April 2026
Term-time checkpoint closing soon
The term-time checkpoint is closing on Thursday 30 April. You need to take action if your centre delivers any of the qualifications in scope of this year’s arrangements, in order to ensure the timely delivery of vocational and technical qualification (VTQ) results in 2025-26. Visit our timely delivery of VTQ results webpage for more information on the actions you need to take and where to find support.
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Qualifications updates and withdrawals
View this month’s Horizons update for the latest qualification changes and withdrawals.
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Key insights from the government’s response to the post-16 skills pathway consultation
On 10 March, the Department for Education (DfE) announced that schools and colleges will start teaching new V Levels from September 2027. The first subjects to be introduced will be digital, education and early years, and finance and accounting.
To help you understand what these changes mean for your organisation and future provision, watch NCFE’s Technical Education expert, David Rowley’s latest webinar. He shares a clear overview of the key updates from the consultation response, highlighting what has been confirmed so far and outlining the timelines that providers and learners should be aware of.
You can view the webinar and book a one-to-one consultation with NCFE’s team on our dedicated post-16 reforms webpage, where you’ll find further guidance on what these reforms mean for you, your learners and your future curriculum planning.
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Updates for exams officers
Read the latest news and updates for exams officers here.
‘Warning to candidates’ poster – preparation for summer assessments
As we’re now aligned to the JCQ Instructions for Conducting Examinations document for 2025-26, we’re reminding you to reprint the JCQ ‘warning to candidates’ posters in advance of the summer assessment series. These posters now contain our logo.
Please note that JCQ centre inspection service representatives will check that the correct version of this document is visible to all candidates, if they visit your centre during the summer term.
Download the poster
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Supporting your delivery
Our teams are running lots of events this term to support you and your colleagues. Click the links below to discover what’s coming up and register your place:
Assessor training
Our assessor training events will provide you with an opportunity to:
- explore the general principles of the assessment process
- understand what we expect from Assessors
- get to know our paperwork and processes
- highlight and share good practice
- meet and network with other practitioners.
This training is suitable for anyone assessing our qualifications, whether: new to assessment, assessing our qualifications for the first time, or even experienced assessors who require CPD. If you attend this event, you’ll be eligible to receive a digital credential that you can add to your professional development portfolio. The next sessions are taking place on:
- Wednesday 6 May, 9:30am–12:30pm
- Wednesday 10 June, 9:30am–12:30pm
- Functional Skills Assessor – Wednesday 13 May, 9:30am–12:30pm
Please note, this training is generic across our qualifications and not subject specific. Colleagues and trainers will be from a wide range of sectors. If you require subject specific training, you can arrange a support visit.
Sign up now
Our internal quality assurance (IQA) events will provide you with an opportunity to:
- explore the general principles of the IQA process
- understand what we expect from you
- get to know our paperwork and processes
- review current practices and develop ideas for improvement
- understand how to achieve and maintain Direct Claim Status (DCS)
- meet and network with other IQA practitioners.
This training is suitable for anyone involved in the IQA process of our qualifications, whether you’re new to IQA, applying it to our qualifications for the first time, or even if you’re an experienced internal quality assurer and require CPD. If you attend this event, you’ll be eligible to receive a digital credential that you can add to your professional development portfolio. The next sessions are taking place on:
- Friday 8 May, 9:30am–12:30pm
- Thursday 11 June, 9:30am–12:30pm
- Functional Skills IQA – Wednesday 20 May, 9:30am–12:30pm
- Functional Skills IQA – Wednesday 8 July, 9:30am–12:30pm
Please note, this training is generic across our qualifications and not subject specific. Colleagues and trainers will be from a wide range of sectors. If you require subject specific training, you can arrange a support visit.
Sign up now
If you have any questions about assessor or IQA training, please contact the team at [email protected].
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Qualification-specific updates
