Appeals in vocational and technical qualifications: guide to the data submission process
Updated 30 April 2024
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2024
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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 on appeals made for assessments taken or decisions made during the latest, full academic year (1 September to 31 August) for learners in centres in England.
The data should include all appeals relating to the following qualifications:
- all Tech Awards, Tech Certs, Tech Levels and Applied Generals that are included in the Department for Education’s performance tables (PTQs) for the academic year being submitted
- all Functional Skills Qualifications (FSQs)
- all English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Skills for Life Qualifications
- all Core Maths, IB Diplomas, and Cambridge Pre-Us.
The data should only include appeals against assessments taken or decisions made during the latest, full academic year and should include both ‘in-progress’ and completed appeals, as well as appeals that have been immediately rejected (‘Application not proceeded’ appeals – defined in Annex A).
Appeals made against assessments taken or decisions made outside of this time period should not be included. For example, an appeal that is made against an assessment taken in the 2023 to 2024 academic year and is not completed until 2024 to 2025 should be reported within the 2023 to 2024 submission, and not 2024 to 2025.
Please note, a request for a review of marking or moderation is a separate process and should not be included in this template. However, appeals against the outcome of a review of marking or moderation should be included.
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.
There will be 2 reporting deadlines for this collection, to capture the progress of appeals at different points in time. The data submitted should reflect the current status of all appeals made during the academic year at the data cut-off point.
General completion guidelines
- Numeric values must not have any formatting.
- Please submit ‘CaseReferenceNumber’ of appeals at assessment level. For example, where multiple assessments are appealed for the same candidate and qualification, and are submitted on the same day, each appealed assessment should have a different ‘CaseReferenceNumber’.
Where a centre appeals on behalf of a group of candidates, or a cohort, each candidate should continue to be reported as a separate row, however in this case they should share the same ‘CaseReferenceNumber’ if the appeal is for the same assessment. - Appeals involving centre staff should have a unique identifier preceded by ‘Staff_’. For example, Staff_123456A. This should be entered into the UCI field.
- Data on all appeals received should be included, even if they do not progress to preliminary appeal. Please provide as much information as possible for appeals which do not progress to preliminary appeal. These cases should have a value of ‘Application not proceeded’ for the fields ‘CurrentStageOfAppeal’ and ‘StageAppealResolved’.
See Annex A for definitions for the Stage fields. - The ‘TypeOfDecisionAppealed’ field is designed to separate out the types of decisions that are subject to appeals from the grounds of the appeal.
- Appeals with multiple grounds should have a row for each ground, given in the ‘GroundOfAppeal’ field. Each row should have the same ‘CaseReferenceNumber’ for each if all are for the same assessment and made on the same date (per point 2 above).
- Appeals which progress through multiple stages should be classified as one appeal and retain the same ‘CaseReferenceNumber’ at each stage.
- Each stage of an appeal should be included in the submission. This means that if an appeal progresses to independent review, we would still expect a row for its corresponding preliminary appeal to be present in the submission as well as the row for independent review. Where awarding organisations’ accepted appeals go straight to independent review with no preliminary appeal stage, please submit one row for ‘Independent review – no preliminary appeal’.
- If an appeal progresses to independent review, the ‘StageAppealResolved’ field should match the ‘CurrentStageOfAppeal’ field. For example, the appeal’s row for preliminary appeal should contain ‘Preliminary appeal’ in ‘StageAppealResolved’, and the appeal’s corresponding independent review row should contain ‘Independent review’ in ‘StageAppealResolved’.
- Pre and post-appeal assessment level fields (‘PreAppealAssessmentGrade’, ‘PostAppealAssessmentGrade’, ‘PreAppealAssessmentRawMark’ and ‘PostAppealAssessmentRawMark’) should be reported per stage.
- The ‘PreAppealQualificationGrade’ field should reflect the overall qualification grade at the beginning of the appeal. For example, where a candidate is originally awarded a Merit grade, then changed to a Distinction after a review of marking and this decision is appealed, the awarding organisation should enter Distinction as the ‘PreAppealQualificationGrade’.
Likewise, if an appeal progresses through multiple stages, ‘PreAppealQualificationGrade’ should reflect the overall qualification grade originally appealed throughout. - The ‘PostAppealQualificationGrade’ field should reflect the overall outcome at the qualification level. Therefore, if a candidate has an appeal on more than one assessment for the same qualification, the values in ‘PostAppealQualificationGrade’ should be consistent, even if one of the assessments did not result in a change.
Likewise, if an appeal progresses through multiple stages, ‘PostAppealQualificationGrade’ should reflect the overall qualification grade once all stages have been completed. - Grades should be reported regardless of whether the appeal was upheld or not.
The example file that accompanies this guidance demonstrates some of these guidelines.
File format
You will need to submit the file through Ofqual’s Data Portal. 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. An example of the CSV file is provided as a separate download.
Notes: If a file needs to be submitted again, any previous files submitted will need to be rejected by Ofqual’s Data Services team before an updated file can be submitted You will need to contact data.services@ofqual.gov.uk to notify us if you intend to resubmit a file.
The table below can be scrolled horizontally to show more columns.
| Field name | Description | Accepted values | Posit ion | Validation Regular Expression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AcademicYear | Academic year that the assessment or decision being appealed was taken | Academic year in the format: Year (4 digits), a dash, year (4 digits), for example 2023-2024 | 1 | ^(20)\d\d[-](20)\d\d$ |
| ReportingDate | Date the file was due to be submitted to Ofqual regardless of when it was actually uploaded | The date in the following format: year (4 digits), a dash, month (2 digits), a dash, day (2 digits) yyyy-mm-dd | 2 | ^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9][12][0-9]|3[01])$ |
| AwardingOrganisation | Name of the awarding organisation | 1 to 100 characters accepted | 3 | ^.{1,100}$ |
| CaseReferenceNumber | Unique reference number for the appeal case assigned by the awarding organisation | 1 to 25 characters accepted | 4 | ^.{1,25}$ |
| QualificationNumber | Qualification number as recorded in the Register | 1 to 10 characters accepted, for example 123/1234/1. -2 accepted for not applicable, for example appeals that are not specific to a single qualification, where a candidate has not cashed-in or where CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ |
5 | ^.{1,10}$ |
| QualificationTitle | The qualification title as it appears on Ofqual’s Register | 1 to 100 characters accepted. -2 accepted for not applicable, for example appeals that are not specific to a single qualification, where a candidate has not cashed-in or where CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ |
6 | ^.{1,100}$ |
| SpecificationCode | Specification code, if relevant may also be known as subject code or pathway code | 1 to 7 characters accepted. -2 accepted for not applicable, for example appeals that are not specific to a single assessment, or where CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ |
7 | ^.{1,7}$ |
| SpecificationTitle | Specification title, if relevant must be provided if specification code is provided | 1 to 150 characters accepted. -2 accepted for not applicable, for example appeals that are not specific to a single assessment, or where CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ |
8 | ^.{1,150}$ |
| AssessmentCode | Unique AO-assigned identifier for the assessment. When one unit is assessed by one assessment, please provide the URN (Unit Reference Number) | 1 to 50 characters accepted. -2 accepted for not applicable, for example appeals that are not specific to a single assessment, or where CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ |
9 | ^.{1,50}$ |
| UCI | Unique Candidate Identifier | Alpha numeric 13 characters accepted. This field can also be used for unique centre staff identifier where relevant (see point 3 of general completion guidelines) | 10 | ^.{1,13}$ |
| ULN | Unique Learner Number | A numeric value between 0000000001 and 9999999999. -2 accepted where ULN is unknown, appeal does not relate to a candidate or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ |
11 | ^.{1,10}$ |
| CandidateIdentifierOther | Any other unique candidate number allocated by individual awarding organisation. Must be provided where neither UCI or ULN are available | 1 to 20 characters accepted. -2 permitted where at least one of UCI or ULN have been provided, appeal does not relate to a candidate or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ |
12 | ^.{1,20}$ |
| FirstName | Candidate first name | 0 to 150 characters accepted. -2 accepted where appeal does not relate to a candidate or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ |
13 | ^.{0,150}$ |
| MiddleNames | Candidate’s middle name(s), if able to separate out from first names | 0 to 150 characters accepted. Can be left blank if not known or unavailable, or if middle names cannot be separated from first names | 14 | ^.{0,150}$ |
| Surname | Candidate surname | 0 to 150 characters accepted. -2 accepted where appeal does not relate to a candidate or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ |
15 | ^.{0,150}$ |
| DateOfBirth | Candidate date of birth | The date in the following format: year (4 digits), a dash, month (2 digits), a dash, day (2 digits). 2999-12-31 is accepted where appeal does not relate to a candidate or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ | 16 | ^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9][12][0-9]|3[01])$ |
| CentreNCN | Centre’s National Centre Number as allocated by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) | Up to 5-digit integer accepted. -2 accepted where the centre number is unknown, centre is not on the NCN register, candidate is not registered to a centre, or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ |
17 | ^\d{1,5}$ |
| CentreURN | Centre ID – Unique Reference Number as assigned by the Department for Education | Up to 6-digit integer accepted. -2 accepted where the centre number is unknown, centre is not on the URN register, candidate is not registered to a centre, or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ |
18 | ^\d{1,6}$ |
| CentreIdentifierOther | Any other number allocated to the centre or assessment venue by individual awarding organisations. Must be provided if neither CentreNCN nor CentreURN are available | 1 to 15 characters accepted. -2 accepted where at least one of NCN or URN have been provided or for candidates who are not registered to a centre, candidate is not registered to a centre, or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ |
19 | ^.{0,15}$ |
| CentreName | Name of the centre | 1 to 100 characters accepted. -2 accepted where candidate is not registered to a centre, or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ |
20 | ^.{0,100}$ |
| CentrePostcode | Postcode of the centre. Must be provided if neither CentreNCN nor CentreURN are available | 1 to 10 characters accepted. -2 accepted where candidate is not registered to a centre, or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ |
21 | ^.{0,10}$ |
| TypeOfDecisionAppealed | The type of decision that is being appealed | Accepted values: * Application not proceeded Preliminary appeal Independent review *Independent review – no preliminary appeal. Definitions of stages provided in Annex A |
22 | ^(Application not proceeded,Preliminary appeal,Independent review,Independent review – no preliminary appeal)$ |
| GroundOfAppeal | Ground of appeal | Accepted values: Administrative error - centre Administrative error - AO Procedural inconsistency - centre Procedural inconsistency - AO Unreasonable exercise of academic judgement - centre Unreasonable exercise of academic judgement - AO Definitions provided in Annex A |
23 | ^(Administrative error - centre,Administrative error - AO,Procedural inconsistency - centre,Procedural inconsistency - AO,Unreasonable exercise of academic judgement - centre,Unreasonable exercise of academic judgement - AO)$ |
| CurrentStageOfAppeal | Current stage of appeal at the time data reported | Accepted values: Application not proceeded Preliminary appeal Independent review Independent review – no preliminary appeal. Definitions of stages provided in Annex A |
24 | ^(Application not proceeded,Preliminary appeal,Independent review,Independent review – no preliminary appeal)$ |
| StageAppealResolved | Stage the appeal was resolved | Accepted values: Application not proceeded Preliminary appeal Independent review Independent review – no preliminary appeal *Still in process. Definitions of stages provided in Annex A |
25 | ^(Application not proceeded, Preliminary appeal, Independent review, Independent review – no preliminary appeal, Still in process)$ |
| ReasonNotProceeded | For ‘Application not proceeded’ appeals only, to indicate the reason why the appeal did not progress | Withdrawn by centre Invalid grounds No ROMM application Cancelled by AO Invalid application. -2 expected where CurrentStageOfAppeal is not ‘Application not proceeded’ |
26 | ^(Withdrawn by centre,Invalid grounds,No ROMM application,Cancelled by AO,Invalid application,-2)$ |
| AppealUpheld | Whether appeal was upheld at the CurrentStageOfAppeal reported | Yes / No / TBC (to be confirmed). -2 expected where CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ |
27 | ^(Yes,No,TBC,-2)$ |
| PreAppealAssessmentGrade | Pre-Appeal Assessment Grade at the beginning of the CurrentStageOfAppeal – to be provided per stage | Accepted values provided in Annex B (given below). -2 if not applicable, grade is not captured when appeal is not upheld, or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ |
28 | Annex B |
| PostAppealAssessmentGrade | Post-Appeal Assessment Grade at the end of the CurrentStageOfAppeal – to be provided per stage | Accepted values provided in Annex B. -2 if not applicable, grade is not captured when appeal is not upheld, StageAppealResolved is ‘Still in process’ or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ |
29 | Annex B |
| PreAppealAssessmentRawMark | Pre-Appeal Assessment Raw Mark at the beginning of the CurrentStageOfAppeal | Number between 0 and 999. -2 if not applicable, mark is not captured when appeal is not upheld, or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ |
30 | ^\d{1,3}$ |
| PostAppealAssessmentRawMark | Post-Appeal Assessment Raw Mark at the end of the CurrentStageOfAppeal | Number between 0 and 999. -2 if not applicable, mark is not captured when appeal is not upheld, StageAppealResolved is ‘Still in process’ or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ |
31 | ^\d{1,3}$ |
| PreAppealQualificationGrade | Pre-Appeal Qualification Grade originally appealed | Accepted values provided in Annex B. -2 if not applicable, grade is not yet known (for example for mid-flight learners), grade is not captured when appeal is not upheld, or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ |
32 | Annex B |
| PostAppealQualificationGrade | Post-Appeal Qualification Grade once all stages of appeal are complete | Accepted values provided in Annex B. -2 if not applicable, grade is not yet known (for example for mid-flight learners), grade is not captured when appeal is not upheld, StageAppealResolved is ‘Still in process‘ or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ |
33 | Annex B |
| DateReceived | Date when the appeal request is received | Date in the following format: year (4 digits), a dash, month (2 digits), a dash, day (2 digits) | 34 | ^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9][12][0-9]|3[01])$ |
| DateCompleted | Date when the appeal is completed. For appeals progressed to Preliminary appeal or Independent review, defined as the date when an appeal is completed and decision letter is sent. For ‘Application not proceeded’ appeals, the date when a response was sent to the parent, candidate or centre. | Date in the following format: year (4 digits), a dash, month (2 digits), a dash, day (2 digits). 2999-12-31 accepted if appeal not yet completed or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ‘Application not proceeded’ |
35 | ^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9][12][0-9]|3[01])$ |
Annex A
Fields CurrentStageOfAppeal and StageAppealResolved – accepted values:
• Application not proceeded: Awarding organisation (AO) received an appeal application and reviewed the grounds for appeal, but ultimately did not proceed with the application, for example because it was withdrawn by centre or deemed to have invalid grounds. No evidence is reviewed at this stage.
• Preliminary appeal: Appeal and accompanying evidence is received by AO and reviewed by awarding organisation staff who have not previously been involved with the case.
• Independent review: Following a preliminary appeal outcome that an appellant disagrees with, the appeal and accompanying evidence is reviewed by at least one decision maker who is independent from the awarding organisation to reach a final decision.
• Independent review – no preliminary appeal: To be used by AOs whose appeal process progresses straight to an independent review after being accepted.
• Still in process: Applicable for StageAppealResolved field only. An appeal that is with the AO but not yet resolved.
Field TypeOfDecisionAppealed – accepted values:
• Component or qualification result
• Malpractice or maladministration
• Reasonable adjustment
• Special consideration
Field GroundOfAppeal– accepted values:
• Administrative error - centre: the centre made an administrative error. For example, clerical or human errors, or incorrect forms were completed.
• Administrative error - AO: the awarding organisation made an administrative error. For example, clerical or human errors.
• Procedural inconsistency - centre: the centre did not apply a procedure consistently, correctly, or fairly. For example, a centre did not submit a learner’s work by a specific deadline, or fairness of an internal malpractice investigation is disputed.
• Procedural inconsistency - AO: the awarding organisation did not apply a procedure consistently, correctly, or fairly. For example, escalations by AO staff were not followed up and this affected the outcome of the learner’s result, or a sanction imposed is disproportionate to the severity of malpractice.
• Unreasonable exercise of academic judgement - centre: the centre made an unreasonable exercise of academic judgement, for example in the choice of evidence from which they determined a grade and/or in the determination of a grade from that evidence for internal assessments.
• Unreasonable exercise of academic judgement - AO: the awarding organisation made an unreasonable exercise of academic judgement, for example while awarding marks to any assessment completed by a candidate or internal assessments marked by the centre and verified/moderated by the AO.
• -2: to be used in cases where the ground of appeal is unknown or CurrentStageOfAppeal is ’Application not proceeded’.
Annex B – Accepted values for Assessment and Qualification Grade fields
According to the information we hold, the following list gives all grade outcomes of qualifications covered in this data request. Please let us know 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.
| 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, 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 |
If you have any of the following grades please convert them to the allowed values listed.
| Grade | Allowed Value | Grade | Allowed Value | Grade | Allowed Value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Distinction | D | High Merit | HM | High Pass | HP | ||
| Distinction* | D* | Merit | M | Pass | P | ||
| L1D* | *1 | Low Merit | LM | Low Pass | LP | ||
| L1 Distinction* | *1 | Merit 1 | M1 | Pass 1 | P1 | ||
| L2D* | *2 | Merit L1 | M1 | Pass 2 | P2 | ||
| Distinction* L2 | *2 | L1 Merit | M1 | Pass 3 | P3 | ||
| L2 Distinction* | *2 | L1M | M1 | Pass L1 | P1 | ||
| Distinction 1 | D1 | Merit 2 | M2 | L1 Pass | P1 | ||
| Distinction L1 | D1 | L2M | M2 | L1P | P1 | ||
| L1 Distinction | D1 | Merit L2 | M2 | L2P | P2 | ||
| L1D | D1 | L2 Merit | M2 | Pass L2 | P2 | ||
| L2D | D2 | Merit 3 | M3 | L2 Pass | P2 | ||
| Distinction L2 | D2 | L1 Adv. Credit | AC1 | Entry 1 | E1 | ||
| L2 Distinction | D2 | L1 Credit | C1 | Entry 2 | E2 | ||
| Distinction 2 | D2 | Entry 3 | E3 | ||||
| Distinction 3 | D3 | Unclassified | U | ||||
| Queried/pending | Q | ||||||
| Disqualified | X |
Contacts
For all queries relating to the data collection process, amendments to data previously provided, or for general guidance, please contact us via the Ofqual Portal.
Data services
Ofqual
2nd floor, 1 Friargate
Station Square
Coventry
CV1 2GN