Guidance
File format
Updated 21 September 2026
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| Name | Description | Position | Description of Regular Expression | Validation Regular Expression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reporting date | 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 | 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])$ |
| Exam series | Exam series data relates to, for example June 2024 | 2 | Full month name of exam series and year. | ^(January|March|June|November)([ ][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9])$ |
| Awarding Organisation | Awarding organisation acronym as it appears in Ofqual’s Register of Regulated organisations | 3 | 1 to 100 characters accepted | ^.{1,100}$ |
| Case Ref No. | Unique case identifier assigned by the awarding organisation | 4 | 1 to 25 characters accepted | ^.{1,25}$ |
| Centre No. | Centre’s National Centre Number as allocated by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ). Higher NCN code not accepted | 5 | Valid NCN code. 5-digit integer accepted. Higher NCN code not accepted. -2 accepted where current stage of appeal is Pre-Stage 1 or Pre-Stage 2 and NCN is unknown. -2 accepted for Project qualifications if NCN code is not available | ^(?:-2|.\d{5})$ |
| CentrePostcode | Postcode of the centre. Must be provided for Project qualifications if NCN is not available. | 6 | Valid postcode. 1 to 10 characters accepted. -2 accepted where valid NCN has been provided in Centre No. -2 accepted where current stage of appeal is Pre-Stage 1 or Pre-Stage 2 | ^(?:-2|{1,15})$ |
| Unique Candidate Identifier | Unique Candidate Identifier (UCI). Unique centre staff identifier where applicable (see general completion guidelines) | 7 | 1 to 13 characters accepted. -2 accepted where current stage of appeal is Pre-Stage 1 or Pre-Stage 2 if UCI is not available. -2 accepted for Project qualifications if UCI is not available | ^(?:-2|{1,13})$ |
| UniqueLearnerNumber | Unique Learner Number (ULN) provided by the Learning Records Service | 8 | Valid ULN. 10 digits accepted. -2 accepted if valid UCI is provided. -2 accepted for staff appeals | ^(?:-2|\d{10}) |
| CandidateIdentifierOther | Any other unique student number allocated by individual awarding organisation. Must be provided for Project qualification student appeals if UCI and ULN are not available. | 9 | 1 to 20 characters accepted. -2 accepted where valid UCI or ULN have been provided. -2 accepted where current stage of appeal is Pre-Stage 1 or Pre-Stage 2. -2 accepted for staff appeals | ^(?:-2|{1,20})$ |
| QAN | The unique identifier for the qualification as it appears in Ofqual’s Register of Regulated qualifications, for example, 123/1234/1 | 10 | Valid qualification number. 10 characters accepted. -2 accepted where current stage of appeal is Pre-Stage 1 or Pre-Stage 2 | ^(?:-2|.{10})$ |
| Specification title | Specification title, also known as subject title | 11 | 1 to 150 characters accepted. -2 accepted where current stage of appeal is Pre-Stage 1 or Pre-Stage 2 | ^.{1,150}$ |
| Specification code | Specification code, also known as Subject Award Code and Cash-in Code | 12 | 1 to 7 characters accepted. -2 accepted where current stage of appeal is Pre-Stage 1 or Pre-Stage 2 | ^.{1,7}$ |
| Tier | To indicate the tier if applicable. | 13 | Accepted values: F for foundation, H for higher, -2 accepted for untiered or where current stage of appeal is Pre-Stage 1 or Pre-Stage 2 | ^(F|H|-2)$ |
| Qualification level | Type of qualification | 14 | Accepted values: GCSE|AS|A level|Project L1|Project L2|Project L3, -2 accepted where current stage of appeal is Pre-Stage 1 or Pre-Stage 2 | ^(GCSE|AS|A level|Project L1|Project L2|Project L3|-2)$ |
| Date received | Date the appeal application was received | 15 | 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])$ |
| Date completed | Date the appeal was completed. For appeals progressed to Stage 1 or 2, defined as the date when an appeal is completed and decision letter is sent. For Pre-Stage 1 and Pre-Stage 2 appeals, the date when a response was sent to the parent, student or centre. For reviews of administrative decisions, the date the review was completed | 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 not yet completed | ^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])$ |
| Nature of appeal | Nature of appeal or grounds for the appeal | 17 | Accepted values: See appendix A. -2 accepted where current stage of appeal is Pre-Stage 1 or Pre-Stage 2 and nature of appeal is unknown | See Appendix A |
| Current stage of appeal | Current stage of appeal at the time of data submission | 18 | Accepted values: Pre-Stage 1| Stage 1|Pre-Stage 2|Stage 2|Review of administrative decision|N/A - referred to EPRS | ^(Pre-Stage 1| Stage 1|Pre-Stage 2|Stage 2|Review of administrative decision|N/A - referred to EPRS)$ |
| What stage was appeal resolved | Stage appeal was resolved | 19 | Accepted values: Pre-Stage 1| Stage 1|Pre-Stage 2|Stage 2|With AO but still in process|N/A - referred to EPRS|Remitted back to AO from EPRS| Review of administrative decision | ^(Pre-Stage 1| Stage 1|Pre-Stage 2|Stage 2|With AO but still in process|N/A - referred to EPRS|Remitted back to AO from EPRS| Review of administrative decision)$ |
| Appeal upheld | To indicate if the appeal was upheld at the Current stage of appeal | 20 | Accepted values: Y for yes, N for no, TBC for to be confirmed, -2 accepted where current stage of appeal is Pre-Stage 1 or Pre-Stage 2, -2 accepted where a review of administrative decision was requested but did not progress to a review | ^(Y|N|TBC|-2)$ |
| Reason appeal did not proceed | For Pre-Stage 1 and Pre-Stage 2 appeals only, to indicate the reason why the appeal did not proceed to Stage 1 or Stage 2 | 21 | Accepted values: Withdrawn by centre|Invalid grounds|No ROMM application|Cancelled by AO|Invalid application|No Stage 1 appeal|-2 accepted where Current stage of appeal is not Pre-Stage 1 or Pre-Stage 2 | ^(Withdrawn by centre|Invalid grounds|No ROMM application|Cancelled by AO|Invalid application|No Stage 1 appeal|-2)$ |
| Pre Appeal unit raw mark | Pre-appeal component raw mark.Raw mark at beginning of each appeal stage. See general completion guidance. | 22 | Up to 3-digit integer accepted. -2 accepted for staff appeals and where current stage of appeal is Pre-Stage 1 or Pre-Stage 2 | ^(?:-2|\d{1,3})$ |
| Post Appeal raw mark | Post-appeal component raw mark. Raw mark at end of each appeal stage. See general completion guidance. | 23 | Up to 3-digit integer accepted. -2 accepted where appeal is still in process. -2 accepted for teacher appeals and where current stage of appeal is Pre-Stage 1 or Pre-Stage 2 | ^(?:-2|\d{1,3})$ |
| Pre Appeal unit UMS | Pre-appeal unit UMS mark. UMS mark at the beginning of each appeals stage. See general completion guidance. | 24 | Up to 3-digit number with up to 2 decimals accepted. -2 accepted for subjects that do not convert to UMS. -2 accepted for teacher appeals and where current stage of appeal is Pre-Stage 1 or Pre-Stage 2. | ^(-2|\d{0,3}|\d{0,3}\.\d{0,2})$ |
| Post Appeal UMS | Post-appeal unit UMS mark. UMS mark at end of each appeal stage. See general completion guidance. | 25 | Up to 3-digit number with up to 2 decimals accepted. -2 accepted for subjects that do not convert to UMS. -2 accepted for staff appeals and where current stage of appeal is Pre-Stage 1 or Pre-Stage 2, -2 accepted where appeal is still in process | ^(-2|\d{0,3}|\d{0,3}\.\d{0,2})$ |
| Pre Appeal qualification UMS (modular) / Scale score (linear) | Pre-appeal qualification mark. Qualification mark at the beginning of the appeals process rather than original qualification mark. See general completion guidance. | 26 | Up to 3-digit number with up to 2 decimals accepted. -2 accepted for staff appeals and where current stage of appeal is Pre-Stage 1 or Pre-Stage 2. | ^(-2|\d{0,3}|\d{0,3}\.\d{0,2})$ |
| Post Appeal qualification UMS (modular) / Scale score (linear) | Post-appeal qualification mark. See general completion guidance. | 27 | Up to 3-digit number with up to 2 decimals accepted. -2 accepted for staff appeals and where current stage of appeal is Pre-Stage 1 or Pre-Stage 2. -2 accepted where appeal is still in process | ^(-2|\d{0,3}|\d{0,3}\.\d{0,2})$ |
| Pre Appeal qualification grade | Pre-appeal qualification grade. Qualification grade at the beginning of the appeals process rather than original qualification grade. See general completion guidance. | 28 | Accepted values: A* to G, 9 to 1, 9-9 to 1-1, AA to UU, U, X, Q, Pass, Merit, Distinction, -2 accepted if unknown or not applicable, -2 accepted for staff appeals and where current stage of appeal is Pre-Stage 1 or Pre-Stage 2 | ^(A*|A|B|C|C*|D|E|F|G|U|X|Q|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|1-1|2-1|2-2|3-2|3-3|4-3|4-4|5-4|5-5|6-5|6-6|7-6|7-7|8-7|8-8|9-8|9-9|A*A*|A*A|AA|AB|BB|BC|BC*|C*C*|C*C|CC|CD|DD|DE|EE|EF|FF|FG|GG|Pass|Merit|Distinction|-2) |
| Post Appeal qualification grade | Post-appeal qualification grade. See general completion guidance. | 29 | Accepted values: A* to G, 9 to 1, 9-9 to 1-1, AA to UU, U, X, Q, Pass, Merit, Distinction, -2 accepted if unknown or not applicable, -2 accepted for staff appeals and where current stage of appeal is Pre-Stage 1 or Pre-Stage 2, -2 accepted if unknown or not applicable, -2 accepted for staff appeals and where current stage of appeal is Pre-Stage 1 or Pre-Stage 2 | ^(A*|A|B|C|C*|D|E|F|G|U|X|Q|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|1-1|2-1|2-2|3-2|3-3|4-3|4-4|5-4|5-5|6-5|6-6|7-6|7-7|8-7|8-8|9-8|9-9|A*A*|A*A|AA|AB|BB|BC|BC*|C*C*|C*C|CC|CD|DD|DE|EE|EF|FF|FG|GG|Pass|Merit|Distinction|-2) |
| Unit code | Unit or component code as designated in the specification | 30 | 1 to 10 characters accepted. -2 accepted where not available or not applicable and where current stage of appeal is Pre-Stage 1 or Pre-Stage 2. | ^.{1,10}$ |
| Date script requested | Date the script was requested at any stage during the post-results service process | 31 | 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 for appeals that have not had a script request | ^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])$ |
| Date reason requested | Date the reason was requested | 32 | 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 for appeals that have not had a script request. | ^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])$ |