Guidance

PTQ Outcomes: Qualification Registrations and Outcomes

Updated 1 May 2026

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 the following data for regulated qualifications.

This data will be used to undertake our regulatory activities and to fulfil our responsibility as a government department. In particular, this data is used in the publication of the statistics: summer qualification results in England

as well as the following interactive visualisations:

• PTQ outcomes dashboard - level 1, level 1/2 and level 2
• PTQ outcomes dashboard - level 3

What data will be collected?

Data should relate to student registrations and outcomes at qualification level for the time period and qualifications in scope of the collection.

Qualifications in scope

The following qualification types are in scope of this collection:

• Vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs) that are included in the Department for Education’s performance tables (PTQs) for the academic year being submitted. These are:
  • Technical Awards
  • Technical Certificates
  • Tech Levels
  • Applied Generals

Countries in scope

Data should be included for all students in centres in:

• England

Time period in scope

Data is collected at multiple points during the year with each return covering the full academic year. For detail on the scope of each return please see the reporting schedule.

When data will be collected

Data will be collected according to the reporting schedule which is updated regularly.

How to submit your data

Your data must be submitted to us in CSV format. Please refer to the Connecting to Ofqual’s data portal and uploading data document for more information. 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 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.

If validation is successful, the data is automatically transferred into Ofqual’s internal 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.

The specific validation rules which are in place for this template are detailed in the ‘validation rules’ and ‘file format’ sections below.

Amendments to data

Errors or omissions in the data

Once the data has been successfully uploaded, it will be checked by Ofqual staff. If an error or omission is spotted, the data may be queried, and you may be requested to resubmit it. We will need to reject your existing submission ahead of a resubmission.

If you find an error or omission after you’ve had a successful upload, please notify Data Services by email. We need to reject the existing submission before you can upload a new file.

If you wish to see your latest submission of a data return, for example to check the submission if it has been queried, please know it is available to download in the data portal.

Scheduled revisions of data

Each submission of this data is intended to show a snapshot in time. Therefore, there will be no resubmissions required to reflect any further updates to the data already submitted, unless an error or omission is spotted.

General completion guidelines

1. Numeric values must not have any formatting.
2. All fields are mandatory unless otherwise specified.
3. This template is designed to capture data on every qualification registration/entry and result during the academic year.
   1. for registrations/entries, complete fields 1 to 20
   2. for results, complete all fields
4. Submit 1 row of data per student per qualification registration/outcome.
5. The ‘MaxMarkAndBoundaryID’ field would be a unique code for a particular set of qualification grade boundaries and maximum mark information, intended to act as a linking field between the outcomes and maximum marks/grade boundaries templates. For example, for sessional or series-based qualifications it could be the name of the series, or for on-demand qualifications a unique code specific to that version of the assessments taken. ‘-2’ would be accepted for registrations/entries or for qualifications where the boundaries and maximum marks don’t change throughout the academic  year. Where grade boundaries and/or maximum marks change for a qualification number, please use a common value for this field in both the qualification outcomes and qualification grade boundaries templates.
6. ‘QualificationRawMark’ refers to the summed number of marks awarded to a student without any weighting, scaling or other conversion applied.
7. ‘QualificationScaledScore’ refers to any numerical score applied to the qualification that would not be considered a raw mark (see definition above) or a grade. This can include, for example, percentage scores, Uniform Mark Scale (UMS) marks or Grade Points or Grade Credits.
8. ‘AwardDate’ refers to the date the qualification result is released to the centre (or candidate if result issued directly to candidate), not the date the certificate was issued (although in some cases these may be the same date).
9. For the September (academic year) return where a grade is reissued to a candidate, for example following a review of results or appeals, and the latest award date falls in the next academic year (for example in September rather than August), please can the award date be either the date the original grade was awarded or, if this is not known, 31st August of the academic year the result was originally awarded.
10. For the September (academic year) return, where a result is issued late meaning that the award date would fall in the next academic year but was supposed to be issued in the previous academic year (for example in September rather than August), please can the award date be either the intended award date or 31st August of the academic year the result was supposed to be awarded.
11. For fields ‘CentreName’ and ‘CentrePostcode’, if a centre has multiple sites please provide the name and postcode for the site where the candidate was registered and/or achieved the qualification. If this information is not available, please report the name and postcode of the centre’s headquarters.
12. Fields ‘CentreName’ and ‘CentrePostcode’, should, where possible, reflect the most up-to-date name and postcode for the centre at the time of data submission.
13. Submit ‘UniqueCandidateIdentifier’ and ‘UniqueLearnerNumber’ where available. Where ‘UniqueCandidateIdentifier’ and ‘UniqueLearnerNumber’ are not available, submit a ‘CandidateIdentifierOther’, which is any other unique student number allocated by the awarding organisation.
14. Submit ‘CentreNCN’ and ‘CentreURN’ where available. Where ‘CentreNCN’ and ‘CentreURN’ are not available, submit a ‘CentreIdentifierOther’, which is any other unique centre number allocated by the awarding organisation.

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	Description of Regular Expression	Validation 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).	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])$
AcademicYear	The academic year which this data submission relates to (defined as 1 September to 31 August). For example: 2021-2022	2	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$
AwardingOrganisation	Awarding organisation acronym as it appears in Ofqual’s Register of Regulated organisations	3	Valid awarding organisation acronym. 1 to 150 characters accepted	^.{1,150}$
QualificationNumber	The unique identifier for the qualification as it appears in Ofqual’s Register of Regulated qualifications, for example 123/1234/1	4	Valid qualification number. 10 characters accepted.	^.{10}$
MaxMarkAndBoundaryID	Identifier used to link information between the outcomes and grade boundaries templates. See general completion guidelines for more detail. -2 accepted for registrations/entries and where boundaries and maximum marks information do not change throughout the academic year	5	1 to 50 characters accepted -2 accepted for registrations/entries and where boundaries and maximum marks information do not change throughout the academic year	^.{1,50}$
UniqueLearnerNumber	Unique Learner Number (ULN) provided by the Learning Records Service. -2 accepted if not available	6	Valid ULN. 10 digits accepted -2 accepted if not available	^(?:-2|\d{10})$
UniqueCandidateIdentifier	Unique Candidate Identifier (UCI) -2 accepted if not available	7	Valid UCI. Alpha numeric 13 characters accepted -2 accepted if not available	^(?:-2|.{13})$
CandidateIdentifierOther	Any other unique student number allocated by individual awarding organisation. Must be provided where UCI and ULN are not available. If more than one identifier is available please provide as many as possible. -2 accepted where at least one of UCI or ULN have been provided	8	1 to 20 characters accepted -2 accepted where at least one of UCI or ULN have been provided	^.{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.	9	1 to 150 characters accepted	^.{1,150}$
MiddleNames	Student’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.	10	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	11	1 to 150 characters accepted	^.{1,150}$
DOB	Student’s date of birth 2999-12-31 accepted if DOB unknown	12	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 if DOB unknown	^(19|20|29)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])$
Sex	Student’s sex	13	Accepted values: •M •F -2 accepted for other or not stated	^(M|F|-2)$
CentreURN	Centre’s Unique Reference Number as assigned by the Department for Education. -2 accepted where the centre does not have an URN or for candidates who are not registered to a centre	14	Valid Centre URN. 6-digit integer accepted -2 accepted where centre does not have a URN or for candidates who are not registered to a centre	^(?:-2|\d{6})$
CentreNCN	Centre’s National Centre Number as allocated by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ). Higher NCN code not accepted -2 accepted where the centre does not have an NCN or for candidates who are not registered to a centre	15	Valid NCN code 5-digit integer accepted Higher NCN code not accepted -2 accepted where centre does not have a NCN or for candidates who are not registered to a centre	^(?:-2|\d{5})$
CentreIdentifierOther	Any other number allocated to the centre or assessment venue by individual awarding organisations at the time of data submission. Must be provided where CentreURN and CentreNCN are not available. If more than one identifier is available please provide as many as possible. -2 accepted where at least one of CentreNCN or CentrreURN have been provided or for students who are not registered to a centre.	16	1 to 15 characters accepted -2 accepted where at least one of CentreNCN or CentreURN have been provided or for candidates who are not registered to a centre	^.{1,15}$
CentreName	Name of the centre -2 accepted for students who are not registered to a centre at the time of the data submission.	17	1 to 255 characters accepted. -2 accepted for students who are not registered to a centre at the time of the data submission.	^.{1,255}$
CentrePostcode	Postcode of the centre -2 accepted for students who are not registered to a centre at the time of data submission, or where a centre has closed and the former postcode is unknown.	18	Valid postcode. 1 to 10 characters accepted. -2 accepted for students who are not registered to a centre at the time of data submission, or where a centre has closed and the former postcode is unknown.	^.{1,10}$
RegistrationDate	Date when the student originally registered/entered for the qualification. For outcomes, this date must be on or before the first entry date and the award date. For series-based awards, this should be the deadline date for registrations/entries.	19	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])$
QualificationCompletionStatus	Status of qualification at the time of submission. Where possible, please indicate where students have withdrawn from the course.	20	Accepted values: •On programme •Completed •Withdrawn	^(On programme| Completed| Withdrawn)$
AwardDate	The date that the result was issued, or is due to be issued to the centre (or student if result issued directly to student). Where used, this will be the date of the results day for this qualification. Future dates are accepted. 2999-12-31 accepted for registrations/entries or where the student has withdrawn	21	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 registrations/entries or where the student has withdrawn	^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])$
QualificationRawMark	Final aggregated raw mark for the qualification. See general completion guidelines for more detail. -2 accepted for not applicable or for registrations/entries	22	Up to 3-digit integer accepted -2 accepted where not applicable or for registrations/entries	^(?:-2|\d{1,3})$
QualificationScaledScore	Final aggregated scaled mark/score for the qualification, where used. See general completion guidelines for more detail. -2 accepted for not applicable or for registrations/entries	23	Decimal value with up to 3 decimal places, between 0-9999. -2 accepted where not applicable or for registrations/entries	^(?:-2|\d{0,4}\.?\d{0,3})$
QualificationGrade	Final grade for the qualification. Submit fails where possible. -2 accepted for registrations/entries	24	See Appendix A for accepted grades. -2 accepted for registrations/entries	See Appendix A

Validation rules

A data submission is only considered complete once it has successfully passed the validation rules.

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. A file may be successful but with warnings. Warnings will not cause failure in the validation process but will highlight entries which may need to be checked. You will receive an email with details of the warning in an attached “Data Validation Warnings Report”. If you receive this, please review the report and contact Ofqual Data Services should the data require any amendment.

The validation rules for this template check that each field is correctly formatted. The correct formatting of the fields are detailed in the ‘file format’ section. Failure to format the fields in line with the validation regular expression will result in unsuccessful validation. Additional validation rules are also in place for this template and may include cross-referencing with other templates. These validation rules along with whether they result in failure or a warning are detailed in the following table.

Validation rule	Result if not met
‘ReportingDate’ values match 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)	Fail and rejected
‘AcademicYear’ value is in scope of the return	Fail and rejected
‘AwardingOrganisation’ is valid acronym	Fail and rejected
‘QualificationNumber’ is a valid qualification number in Ofqual register and does not belong to AEAs, GCSEs, AS or A levels	Fail and rejected
The ‘MaxMarkAndBoundaryID’ in this template is cross validated against ‘MaxMarkAndBoundaryID’ in qualification maximum marks and grade boundaries template. The value must be present in the qualification maximum marks and grade boundaries return or be -2	Pass with warning
‘UniqueCandidateIdentifier’ is a valid UCI format	Fail and rejected
A value (other than -2) is submitted for ‘CandidateIdentifierOther’ field if ‘UniqueCandidateIdentifier’ and ‘UniqueLearnerNumber’ fields are both -2	Fail and rejected
‘CentreNCN’ code is in the NCN register, or the value is -2	Pass with warning
A value (other than -2) is submitted for ‘CentreIdentifierOther’ field if ‘CentreNCN’ and ‘CentreURN’ fields are -2	Pass with warning

Appendix A: Accepted Grade Values

The following are grades accepted for this collection. Let us know via the Portal as soon as possible if any grades appear to be missing from this list. You will not be able to submit any grades which are not on this list without informing us first.

Accepted values in the ‘QualificationGrade’ field
FAIL
-2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
*, A*, A, B, C, D*, D, E, F, G, J, K, M, N, P, Q, R, U, X
AC1, C1, E1, E2, E3
D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6, M1, M2, M3, P1, P2, P3
**, *1, *2, *D, D*D*, D*D, DD, DM, HM, LM, HP, LP, MD, MM, MP, PM, PP
***, D*D*D* , **D, D*D*D, D**, DD*D*, *DD, D*DD, DD*, DDD*, DD*D, DDD, DDM, DMM, MDD, MMD, MMM, MMP, MPP, PMM, PPM, PPP
24B, 25B, 26B, 27B, 28B, 29B, 30B, 31B, 32B, 33B, 34B, 35B, 36B, 37B, 38B, 39B, 40B, 41B, 42B, 43B, 44B, 45B
24D, 25D, 26D, 27D, 28D, 29D, 30D, 31D, 32D, 33D, 34D, 35D, 36D, 37D, 38D, 39D, 40D, 41D, 42D, 43D, 44D, 45D
24F, 25F, 26F, 27F, 28F, 29F, 30F, 31F, 32F, 33F, 34F, 35F, 36F, 37F, 38F, 39F, 40F, 41F, 42F, 43F, 44F, 45F

Convert any of the following grades to the accepted values.

Grade	Allowed Value
Distinction	D
Distinction*	D*
L1D L1 Distinction	*1
L2D Distinction L2 L2 Distinction*	*2
Distinction 1 Distinction L1 L1 Distinction  L1D	D1
Distinction 2 Distinction L2 L2 Distinction L2D	D2
Distinction 3	D3
High Merit	HM
Merit	M
Low Merit	LM
Merit 1 Merit L1 L1 Merit L1M	M1
Merit 2 Merit L2 L2 Merit L2M	M2
Merit 3	M3
L1 Adv. Credit	AC1
L1 Credit	C1
High Pass	HP
Pass	P
Low Pass	LP
Pass 1 Pass L1 L1 Pass L1P	P1
Pass 2 Pass L2 L2 Pass L2P	P2
Pass 3	P3
Entry 1	E1
Entry 2	E2
Entry 3	E3
Unclassified	U
Queried/pending	Q
Disqualified/Absent without good reason	X

Recent changes to this guidance

Date of change	Description of change
01/05/2026	Updated the document template and clarified aspects of the text. Time period in scope changed so data is only collected in August and September and both collections cover the full academic year
18/03/2024	CentrePostcode and CentreName fields were added

Contacts

For all queries or feedback 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