Guidance

Malpractice: guide to the data submission process

Updated 22 October 2024

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.

We collect the data on behalf of CCEA Regulation and share this data with them.

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.

What data will be collected?

Malpractice data will be collected for GCSE, GCSE linear, GCSE full course, GCSE short course, AS and A level, Project L3 and Advanced Extension Award qualifications.

General completion guidelines

• Please see appendix A for further clarification of field values
• Numeric values must not have any formatting

• If the malpractice case is still open when the data is reported, ‘case ongoing outcome TBD’ should be recorded in the type of penalty issued field, and

  • if the awarding organisation does not record an offence at the beginning of the process, then ‘case ongoing’ should be recorded in the type of offence field

  • if the awarding organisation does record an offence at the beginning of the process, it should be entered into the type of offence field as normal (as per the agreed list)

• Acts of malpractice which are linked (for example, two candidates suspected of colluding together or committing disruptive acts together, or a centre staff member and candidate suspected of working together to commit malpractice) should be allocated the same malpractice case identifier. Acts of malpractice which are not linked should be allocated different malpractice case identifiers.
• The value ‘insufficient information’ should be entered into the type of offence field, for malpractice cases where the offence is unknown
• In the event of systemic issues, where the specific subject information is unknown, that is Access Arrangements, Security Breaches, Maladministration or Other, then ‘non-assessment specific’ should be entered in the specification title field - the value of ‘-2’ should also be entered into other related fields if unknown, for example, QAN, specification code, unit code etc
• For malpractice cases that relate to access arrangements, the value entered for the type of offence field, should be preceded by ‘AA_’, for example, ‘AA_deception’, ‘AA_improper assistance’
• All malpractice cases that are investigated should be reported - if there is insufficient evidence to issue a penalty ‘No evidence to substantiate allegation’ should be entered into the type of penalty issued field
• Data for each exam series, for example, summer 2018, should only refer to sanctions applied for offences committed in that series - if, due to the length of an investigation, a sanction is applied in summer 2018, which related to an offence committed in summer 2017, awarding organisations should notify Data Services, so that the original 2017 file can be rejected enabling a revised file to be upload to the Data Portal
• To reduce the number of potential updates to data, any required updates to historic data should be made in November, when the current year’s data is submitted

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
Exam Series	Exam series data relates to, for example, June 2018	1	^(January|June)([ ][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9])$	Full month name of exam series and year.
Reporting date	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).
Awarding organisation	Name of the awarding organisation	3	^.{1,100}$	1 to 100 characters accepted
Malpractice case identifier	Unique malpractice case identifier (allocated by individual awarding organisations). Acts of malpractice which are linked (for example, two candidates suspected of colluding together or committing disruptive acts together, or a centre staff member and candidate suspected of working together to commit malpractice) should be allocated the same malpractice case identifier. Acts of malpractice which are not linked should be allocated different malpractice case identifiers. Must be unique across all years of data. If you reuse identifiers each year, please prefix the identifier with the year, for example, 201819/12345	4	^.{1,25}$	1, to 25 characters accepted
Centre No.	Centre number (NCN)	5	^\d{1,5}$	Up to five digit integer accepted
Type of malpractice	To indicate type of malpractice	6	^(Candidate|Centre|Centre staff)$	Accepted values: Candidate, Centre, Centre staff.
Unique Candidate Identifier	Unique Candidate Identifier (UCI)	7	^.{1,13}$	Alpha numeric 13 characters accepted -2 also accepted for centre and centre staff malpractice.
Staff identifier	Unique centre staff identifier (allocated by individual awarding organisations). -2 accepted for candidate malpractice, or where number of staff involved in case is unknown.	8	^.{1,50}$	1, to 50 characters accepted. -2 also accepted
QAN	Qualification Accreditation Number, for example, 123/1234/1	9	^.{1,10}$	1, to 10 characters accepted -2 also accepted for candidates not certificating, taking units that can be used against either AS or A level specifications.
Specification title	Specification title also known as subject title	10	^.{1,150}$	1, to 150 characters accepted. -2 also accepted
Specification code	Specification code also known as Subject Award Code and Cash-in Code	11	^.{1,7}$	1, to 7 characters accepted -2 also accepted
Unit code	Unit code	12	^.{1,10}$	1 to 10 characters accepted. -2 accepted where not available or not applicable
Qualification level	Level of qualification, for example, GCSE	13	^(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|GCE A level|Project L3|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, Project L3 or AEA. GCE A level also accepted for candidates not certificating, taking units that can be used against either AS or A level specifications. -2 also accepted
Assessment type	To indicate type of assessment, internal or external.	14	^(Internal|External)$	Internal or External accepted. -2 accepted where not available or not applicable
Type of offence	Description of offence as per pre-agreed list of offences.	15	Accepted values as per pre-agreed list of offences.	Accepted values list – See annex A
Type of penalty issued	Description of penalty as per pre-agreed list of penalties.	16	Accepted values as per pre-agreed list of penalties.	Accepted values list – See annex B

Annex A: Malpractice Offence Types Accepted Values (GQ)

For centre staff malpractice - individuals and centres:

• AA_deception
• AA_improper assistance
• Bias or discrimination
• Breach of security
• Case ongoing
• Deception
• Failure to comply with regulations for Access Arrangements/Reasonable Adjustments/Special Consideration
• Failure to co-operate with an investigation
• Improper assistance to candidates
• Insufficient information
• Maladministration
• Negligence
• Offence not proven

For candidates:

• A breach of instructions or advice of an invigilator supervisor or the awarding body in relation to the examination rules and regulations
• AA_deception
• AA_improper assistance
• Allowing others to assist in the production of controlled assessments coursework or assisting others in the production of controlled assessments or coursework
• Allowing work to be copied e.g. posting written coursework on social networking sites prior to an examination/assessment
• Behaving in a way as to undermine the integrity of the examination
• Being in possession of confidential material in advance of the examination
• Bringing into the exam room notes in the wrong format or prohibited annotations
• Case ongoing
• Collusion working collaboratively with other candidates beyond what is permitted
• Copying from another candidate including the misuse of ICT
• Disruptive behaviour in the examination room or assessment session including the use of offensive language
• Exchanging obtaining receiving passing on information or the attempt to which could be examination related by means of - electronic written or non-verbal communication
• Exchanging obtaining receiving passing on information or the attempt to which could be examination related by means of - talking
• Failing to abide by the conditions of supervision designated to maintain the security of the examinations
• Impersonation pretending to be someone else arranging for another person to take ones place in an examination or an assessment
• Insufficient information
• Introduction of unauthorised material into the examination room - Calculators dictionaries when prohibited
• Introduction of unauthorised material into the examination room - Mobile phone or other electronic communicating devices
• Introduction of unauthorised material into the examination room - Notes study guides and personal organisers
• Introduction of unauthorised material into the examination room - Own blank paper
• Introduction of unauthorised material into the examination room - Personal stereo including MP3 iPod or any other similar electronic devices
• Introduction of unauthorised material into the examination room – watches (not smartwatches)
• Making a false declaration of authenticity
• Misuse of or attempted misuse of examination material and resources
• Offence not proven
• Plagiarism unacknowledged copying from published sources including the internet incomplete referencing and excluding the misuse of artificial intelligence
• Plagiarism misuse of artificial intelligence
• The alteration of any results document including certificates
• The deliberate destruction of work
• The inclusion of inappropriate offensive or obscene material in scripts coursework or portfolios
• The unauthorised use of a memory stick or similar device where a candidate uses a word processor
• Theft where the candidates work is removed or stolen

Annex B: Malpractice Penalty Types Accepted Values (GQ)

For centre staff malpractice - individuals:

• Case ongoing outcome TBD
• No evidence to substantiate allegation
• No penalty issued
• Referral to TRA (Teaching Regulation Agency)
• Special conditions
• Suspension
• Training
• Written warning

For centre staff malpractice – centres:

• Additional monitoring or inspection
• Approval of specific assessment tasks
• Case ongoing outcome TBD
• Independent invigilators
• No evidence to substantiate allegation
• No penalty issued
• Restrictions on examination and assessment materials
• Review and report
• Suspension of candidate registrations or entries
• Withdrawal of approval for a specific qualification
• Withdrawal of centre recognition
• Written warning

For candidates:

• Candidate debarral
• Case ongoing outcome TBD
• Disqualification from a unit
• Disqualification from all qualifications in series
• Disqualification from all units
• Disqualification from whole qualification
• Loss of all marks for a unit
• Loss of marks for a component
• Loss of marks for a section
• No evidence to substantiate allegation
• No penalty issued
• Warning

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