Guidance

End-point assessment registrations: guide to the data submission process

Published 3 March 2025

Applies to England

Introduction

Ofqual requires this data for the purpose of performing its functions as set out in the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009.

As a regulator, we monitor the delivery of EPAs by drawing on a number of sources of information, including the new EPA registrations data. We will collect the EPA registrations data in addition to the EPA outcomes data.

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.

What data will be collected?

Data on apprenticeship end-point assessment (EPA) registrations, including gateway submissions and sign-offs. The data should cover the period from 1 March 2024 until 28 February 2025.

The data should include registrations for all EPAs taken within the reporting period, regardless of when EPA registrations, gateway submissions and sign-offs took place.

The data should be provided for all EPAs where Ofqual was the regulator as of 1 January in the reporting year (1 January 2025 for the initial collection), including those no longer available to new apprentices.

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.

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.

General completion guidelines

The terms used in the template and particularly in the ‘Name’ column of this template mainly follow those that are used elsewhere in Ofqual’s regulatory framework. Where a generic term is used in the template, it should be read as referring to the relevant term in the context of EPAs. For example, ‘awarding organisation’ will be end-point assessment organisation and a ‘qualification’ will be an EPA.

The information required by this Information Notice should be returned in CSV format. Only one file containing data will be required.

The first row must be headers as displayed in the ‘Name’ column of the data collection template provided in the table below. The subsequent rows must have the values of the data to be reported which must match the format rules listed in the template.

Data should include registrations for all EPAs taken within the reporting period, regardless of 1) whether the EPA was started before the reporting period; 2) whether the EPA was completed by the apprentice or not during the reporting period; 3) whether the apprentice was registered or passed gateway during or before the reporting period - only a single record for each EPA undertaken by the apprentice should be provided. It should contain the most recent registration information for each EPA. For example, if an apprentice had to retake the EPA and had to pass the gateway again, the details entered about the gateway should relate to the most recent attempt, not the original EPA taken. Also, if following the resit, the EPA grade was reissued, the details entered should relate to the reissued EPA grade, not the original grade. Please do not list prior failed attempts of EPAs taken by the same apprentice.

Values for each field are compulsory. Some fields permit a value of ‘-2’ to indicate where the field is not applicable or not available for the row of data in question. Where a value of -2 is not permitted, it is mandatory to provide a valid value for the field.

Several fields are cross validated against fields in the EPA Outcomes template. These include fields identifying apprentices, awarding organisations and EPAs.

Name	Description	Position	Regular Expression	Values
ReportingDate	Date the file was due to be submitted regardless of when it was actually uploaded (date provided by Ofqual in the data reporting schedule).	1	^(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). Format accepted 120 ODBC canonical yyyy-mm-dd.
AwardingOrganisation	Name of the awarding organisation offering the EPA (as it appears in Ofqual’s Register of Regulated Qualifications).	2	^.{1,100}$	1 to 100 characters accepted.
AwardingOrganisationID	Unique identifier of the awarding organisation offering the EPA (as it appears on the Apprenticeship Provider and Assessment Register (APAR)).	3	^(EPA)([0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9])$	A 7-character code in the following format EPAxxxx, for example, EPA1234.
StandardTitle	Title of the Standard to which the registration relates (as it appears in the Apprenticeship Standard Register).	4	^.{1,100}$	1 to 100 characters accepted.
StandardID	Unique identifier of the Standard to which the registration relates (as it appears in the Apprenticeship Standard Register).	5	^( ST)([0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9])$	A 6-character code in the following format STxxxx, for example, ST1234.
AssessmentPlanVersionNumber	Version number of the assessment plan to which the registration relates, as it appears in the assessment plan used for the EPA.	6	^.{1,10}$	1 to 10 characters accepted.
QualificationNumber	Unique identifier for the EPA as it appears in Ofqual’s Register of Regulated Qualifications.	7	^.{1,10}$	1 to 10 characters accepted. -2 accepted where this value is not available.
ULN	Unique Learner Number (ULN) for the candidate provided by the Learning Records Service.	8	^.{1,10}$	1 to 10 characters accepted. -2 accepted where the apprentice does not have a ULN (for example, privately funded apprentice).
CandidateIdentifierOther	Any other unique number identifying an Apprentice. Must be provided where ULN is not available. To allow us to identify the Apprentice please provide at least one of Unique Learner Number or Candidate Identifier Other. If both are available, please provide both.	9	^.{1,20}$	1 to 20 characters accepted. -2 accepted where this value is not available.
FirstName	Apprentice’s forename(s).	10	^.{1,150}$	1 to 150 characters accepted.
MiddleNames	Apprentice’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.	11	^.{0,150}$	0 to 150 characters accepted.
Surname	Apprentice’s surname or family name.	12	^.{1,150}$	1 to 150 characters accepted.
DateOfBirth	Apprentice’s date of birth.	13	^(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). Format accepted 120 ODBC canonical yyyy-mm-dd.
Sex	A value which identifies the sex of an apprentice as recognised in law.	14	^(M|F|-2)$	Accepted values: * M * F -2 accepted for unknown
UKPRN	UK Provider Reference Number of the training provider.	15	^.{10000000, 99999999}$	An 8 digit number between 10000000 and 99999999. -2 accepted where the UKPRN is not available.
CentreIdentifierOther	Any other unique number used to identify the training provider by individual awarding organisations. Must be provided if UKPRN is not available. To allow us to identify the training provider please provide at least one of UKPRN or Training Provider Identifier Other. If both are collected, please provide both.	16	^.{1,15}$	1 to 15 characters accepted. -2 accepted where this value is not available.
RegistrationDate	Date the apprentice was originally registered with the AO for their EPA.	17	^(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). Format accepted 120 ODBC canonical yyyy-mm-dd.
GatewaySubmissionDate	Date the AO received evidence of the apprentice having met gateway requirements.	18	^(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). Format accepted 120 ODBC canonical yyyy-mm-dd.
GatewayRequirementMetDate	Date the AO confirmed that the apprentice had met gateway requirements.	19	^(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). Format accepted 120 ODBC canonical yyyy-mm-dd.
QualificationCompletionStatus	Status of qualification (EPA) at the time of submission. Where possible, please indicate where apprentices have withdrawn from the EPA.	20	^(Continuing|Completed|Withdrawn)$	Accepted values: * Continuing * Completed * Withdrawn
QualificationGrade	Final overall grade for the EPA (including a Fail).	21	^(Fail|Pass|Merit|Distinction|-2)$	Accepted values: * Fail * Pass * Merit * Distinction -2 also accepted for 1) EPA which has not been completed by the end of the data submission period or 2) the EPA overall grade has not been formally awarded by the end of the data submission period, for example, assessments are pending internal quality assurance.
QualificationCompletionDate	Date an EPA result was issued to the apprentice (including a Fail). If the completion date is not yet known or not applicable, please provide 2999-12-31.	22	^(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). Format accepted 120 ODBC canonical yyyy-mm-dd. Please provide 2999-12-31 where qualification completion status is ‘Continuing’.

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

Email data.services@ofqual.gov.uk