Identifier Note: enter -2 if not available
UKPRN	UK Provider Reference Number	10	^.{10000000,99999999}$	A numeric value between 10000000 and 99999999
NCN	Centre ID – National Centre Number	11	^\d{1,5}$	Up to 5-digit integer Note: enter -2 if not available
CaseReferenceNumber	Unique reference number for the appeal case assigned by the awarding organisation	12	^.{1,25}$	1 to 25 characters
NatureOfAppeal	The nature of the appeal	13	^(Provider error appeal (provider)|AO error appeal (provider)|AO error appeal (student)|Provider process appeal (student)|Provider academic judgement appeal - range of evidence (student)|Provider academic judgement appeal - grade (student))$	Accepted values: Provider error appeal (provider) AO error appeal (provider) AO error appeal (student) Provider process appeal (student) Provider academic judgement appeal - range of evidence (student) Provider academic judgement appeal - grade (student) See the Annex for more description of these values
CurrentStageOfAppeal	The current stage of the appeal (at the time of data submission)	14	^(Stage 1|Stage 2)$	Accepted values: Stage 1 Stage 2
StageAppealResolved	The stage the appeal was resolved	15	^(Stage 1|Stage 2| With AO but in process)$	Accepted values: Stage 1 Stage 2 With AO but in process
AppealUpheld	Was the appeal upheld?	16	^(Yes|No|TBC)$	Accepted values: Yes No TBC
PreAppealAssessmentRawMark	Pre-appeal Assessment Raw mark	17	^\d{1,3}$	Number between 0 and 999 allowing decimals Note: enter -2 if not applicable
PostAppealAssessmentRawMark	Post-appeal assessment raw mark	18	^\d{1,3}$	Number between 0 and 999 allowing decimals Note: enter -2 if not applicable
PreAppealAssessmentUMSMark	Pre-appeal assessment UMS mark	19	^\d{1,3}$	Number between 0 and 999 allowing decimals Note: enter -2 if not applicable
PostAppealAssessmentUMSMark	Post-appeal assessment UMS mark	20	^\d{1,3}$	Number between 0 and 999 allowing decimals Note: enter -2 if not applicable
PreAppealSubComponentRawMark	Pre-appeal Sub-component Raw mark	21	^\d{1,3}$	Number between 0 and 999 allowing decimals Note: enter -2 if not applicable
PostAppealSubComponentRawMark	Post-appeal sub- component raw mark	22	^\d{1,3}$	Number between 0 and 999 allowing decimals Note: enter -2 if not applicable
PreAppealSubComponentUMSMark	Pre-appeal sub-component UMS mark	23	^\d{1,3}$	Number between 0 and 999 allowing decimals Note: enter -2 if not applicable
PostAppealSubComponentUMSMark	Post-appeal sub- component UMS mark	24	^\d{1,3}$	Number between 0 and 999 allowing decimals Note: enter -2 if not applicable
PreAppealComponentRawMark	Pre-appeal component raw mark	25	^\d{1,3}$	Number between 0 and 999 allowing decimals Note: enter -2 if not applicable
PostAppealComponentRawMark	Post-appeal component raw mark	26	^\d{1,3}$	Number between 0 and 999 allowing decimals Note: enter -2 if not applicable
PreAppealComponentUMSMark	Pre-appeal component UMS mark	27	^\d{1,3}$	Number between 0 and 999 allowing decimals Note: enter -2 if not applicable
PostAppealComponentUMSMark	Post-appeal component UMS mark	28	^\d{1,3}$	Number between 0 and 999 allowing decimals Note: enter -2 if not applicable
PreAppealAssessmentGrade	Pre-appeal assessment grade	29	^(A*|A|B|C|D|E|Q|U|X|Distinction|Merit|Pass|-2)$	Accepted values: A* A B C D E Q U X Distinction Merit Pass Note: enter -2 if not applicable
PostAppealAssessmentGrade	Post-appeal assessment grade	30	^(A*|A|B|C|D|E|Q|U|X|Distinction|Merit|Pass|-2)$	Accepted values: A* A B C D E Q U X Distinction Merit Pass Note: enter -2 if not applicable
PreAppealSubComponentGrade	Pre-appeal sub-component grade	31	^(A*|A|B|C|D|E|Q|U|X|Distinction|Merit|Pass|-2)$	Accepted values: A* A B C D E Q U X Distinction Merit Pass Note: enter -2 if not applicable
PostAppealSubComponentGrade	Post-appeal sub- component grade	32	^(A*|A|B|C|D|E|Q|U|X|Distinction|Merit|Pass|-2)$	Accepted values: A* A B C D E Q U X Distinction Merit Pass Note: enter -2 if not applicable
PreAppealComponentGrade	Pre-appeal component grade	33	^(A*|A|B|C|D|E|Q|U|X|Distinction|Merit|Pass|-2)$	Accepted values: A* A B C D E Q U X Distinction Merit Pass Note: enter -2 if not applicable
PostAppealComponentGrade	Post-appeal component grade	34	^(A*|A|B|C|D|E|Q|U|X|Distinction|Merit|Pass|-2)$	Accepted values: A* A B C D E Q U X Distinction Merit Pass Note: enter -2 if not applicable
DateReceived	Date when the appeal request is received	35	^ (0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01]) [/](0[1-9]|1[012])[/] (20)\d\d $ or ^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])$	The date in the following format: day (2 digits), forward slash, month (2 digits), forward slash, year (4digits), or: year (4 digits), a dash, month (2 digits), a dash, day (2 digits)
DateCompleted	Date when the appeal is completed and decision letter is sent	36	^ (0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01]) [/](0[1-9]|1[012])[/] (20)\d\d $ or ^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])$	The date in the following format: day (2 digits), forward slash, month (2 digits), forward slash, year (4digits), or: year (4 digits), a dash, month (2 digits), a dash, day (2 digits)
DateScriptOrEquivalentRequested	Date when a script is requested at any stage during the post-results service process	37	^ (0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01]) [/](0[1-9]|1[012])[/] (20)\d\d $ or ^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])$	The date in the following format: day (2 digits), forward slash, month (2 digits), forward slash, year (4digits), or: year (4 digits), a dash, month (2 digits), a dash, day (2 digits)
DateReasonRequested	Date reason requested	38	^ (0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01]) [/](0[1-9]|1[012])[/] (20)\d\d $ or ^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])$	The date in the following format: day (2 digits), forward slash, month (2 digits), forward slash, year (4digits), or: year (4 digits), a dash, month (2 digits), a dash, day (2 digits)

Annex: Nature of appeals

Grounds for appeal - provider

1. Provider Error Appeal - the provider has made an error in its TAG submission and submitted the wrong grade for a student or group of students for one or both sub-components.
2. AO Error Appeal – the provider believes the AO has made an error because, for example, they have not issued the TAGs the provider submitted. Providers will choose one of these categories of appeal only.

Providers will choose one of these categories of appeal only.

Grounds for appeal - student

1. AO Error Appeal (student) - the student believes the AO has made an error and has not issued the grade the provider requested.
2. Provider Process Appeal (Student) - the student believes the provider has not followed its process for determining TAGs correctly, or it has made an admin error, or it has not followed the provider review/appeal process properly. This will also include where a student does not believe the provider has made appropriate provision for any reasonable adjustments they were entitled to or applied special considerations appropriately.
3. Provider Academic Judgement Appeal - Range of evidence (Student) – the student believes that the provider has deviated from the types of evidence they have said they will use for the TAGs for their students
4. Provider Academic Judgement Appeal - Grade (Student) – the student believes that the provider’s TAG was unreasonable. Note that this also includes an appeal on the basis of ‘no grade’, where the provider’s academic judgement has been that the student is not ready to progress and therefore no grade has been submitted.

Students may choose one or more categories of appeal and each appeal will relate to one student only.

Contacts

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