Returning papers – postal strikes impact

Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) are continuing strike action throughout the coming weeks, across a number of dates. More information can be found on Royal Mail’s website.

This may affect the return of assessment papers, please read on for more details.

Does this impact the receipt of Functional Skills papers?

No. Our Functional Skills papers are dispatched using DHL, which is unaffected by the strike action. Therefore, receipt of assessment papers will be unaffected on these days, with our standard timescales for receipt still in place (papers are dispatched for receipt from 3 working days before the date of assessment).

Does this impact the return of Functional Skills papers and T Level core exam papers?

Yes. For the return of papers, the impact will depend on the method used by a centre:

• Yellow Label is operated by Parcelforce, who states that scheduled collections will take place, but ad hoc collections will be suspended the day before, and day of, strike days. For full details, please see their website.
• Royal Mail (for those who use Special Delivery) has said that there will be delays to their service on these days, please see their website for details. (Reminder: no papers should be returned using standard first or second class postage anyway, regardless of strike action).
• Other courier services should largely be unaffected, but please speak with your usual courier directly to confirm the potential impact.

Therefore, for the return of paper-based Functional Skills assessments and T Level core exam papers, our advice is:

• Store your papers in secure storage and arrange a collection via the yellow label service or by Royal Mail Special Delivery or a comparable, trackable service. This should be done on Friday 16 December if you’re impacted by the strike action on 14 and 15 December. We’re aware that this is close to the Christmas break; however, we require these papers back as soon as possible after the strike. You must not hold on to the papers and send them back in January as this could delay the marking process.
• Avoid returning completed assessment papers on, or immediately before, known strike dates if you believe your chosen method of return will be delayed.
• Assessment papers sitting uncollected in a post office, or held in a sorting centre, are at increased risk of loss or damage.
• Store papers securely following an assessment, returning on the first available date following a strike day.
• Marking timescales are unaffected, we’ll continue to mark and release results starting from the date of receipt of papers by NCFE.
• Note: NCFE will temporarily relax the requirement to return completed papers within 48 hours for assessments on or immediately before a strike day, and give providers an additional 48 hours’ flexibility to manage returns around strike days. Please note that we do not consider Royal Mail Recorded Delivery to be an acceptable method of delivery, as this does not guarantee a tracking facility throughout the entire delivery process.
• Consider when you’re making bookings for students for Functional Skills paper-based assessments to avoid the strike days and potential delays or complications around this time.
• To avoid impact, consider when you’re making bookings for paper-based assessments, working around the strike dates. Or alternatively, consider our online or remote invigilation options instead of paper-based.

Our existing marking turnaround will still be in place, meaning papers will be marked and results released from 6 working days of receipt by NCFE.

Are any other NCFE qualifications affected?

No other timetabled external assessments will be affected by these strikes, however any other on-demand external assessments, such as those within our EPA offer, may be affected.

Where this is the case, please follow the advice outlined above.

Will this affect certification dispatch for Functional Skills qualifications?

For some certificate dispatch you may see some disruption and delays as part of our service is operated by Whistl, who work with Royal Mail for part of their delivery. We also use DHL and Fedex for certificate dispatch and these will be unaffected.

Further support

If you have further queries, please contact our Customer Support Team on [email protected] or via live chat on our website.