Guidance

Delivery of Results: guide to the data submission process

Updated 31 March 2025

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?

All AOs in scope for Ofqual’s delivery of results monitoring activity must submit this data which covers Level 1/2, Level 2 and Level 3.

When will data be collected?

Data will be collected according to the vocational and technical qualifications 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 web page to help you submit your files to us. If you need to ask us about a data submission please contact the Data Services team. 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 email. 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

This guidance has 3 sections (each with its own deadlines for submission):

• Part One - candidate and centre details, term time checkpoint and Senior Designated Contact (SDC) confirmation
• Part Two - progress towards the safe delivery of results
• Part Three - results issued

Part One - Candidate and centre details, term-time checkpoint and SDC confirmation

All AOs in scope for Ofqual’s delivery of results monitoring activity must submit this data. This information will also need to be included with each subsequent data submission for parts 2 and 3.

The submission should include the names of candidates that centres have confirmed as part of your term-time checkpoint that they are expecting to receive a result by 14 or 21 August 2025 in order to progress.

To allow us to identify the learner please provide at least one of UniqueLearnerNumber, UniqueCandidateIdentifier, or CandidateIdentifierOther. If more than one is collected, please provide as many as are available.

Candidates should not be removed from the data if they are no longer expecting a result, but this information should be recorded on your later submissions. Candidates may be entered in subsequent submissions in the case of a late entry or claim.

Any late entry or claim should be indicated as such in the AdditionalInformation column and any results issued to candidates not included in the term-time checkpoint should be identified as ‘AdditionalCertification’ in the ResultIssued column.

Values for ExpectingResult and SeniorContactConfirmed are required, -2 is not allowed.

A value for AdditionalInformation is required and -2 should be entered if no additional information is submitted.

Values for ResultStatus and ResultIssued are required and -2 should be entered as data will not yet be available.

Deadline for submission: 13 May 2025.

Part Two – Progress towards results

Only AOs who have been selected for closer monitoring will submit the progress towards results data. Each data submission should be received by the deadlines stated below. Each deadline date is a Tuesday, at 10am.

A value for ResultStatus is required and -2 is not allowed.

A value for AdditionalInformation is required and -2 should be entered if no additional information is submitted.

A value for ResultIssued is required and -2 should be entered as data will not yet be available.

Deadlines for submission (10am)

Date	Qualification Level
10 June 2025	Level 1/2 and Level 2 and Level 3
24 June 2025	Level 1/2 and Level 2 and Level 3
8 July 2025	Level 1/2 and Level 2 and Level 3
15 July 2025	Level 1/2 and Level 2 and Level 3
22 July 2025	Level 1/2 and Level 2 and Level 3
29 July 2025	Level 1/2 and Level 2 and Level 3
5 August 2025	Level 1/2 and Level 2 and Level 3
12 August 2025	Level 1/2 and Level 2 only

On 12 August 2025, this data collection overlaps with Part Three – Results Issued. On this date, please ensure that ‘-2’ is entered for any L1/2 and 2 ResultIssued values, but for L3 qualifications values are  entered as per the guidance for Part Three.

Part Three – Results issued

All AOs will be expected to submit the results issued to candidates.

This data collection will also capture any results that were late, not issued or of a different qualification to that which was originally expected.

This data collection will also capture any candidates who received a result in addition to those listed in the term-time checkpoint due to a late claim or entry.

A value for ResultStatus is required and -2 should be entered if the AO was not selected for close monitoring.

A value for AdditionalInformation is required and -2 should be entered if no additional information is submitted.

A value for Result Issued is required and -2 will not be accepted.

Deadlines for submission (10am)

Date	Qualification Level
Tuesday 12 August 2025	Level 3 only
Tuesday 19 August 2025	Level 1/2 and Level 2 and Level 3
Friday 26 August 2025	Level 1/2 and Level 2 and Level 3
Friday 2 September 2025	Level 1/2 and Level 2 and Level 3
Friday 16 September 2025	Level 1/2 and Level 2 and Level 3

For the close monitoring group only, on 12 August, this data collection overlaps with Part Two – Progress towards results. On this date, please ensure that ‘-2’ is entered in the ResultIssued field for any L1/2 and 2 results but results for L3 qualifications are entered as per the guidance for Part Three.

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.

Field name	Description	Position	Validation Regular Expression	Description of regular expression
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)	A	^(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)
CentreURN	Centre’s Unique Reference Number as assigned by the Department for Education at the time of data submission. -2 accepted where the centre does not have an URN	B	^\d{1,6}$	Valid Centre URN. Up to 6-digit integer accepted. -2 also accepted where centre does not have a URN
CentreNCN	Centre’s National Centre Number as allocated by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) at the time of data submission. -2 accepted where the centre does not have an NCN	C	^\d{1,5}$	Valid NCN code. Up to 5-digit integer accepted. -2 also accepted where centre does not have a NCN
CentreIdentifierOther	Any other number allocated to the centre or assessment venue by individual awarding organisations at the time of data submission. Must be provided if neither CentreURN nor CentreNCN are available	D	^{1,15}$	1 to 15 characters accepted. -2 permitted where at least one of NCN or URN have been provided or for candidates who are not registered to a centre
Centre_name	Name of centre	E	^.{1,150}$	1 to 150 characters accepted. -2 accepted for unknown
Postcode	Postcode of centre	F	^.{1,10}$	1 to 10 characters accepted. -2 accepted for unknown
Country	Country where the centre is located	G	^(England)$	1 to 150 characters accepted. -2 accepted for unknown
CentreType	The type code of the centre	H	^\{1,14}$	Up to 2 characters between 1-14 See Annex A - Centre Type Codes for more information
UniqueLearnerNumber	Unique Learner Number (ESFA code) provided by the Learning Records Service.Please provide this identifier wherever possible. -2 accepted where the learner does not have a ULN	I	^\d{1,10}$	1 to 10 digits accepted. -2 accepted where the candidate does not have a ULN
UniqueCandidateIdentifier	Unique Candidate Identifier (JCQ code), assigned to the candidate. -2 accepted where the learner does not have a UCI	J	^.{1,13}$	A valid UCI. Alpha numeric 13 characters accepted. -2 accepted where the candidate does not have a UCI
CandidateIdentifierOther	Any other unique candidate number allocated by individual awarding organisation. Must be provided where neither UCI or ULN are available. -2 accepted where at least one of UCI or ULN have been provided	K	^.{1,20}$	1 to 20 characters accepted. -2 permitted where at least one of UCI or ULN have been provided
FirstName	Candidate’s forename(s)	L	^.{1,150}$	1 to 150 characters accepted
MiddleNames	Candidate’s middle name(s), if able to separate out from first names. Can be left blank if not known or unavailable, or if middle names cannot be separated from first names	M	^.{0,150}$	0 to 150 characters accepted
Surname	Candidate’s surname or family name	N	^.{1,150}$	1 to 150 characters accepted
DateOfBirth	Candidate’s date of birth	O	^(19|20|29)\d\d[- ](0[1-9]|1[012])[- ](0[1-9]|[12][0- 9]|3[01])$	Date in the following format: year (4 digits), a dash, month (2 digits), a dash, day (2 digits).2999-12-31 accepted if DOB unknown
Gender	Candidate’s gender	P	^(M|F|-2)$	Accepted values: * M * F -2 accepted for other/unknown
QualificationNumber	This should be the unique identifier for the final qualification awarded as it appears in Ofqual’s Register of Regulated qualifications	Q	^.{1,10}$	Valid Qualification Number. 1 to 10
QualificationTitle	Title of qualification	R	^.{1,150}$	1 to 150 characters accepted
QualificationLevel	This should be the level of the qualification on the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF)	S	^(L1/2|L2|L3)$	Accepted values: * L1/2 * L2 * L3
AdditionalInformation	Any additional information about the candidate, centre of qualification	T	^.{0,255|-2}$	Up to 255 characters -2 accepted if no additional information
ExpectingResult	If candidate is expecting a result	U	^(Y|YL)$	Accepted values: * Y * YL See Annex B - Further guidance for completing the Expecting Result field for more information
SeniorContactConfirmed	Senior designated contact status	V	^(Y|N|NCN|NCNA)$	Accepted values: * Y * N * NCN * NCNA See Annex C - Further guidance for completing the Senior Contact Confirmed field for more information
ResultStatus	Status of result at the time of reporting. -2 accepted at Part One of the collection and at Part Three if AO was not selected for close monitoring	W	^(S1|S2|S3|S4|-2)$	Accepted values: * S1 * S2 * S3 * S4 * -2 See Annex D - Result status values for more information
ResultIssued	Status of result issued at the time of reporting. -2 accepted at Part One of the collection and at Part Two if AO is selected for close monitoring	X	^(RE|NW|NN|NDE|NPM|NP|RDF|RI|AC|-2)$	Accepted values: * RE * NW * NN * NDE * NPM * NP * RDF * RI * AC * -2 See Annex E - Result issued values for more information

Annex A - Centre Type Codes

Centre Type Code	Centre Type Description	Notes
1	Secondary Comprehensive or Middle	Community, Voluntary Aided or Controlled
2	Secondary Selective	Community, Voluntary Aided or Controlled
3	Secondary Modern	Community, Voluntary Aided or Controlled
4	Secondary Comprehensive or Middle	Foundation
5	Secondary Selective	Foundation
6	Secondary Modern	Foundation
7	Independent
8	FE Establishment
9	Sixth Form College
10	Tertiary College	No Longer in use Centres that have previously used this category should select the ‘Further Education establishment’ category.
11	Other (excluding private candidates)
12	City Academy
13	Free Schools
14	Private Candidates

Annex B - Further guidance for completing the Expecting Result field

Further guidance for completing the Expecting Result field 1. At Part One of the collection all candidates would be expecting a result. Your checkpoint activities with centres should have enabled you to identify which students are expecting a result in August for the purposes of progression. This means that all students at this stage should have a ‘Y’ for this field.

1. As progression towards results takes place, the status of individual learners may change and this will be captured in data returns for Part Two (if you are selected for the close monitoring activities) and/or Part Three of the data returns.

2. For AOs selected for close monitoring ONLY: if a centre confirms additional students will be expecting a result in August after the checkpoint activity has taken place, these students can be added to this field during the close monitoring submissions. Please submit YL (Yes Late) for these students. Please also ensure that you add a note in the AdditionalInformation field in position X to identify these students as late entries. These students’ results should be categorised along with the others from the checkpoint activity and NOT categorised as AC (Additional Certification).

3. When submitting data returns for Part Three (Results Issued) please include any additional students who were not included in the checkpoint submission in Part One B in this field and identify them as YL (Yes Late). Please also ensure that you add a note in the AdditionalInformation field in position X to identify these students as late entries. These students’ results should be categorised as AC (Additional Certification).

Annex C - Further guidance for completing the Senior Contact Confirmed field

The SeniorContactConfirmed field is confirmation that the AO has senior designated contact details and has processes to ensure such contacts are kept up to date when key centre staff change. It does not matter if this has been collected through a collaborative process or at AO level. This field is intended to provide Ofqual with assurance that you are confident you could contact an appropriate senior member of centre staff in the event that this becomes necessary.

• AOs who have their SDC details collected for them via the NCN process ONLY should submit NCN in this field
• AOs who have their SDC details collected for them via the NCN process AND collect their own SDC data for all their centres in addition to NCN should submit NCNA
• Where an AO collects SDC data through the NCN process for most centres, they should submit NCN for the centres where the data is collected through NCN and for the centres where the AO collects SDC data through their own processes, they should submit a Y (yes) or N (no)
• All other AOs should submit a Y (yes) or N (no)

Annex D - Result Status values

-2 only allowed when submitting Part One data collection (and Part Three if AO is NOT selected for close monitoring).

Accepted values	Description
S1	On track to receive result all assessments marked and or moderated: The candidate has all the evidence required for certification to take place and for the result to be issued. All examinations have been marked and moderation has taken place. Any EQA reports have been received and the marks for each unit have been agreed so that results can be issued and certification can take place.
S2	On track to receive result all evidence received: All evidence other than examination scripts required for a certification has been received. Moderation and EQA visits are not yet complete. Any EQA visits should have been booked by centres. If any of this evidence is missing, not yet received or EQA visits not confirmed then the student should be considered as S4.
S3	No longer expecting result: The candidate is no longer expecting a result. The centre has confirmed that this candidate is no longer expecting a result. The centre may have withdrawn the candidate or have decided not to certificate at this time.
S4	Status not confirmed: There is insufficient evidence for the AO to award a result. The AO is unable to award a result as there may be insufficient evidence as there are units still to be sat or evidence still has to be received, and the centre has not confirmed its intentions or booked an EQA visit.

Annex E - Result Issued values

-2 only allowed when submitting Part One and Part Two data collections as well as Part Three on 12 August where L1/2 and 2 progress data overlaps with L3 results issued data collections.

AOs selected for close monitoring who included additional students in the progress towards results data collections in Part Two should continue to submit results data for those students in these fields and NOT as an additional certification.

Accepted values	Description
RE	The candidate received the result as expected at the term-time checkpoint.
NW	Centre has withdrawn student from the qualification (for example, student has changed courses or left centre). Please note, in this field, the student has not received a result because of an action or decision made by the centre.
NN	Centre deferred or confirmed its intention not to claim or cash in certification for student. Please note, in this field, the student has not received a result because of an action or decision made by the centre.
NDE	AO did not certificate candidate because the centre did not confirm its intention or did not submit sufficient evidence for the AO to be able to certificate. This would also include where a candidate was absent without good reason or where the reason has not been shared by the centre. Please note, in this field, the student has not received a result because of an action or decision made by the AO (which could be due to lack of engagement from the centre).
NPM	The candidate has not yet had the result or had the result issued late due to ongoing malpractice/maladministration investigations. Please note, in this field, the student has not received a result because of an action or decision made by the AO (which could be due to lack of engagement from the centre).
NP	The candidate has not yet had the result or had the result issued late due to reasons OTHER THAN ongoing malpractice or maladministration for example, late claims. Please note, in this field, the student has not received a result because of an action or decision made by the AO (which could be due to lack of engagement from the centre).
RDF	The candidate has certificated for a different course to that expected at the term-time checkpoint. They may have achieved better than expected results or a greater number of units and were able to ‘top up’ to a larger qualification than expected OR may have had lower results, or fewer units completed than expected and therefore ‘stepped down’ and claimed for a smaller qualification.
RI	The candidate received an incorrect result. This could have been due to an error in processing the candidate results by the AO OR an error by the centre, for example submitting results incorrectly. This is NOT an attempt to collect reviews of marking queries which are considered BAU.
AC	The candidate received a result but was not included in the term-time checkpoint OR in the progress towards results data (close monitoring group only). They were not expected at the time of the term-time checkpoint to receive a result, but the centre has made a late claim. Any candidate that was added during the Part Two data submission (Progress Towards Results close monitoring group) should NOT be included as an additional certification.

Contacts

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

Data services

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

Email data.services@ofqual.gov.uk