Access to scripts: guide to the data submission process
Updated 27 October 2023
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2023
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/access-to-scripts-guide-to-the-data-submission-process/access-to-scripts-guide-to-the-data-submission-process
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?
Access to scripts data, will be collected for GCSE, GCSE linear, GCSE full course, GCSE short course, AS, A-level and Advanced Extension Award (AEA).
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.
General completion guidelines
- numeric values must not have any formatting
- this template is intended to capture requests made for access to scripts which may be used to inform decision on requesting reviews of marking. It is not intended to collect script requests for teaching and learning purposes
File format
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 2020 | 1 | ^(January|June|March|November)([ ][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 (four digits), a dash, month (two digits), a dash, day (two digits). |
| AwardingOrganisation | Name of the awarding organisation | 3 | ^.{1,100}$ |
One, to one hundred characters accepted |
| CentreNo | Centre number (NCN) | 4 | ^d{1,5}$ |
Up to five digit integer accepted |
| UniqueCandidateIdentifier | Unique Candidate Identifier (UCI) | 5 | ^.{1,13}$ |
Alpha numeric 13 characters accepted |
| QualificationLevel | Level of qualification, for example, GCSE | 6 | ^(GCSE|GCSE linear|GCSE short course|GCSE full course|AS|A level|A-level|App A Level Dbl|App A Level Sgl|App AS Dbl|App AS Sgl|AEA)$ |
One of the following list: GCSE, GCSE linear, GCSE short course, GCSE full course, AS, A level, App A Level Dbl, App A Level Sgl, App AS Dbl, App AS Sgl, AEA. |
| QAN | Qualification Accreditation Number, for example, 123/1234/1 | 7 | ^.{1,10}$ |
One, to ten characters accepted. -2 accepted if unknown, for example, cases where candidate is not certificating |
| SpecificationTitle | Specification title also known as subject title | 8 | ^.{1,150}$ |
One, to one hundred and fifty characters accepted Not Certificating also accepted |
| SpecificationCode | Specification code also known as Subject Award Code and Cash-in Code | 9 | ^.{1,7}$ |
One, to seven characters accepted -2 also accepted |
| UnitCode | Unit code | 10 | ^.{1,10}$ |
One, to ten characters accepted |
| UnitTitle | Unit title | 11 | ^.{1,150}$ |
One, to one hundred and fifty characters accepted |
| DateScriptRequested | Date script requested | 12 | ^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])$ |
The date in the following format: year (four digits), a dash, month (two digits), a dash, day (two digits). |
| DateScriptProvided | Date script provided | 13 | ^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])$ |
The date in the following format: year (four digits), a dash, month (two digits), a dash, day (two digits). 2999-12-31 accepted where script not provided |
| Outcome | Script request decision | 14 | ^(Accepted|Rejected)$ |
One of the following: Accepted, Rejected. |
| ReasonForRejection | Reason request rejected | 15 | ^( Not applicable|Script lost|Other reasons)$ |
One of the following list: Not applicable, Script lost, Other reasons |
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