TQ Special Considerations: guide to the data submission process
Published 2 December 2021
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2021
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tq-special-considerations/tq-special-considerations-guide-to-the-data-submission-process
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?
Special Considerations data will be collected for all Technical Qualifications (TQs) within T levels for learners in England.
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 web page 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 include special consideration in the form of post-hoc mark changes for all assessments taken within the reporting period.
Data for special consideration in the form of adjustments to assessment conditions (for example a scribe) should be included in the Access Arrangements data submission.
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 / Accepted values |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
^(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])[/](0[1-9]|1[012])[/](20)\d\d $ or ^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])$
|
The date in the following format: day (2 digits), forward slash, month (2 digits), forward slash, year (4 digits), or: year (4 digits), a dash, month (2 digits), a dash, day (2 digits) |
| AssessmentSeries | Assessment series data relates to, for example June 2023 | 2 | ^(June)([][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9])$ |
Full month name and year of Assessment series for example June 2023 |
| AwardingOrganisation | Acronym of the awarding organisation | 3 | ^.{1,100}$ |
A valid AO Acronym. 1 to 100 characters acceptedNote: value must be consistent within the file |
| QualificationNumber | Unique identifier for the TQ as it appears in Ofqual’s Register of Regulated qualifications | 4 | ^.{1,10}$ |
Valid Qualification Number. 1 to 10 characters accepted |
| ComponentCode | Unique identifier for the component which the assessment relates to (assigned by the awarding organisation) | 5 | ^.{1,10}$ |
1 to 10 characters |
| SubComponentType | TQ sub-component which the assessment falls under | 6 | ^(Core Exam|Core Project|Occupational Specialism|-2)$ |
Accepted values: Core Exam, Core Project, Occupational Specialism |
| AssessmentCode | Unique identifier for the assessment (assigned by the awarding organisation) | 7 | ^.{1,10}$ |
1 to 10 characters |
| RequestIdentifier | Unique identifier for the special consideration request issued by the awarding organisation | 8 | ^.{1,25}$1 |
1 to 25 characters |
| ULN | Unique Learner Number | 9 | ^.{0000000001,9999999999}$ |
A numeric value between 0000000001 and 9999999999 |
| UCI | Unique Candidate Identifier | 10 | ^.{1,13}$ |
A valid Unique Candidate Identifier Note: enter -2 if not available |
| UKPRN | UK Provider Reference Number | 11 | ^.{10000000,99999999}$ |
A numeric value between 10000000 and 99999999 |
| NCN | Centre ID – National Centre Number | 12 | ^\d{1,5}$ |
Up to 5-digit integer Note: enter -2 if not available |
| AssessmentDate | Exam date or submission deadline for projects | 13 |
^(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])[/](0[1-9]|1[012])[/](20)\d\d $ or ^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])$
|
The date in the following format: day (2 digits), forward slash, month (2 digits), forward slash, year (4 digits), or: year (4 digits), a dash, month (2 digits), a dash, day (2 digits) |
| RequestDate | Date when the request for special consideration was made | 14 |
^ (0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01]) [/](0[1-9]|1[012])[/](20)\d\d $ or ^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])$
|
The date in the following format: day (2 digits), forward slash, month (2 digits), forward slash, year (4 digits), or: year (4 digits), a dash, month (2 digits), a dash, day (2 digits) |
| DecisionDate | Date when the special consideration was granted or refused | 15 |
^(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])[/](0[1-9]|1[012])[/](20)\d\d $ or ^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])$
|
The date in the following format: day (2 digits), forward slash, month (2 digits), forward slash, year (4 digits), or: year (4 digits), a dash, month (2 digits), a dash, day (2 digits) |
| Status | Status of the application | 16 | ^(Accepted|Rejected|Pending|Withdrawn)$ |
Accepted values: Accepted, Rejected, Pending, Withdrawn |
| RejectionReason | Reason for rejection (where applicable) | 17 | ^(Alcohol or drug abuse|Building work or inadequate facilities|Domestic inconvenience|Invalid reason|Joining the class partway through|Long term or permanent condition|Minimum requirements not met|Misreading the exam timetable|Misreading the question paper|No certification entry|No components completed|Personal arrangements|Teaching difficulties|Rejection reason not captured|Insufficient assessment completed)$ |
Accepted values: Alcohol or drug abuse, Building work or inadequate facilities, Domestic inconvenience, Invalid reason, Joining the class partway through, Long term or permanent condition, Minimum requirements not met, Misreading the exam timetable, Misreading the question paper, No certification entry, No components completed, Personal arrangements, Teaching difficulties, Rejection reason not captured, Insufficient assessment completed, Note: enter -2 if not applicable |
| EvidenceRequested | To indicate if evidence was requested or not | 18 | ^(Yes|No)$ |
Accepted values: Yes, No |
| EvidenceReceived | To indicate if evidence was received o rnot | 19 | ^(Yes|No)$ |
Accepted values: Yes, No |
| SpecialConsiderationType | The type of special consideration applied for | 20 | ^(Present but disadvantaged\| Absent with good reason)$ |
Accepted values: Present but disadvantaged, Absent with good reason |
| DisadvantageCategory | The disadvantage category | 21 | ^(Illness or injury at the time of the exam|Bereavement at the time of the exam|Domestic crisis at the time of the exam|Other causes of possible disadvantage|Absent with good reason)$ |
Accepted values: Illness or injury at the time of the exam Bereavement at the time of the exam Domestic crisis at the time of the exam Other causes of possible disadvantage Absent with good reason |
| Tariff | Percentage allowance given to candidates who were present but disadvantaged | 22 | ^([0-5]|-2)$ |
Values 0 to 5 Note: enter -2 for absent candidates |
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