Guidance

PTQ Outcomes: Assessment Reference Information

Updated 4 August 2023

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?

Data should relate only to vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs) that are included in the Department for Education’s performance tables (PTQs) for the academic year being submitted. More specifically, these are: Technical Awards, Applied Generals, Technical Certificates and Technical Levels.

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.

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 webpage to help you submit your files to us. If you need to ask us about a data submission please do contact the Data Services team by emailing data.services@ofqual.gov.uk, 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 emailing data.services@ofqual.gov.uk. 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

• Data should capture information related to the assessment to use as reference data for the other PTQ outcomes templates.

• Rows should be included for any assessments referenced in any of the other PTQ outcomes templates.

• AssessmentCode is an unique identifier for the assessment, generated by the AO. Each individual assessment must have a unique code – codes should not be shared across different assessments.

• The AssessmentCode field in this template is cross validated against AssessmentCode in other PTQ Outcomes templates.

• By ‘assessment’, we mean the actual assessment tasks (tests or portfolios, for example) that have been taken by learners. This could also be understood as the lowest level of granularity within a qualification where marking and/or grading occurs. We are not referring to teaching units (although units might only contain one assessment).

• In the AssessmentCode field, when one unit is assessed by one assessment, please provide the URN (Unit Reference Number). Otherwise please provide a unique identifier for each individual assessment as defined above.

• Aside from when specifications change, the AssessmentCode should remain consistent over time.

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
ReportingDate	Date the file was due to be submitted to Ofqualregardless of when it was actually uploaded (this date will be made available by Ofqual).	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)
AcademicYear	The academic year which this data submission relates to (defined as 1 September to 31 August). For example, “2021-2022”.	2	^(20)\d\d[-](20)\d\d $	The academic year in the following format: start year (4 digits), a dash, end year (4 digits) Format accepted yyyy-yyyy
AwardingOrganisation	Name of the awarding organisation	3	^.{1,100}$	1 to 100 characters accepted
QualificationNumber	This should be the unique identifier for the qualification as it appears in Ofqual’s Register of Regulated qualifications, e.g. 123/1234/1. If the assessment is linked to more than one qualification then please add a row for each qualification the assessment is related to.	4	^.{1,10}$	Valid Qualification Number. 1 to 10 characters accepted.
AssessmentCode	Unique identifier for the assessment, generated by the AO. Each individual assessment must have a unique code – codes should not be shared across different assessments. By ‘assessment’, we mean the actual assessment tasks (tests, portfolios, etc.) that have been taken by learners. This could also be understood as the lowest level of granularity within a qualification where marking and/or grading occurs[footnote 1]. We are not referring to teaching units (although units might only contain one assessment). When one unit is assessed by one assessment, please provide the URN (Unit Reference Number). Otherwise please provide a unique identifier for each individual assessment as defined above. Aside from when specifications change, this code should remain consistent over time.	5	^.{1,50}$	1 to 50 characters accepted
AssessmentTitle	Title for the assessment assigned by the awarding organisation	6	^.{1,150}$	1 to 150 characters accepted
AssessmentType	Accepted values: Internal, external Internal assessment means set and/or marked by centres. External assessment means externally set and marked.	7	^(Internal|External)$	Accepted values: Internal, External
AssessmentSchedule	The manner in whichthe assessment is taken (for tests/exams only). Accepted values: Timetabled: the test/exam can only betaken on a specified date set by the AO On-demand non-sessional: the test/exam can be taken at any time during the year On-demand sessional: the test/exam can be taken at any time within exam windows specified by AOs Mixed schedule: where parts of the test/exam use one schedule, and other parts another -2 accepted for internal assessment	8	^(Timetabled|On-demand non-sessional|On-demand sessional|Mixed schedule|-2)$	Accepted Values: Timetabled, On-demand non-sessional, On-demand sessional, Mixed schedule, -2
AssessmentMethod	Description of the assessment method. If multiple assessment methods are used, please use the value “Mixed”. The list of assessment methods is given in Annex A below. Please choose the most appropriate one.	9	^(Aural assessment|Coursework|E-assessment|Multiple choice examination|Oral examination|Portfolio of evidence|Practical demonstration/assignment|Practical examination|Task-based controlled assessment|Written examination|Mixed)$	Accepted values provided in Annex A (given below)
DeliveryMode	Mode of the primary assessment method used. If multiple delivery modes are used, please use the value “Mixed”. The list of delivery modes is given in Annex B below. Please choose the most appropriate one.	10	^(Paper based|Computer based|Face to face|Remote|Product based|Mixed)$	Accepted values provided in Annex B (given below)

Annex A: List of assessment methods

Please use the following list of assessment methods for entering values for assessment method in Field 9 above. Where terms used by an awarding organisation differ from those given below, please select the closest match possible.

Assessment Methods

Aural assessment

Coursework

E-assessment

Multiple choice examination

Oral examination

Portfolio of evidence

Practical demonstration/assignment

Practical examination

Task-based controlled assessment

Written examination

Mixed (any combination of the listed methods)

Annex : List of delivery modes

Please use the following list of assessment delivery modes for entering values for delivery mode in Field 10 above. Where terms used by an awarding organisation differ from those given below, please select the closest match possible.

Delivery Mode	Description and Examples
Paper based	A delivery mode where an assessment is delivered on a paper to access and/or gather evidence of skills, knowledge and behaviours of the learner. For example, tests, assignments, evidence logbook, etc.
Computer based	A delivery mode where computers are used for assessing skills, knowledge and behaviours of the learner. Includes any “on screen” assessment. For example, tests, practical exercises, task-based challenge, etc. Note: this delivery mode does not include remote video-based communication or performance assessments.
Face to face	A delivery mode used for assessing learners’ learning with the learner and examiner sharing the same physical space. For example, oral assessments such as interviews, professional discussions as well as practical observation, task-based challenge, etc.
Remote	A delivery mode used for assessing learners’ learning with the learner and examiner not sharing the same physical space, but instead using a video recording, web cam or via online video communication, e.g. Skype or FaceTime. For example, oral assessments such as interviews, professional discussions as well as practical observation, task-based challenge, etc
Product based	A delivery mode where the learner is required to create a product/working model for assessment. Other delivery modes may be employed as part of the actual assessment process (e.g. face to face questioning). Note: this delivery mode may primarily be used for projects.
Mixed	Any combination of the listed modes

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

1. There may be some situations where a single assessment is made up of more than one test paper. Where this applies, we are still interested in the level at which marking/grading occurs. If that is done individually for each test paper then please treat those as separate assessments. If marks and grades are only considered at the aggregate level, then please treat both parts as one single assessment. ↩