New Processes with Digital Links for External Assessments – Exams Officers

In September 2021, we created two new processes utilising digital functionality, to support you and reduce the time spent on admin for exams officers within your centre.  These new processes have affected some of our V Cert, CACHE, and T Level qualifications. Details on the qualifications affected can be found below.

The two new processes are as follows:  

• Accessing the pre-release materials required for some external assessments 
• Submitting electronic learner evidence for some external assessments.  

Accessing the pre-release materials required for some external assessments 

This allows you to securely download pre-release materials from a secure digital link which replaces the previous method of us providing you with a USB from which you download the materials.  We’ll send these digital links to your exams officers/contacts at the specified time before the external assessment is due to commence. Digital links should not be forwarded on to anyone else, either at the centre or externally. 

This allows you to check that all files can be opened, stored securely, and provided to learners in line with the rules set out in our External Assessment Regulations.  

Submitting electronic learner evidence for some external assessments 

This new method allows you to securely provide us with digital learner evidence for your external assessments for those qualifications which require it, as detailed in the QSID. A full list of qualifications which require the submission of digital evidence towards the external assessment can be found at the end of this webpage.   

This approach aims to reduce the administrative burden on centres for saving digital learner evidence on some of the older storage mediums, e.g. CD, DVD, USB. There will still be a requirement to follow all guidelines as detailed in our External Assessment Regulations and return your external assessment papers, Invigilator’s Register and all other associated external assessment paperwork in the usual secure way. However, all of your digital learner evidence can either be uploaded or dragged and dropped into your individual centre folder digital link.  This will be provided to you for every external assessment window in which electronic evidence is accepted via email to your exams contact as listed in our internal customer database.  This digital link should not be forwarded onto anyone else and the staff member uploading the work should be independent from the teaching. 

Further, detailed step-by-step instructions for both processes can be found in our Portal User Guide. 

For further queries please contact our Customer Support team – [email protected] or call 0191 239 8000. 

List of NCFE qualifications requiring pre-release materials 

List of NCFE qualifications requiring electronic learner submission