Guidance
File format
Updated 1 May 2026
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| Name | Description | Position | Description of Regular Expression | Validation Regular Expression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AcademicYear | The academic year which this data submission relates to (defined as 1 September to 31 August). For example, 2021-2022 | 1 | The academic year in the following format: start year (4 digits), a dash, end year (4 digits). Format accepted yyyy-yyyy. | ^(20)\d\d[-](20)\d\d$ |
| ReportingDate | Date the file was due to be submitted regardless of when it was actually uploaded (this date will be made available by Ofqual). | 2 | The date in the following format: year (4 digits), a dash, month (2 digits), a dash, day-of-month (2 digits). Format accepted yyyy-mm-dd. | ^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])$ |
| AwardingOrganisation | Awarding organisation acronym as it appears in Ofqual’s Register of Regulated organisations | 3 | 1 to 150 characters accepted | ^.{1,150}$ |
| CaseReferenceNumber | Unique case identifier assigned by the awarding organisation | 4 | 1 to 25 characters accepted | ^.{1,25}$ |
| QualificationNumber | The unique identifier for the qualification as it appears in Ofqual’s Register of Regulated qualifications, for example, 123/1234/1 | 5 | Valid qualification number. 10 characters accepted. -2 accepted for not applicable, for example appeals that are not specific to a single qualification, where a candidate has not cashed-in or where CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ | ^(?:-2|.{10})$ |
| QualificationTitle | Title of qualification as it appears in Ofqual’s Register of Regulated qualifications | 6 | 1 to 150 characters accepted. -2 accepted where not applicable, for example appeals that are not specific to a single qualification, where a candidate has not cashed-in or where CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ | ^.{1,150}$ |
| SpecificationCode | Specification code, also known as Subject Code and Pathway Code | 7 | 1 to 7 characters accepted. -2 accepted where not applicable, for example appeals that are not specific to a single assessment, or where CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ | ^{1,7}$ |
| SpecificationTitle | Specification title, also known as subject title. Must be provided if specification code is provided | 8 | 1 to 150 characters accepted. -2 accepted where not applicable, for example appeals that are not specific to a single assessment, or where CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ | ^.{1,150}$ |
| AssessmentCode | Unique identifier for the assessment, generated by the AO. | 9 | 1 to 50 characters accepted. -2 accepted where not applicable, for example appeals that are not specific to a single assessment, or where CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ | ^.{1,50}$ |
| UCI | Unique Candidate Identifier (UCI). Unique centre staff identifier where applicable (see general completion guidelines) | 10 | 1 to 13 characters accepted. -2 accepted for student appeals if UCI is not available | ^.{1,13}$ |
| ULN | Unique Learner Number (ULN) provided by the Learning Records Service | 11 | Valid ULN. 10 digits accepted. -2 accepted where ULN is unknown, appeal does not relate to a student or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ | ^(?:-2|\d{10}$ |
| CandidateIdentifierOther | Any other unique candidate number allocated by individual awarding organisation. Must be provided where UCI and ULN are not available. | 12 | 1 to 20 characters accepted. -2 accepted where at least one of UCI or ULN have been provided, appeal does not relate to a student or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ | ^.{1,20}$ |
| FirstName | Student's first name(s). If middle name cannot be separated from first name please provide both names in the FirstName field and leave the MiddleNames field blank. | 13 | 1 to 150 characters accepted. -2 accepted where appeal does not relate to a student or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ | ^. {1,150}$ |
| MiddleNames | Student's middle name(s), if able to separate out from first names. | 14 | 0 to 150 characters accepted. Can be left blank if not known or unavailable, or if middle names cannot be separated from first names | ^.{0,150}$ |
| Surname | Student’s surname or family name | 15 | 1 to 150 characters accepted. -2 accepted where appeal does not relate to a student or where CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ | ^.{1,150}$ |
| DateOfBirth | Student’s date of birth | 16 | The date in the following format: year (4 digits), a dash, month (2 digits), a dash, day-of-month (2 digits). Format accepted yyyy-mm-dd. 2999-12-31 accepted where appeal does not relate to a student or where CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ | ^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])$ |
| CentreNCN | Centre’s National Centre Number as allocated by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ). Higher NCN code not accepted | 17 | Valid NCN code. 5-digit integer accepted. Higher NCN code not accepted. -2 accepted where NCN is unknown, centre does not have an NCN, student is not registered to a centre, or where CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ | ^(?:-2|\d{5})$ |
| CentreURN | Centre’s Unique Reference Number as assigned by the Department for Education | 18 | Valid Centre URN. 6-digit integer accepted. -2 accepted where the centre number is unknown, centre does not have a URN, candidate is not registered to a centre, or where CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ | ^(?:-2|\d{6})$ |
| CentreIdentifierOther | Any other unique number allocated to the centre by individual awarding organisation at the time of data submission. Must be provided if neither CentreNCN nor CentreURN are available | 19 | 1 to 20 characters accepted. -2 accepted where at least one of NCN or URN have been provided or for students who are not registered to a centre, or where CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ | ^.{1,20}$ |
| CentreName | Name of the centre | 20 | 1 to 100 characters accepted. -2 accepted for students who are not registered to a centre, or where CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ | ^.{1,100}$ |
| CentrePostcode | Postcode of the centre. Must be provided if neither CentreNCN nor CentreURN are available | 21 | 1 to 10 characters accepted. -2 accepted for students who are not registered to a centre., or where CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ | ^.{1,10}$ |
| TypeOfDecisionAppealed | The type of decision that is appealed | 22 | Accepted values: Component or qualification result, Malpractice or maladministration, Reasonable adjustment, Special consideration | ^(Component or qualification result|Malpractice or maladministration|Reasonable adjustment|Special consideration)$ |
| GroundOfAppeal | Grounds for appeal | 23 | See Appendix A for accepted values | ^(Administrative error - centre|Administrative error - AO|Procedural inconsistency - centre|Procedural inconsistency - AO|Unreasonable exercise of academic judgement - centre|Unreasonable exercise of academic judgement - AO|-2)$ |
| CurrentStageOfAppeal | Current stage of appeal at time of data submission | 24 | Accepted values: Application not proceeded, Preliminary appeal, Independent review, Independent review – no preliminary appeal. Definitions of stages provided in Appendix B | ^(Application not proceeded|Preliminary appeal|Independent review|Independent review – no preliminary appeal)$ |
| StageAppealResolved | Stage the appeal was resolved | 25 | Accepted values: Application not proceeded, Preliminary appeal, Independent review, Independent review – no preliminary appeal, Still in process. Definitions of stages provided in Appendix B | ^(Application not proceeded|Preliminary appeal|Independent review|Independent review – no preliminary appeal|Still in process)$ |
| ReasonNotProceeded | For ‘Application not proceeded’ appeals only, to indicate the reason why the appeal did not progress | 26 | Accepted values: Withdrawn by centre, Invalid grounds, No ROMM application, Cancelled by AO, Invalid application, No Stage 1 appeal. -2 expected where CurrentStageOfAppeal is not ‘Application not proceeded’ | ^(Withdrawn by centre|Invalid grounds|No ROMM application|Cancelled by AO|Invalid application|No Stage 1 appeal|-2)$ |
| AppealUpheld | To indicate if the appeal was upheld at the CurrentStageOfAppeal | 27 | Accepted values: Y for yes, N for no, TBC for to be confirmed. -2 accepted where CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ | ^(Y|N|TBC|-2)$ |
| PreAppealAssessmentGrade | Pre-appeal assessment grade at the beginning of the CurrentStageOfAppeal | 28 | Accepted values provided in Appendix C. -2 accepted where not applicable, grade is not captured when appeal is not upheld, or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ | See Appendix C |
| PostAppealAssessmentGrade | Post-appeal assessment grade at the end of the CurrentStageOfAppeal | 29 | Accepted values provided in Appendix C. -2 accepted where not applicable, grade is not captured when appeal is not upheld, StageAppealResolved is ‘Still in process’ or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ | See Appendix C |
| PreAppealAssessmentRawMark | Pre-appeal assessment raw mark at the beginning of the CurrentStageOfAppeal | 30 | Up to 3-digit integer. -2 accepted where not applicable, mark is not captured when appeal is not upheld, or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ | ^(?:-2|\d{1,3})$ |
| PostAppealAssessmentRawMark | Post-appeal assessment raw mark at the end of the CurrentStageOfAppeal | 31 | Up to 3-digit integer. -2 accepted where not applicable, mark is not captured when appeal is not upheld, StageAppealResolved is ‘Still in process’ or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ | ^(?:-2|\d{1,3})$ |
| PreAppealQualificationGrade | Pre-appeal qualification grade originally appealed | 32 | Accepted values provided in Appendix C. -2 accepted where not applicable, grade is not yet known (for example for mid-flight students), grade is not captured when appeal is not upheld, or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ | See Appendix C |
| PostAppealQualificationGrade | Post-Appeal Qualification Grade once all stages of appeal are complete | 33 | Accepted values provided in Appendix C. -2 accepted where not applicable, grade is not yet known (for example for mid-flight students), grade is not captured when appeal is not upheld, StageAppealResolved is ‘Still in process‘ or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ | See Appendix C |
| DateReceived | Date when the appeal application was received | 34 | Date in the following format: year (4 digits), a dash, month (2 digits), a dash, day-of-month (2 digits). Format accepted yyyy-mm-dd. | ^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])$ |
| DateCompleted | Date when the appeal was completed. For appeals progressed to preliminary appeal or independent review, defined as the date when an appeal is completed and decision letter is sent. For ‘Application not proceeded’ appeals, the date when a response was sent to the parent, student or centre. | 35 | Date in the following format: year (4 digits), a dash, month (2 digits), a dash, day-of-month (2 digits). Format accepted yyyy-mm-dd. 2999-12-31 accepted where appeal not yet completed or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ | ^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])$ |