Service messages

Updated on [08/04/2025]

Welcome to our service messages area. This area is regularly updated with the latest information about our products, qualifications, processes and more.

We’ll also send you a monthly newsletter where we’ll highlight any key updates, and you can click through to this webpage to read the full details. We recommend bookmarking this page so that you can check back regularly for any updates!

May 2025 

VTQ timely delivery of results 

Thank you to everyone who completed your second term-time checkpoint. We appreciate your support to ensure students receive timely results this summer.   

Deadlines for making certificate claims and EQA reviews to take place 

If you’re delivering qualifications which are not V Certs or T Levels and are otherwise in scope for VTQ results release, your EQA review(s) should have either already taken place, or be booked to take place on or before Monday 30 June.    

For qualifications which don’t include an external assessment, the deadline to make certificate claims for these qualifications in the Portal is Friday 11 July.  

For qualifications which do include an external assessment, you should make your certificate claims within two working days of receiving results. 

More information about the timely delivery of results this summer can be found on our website. 

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Key dates and assessments 

Assessment Timetable consultation – we need your thoughts 

We’d like your feedback on our proposed Assessment Timetable for 2025-26 and 2026-27 before Friday 13 June. Following this, we’ll review your comments and publish a narrative response to queries and feedback, before confirming a final version in July. 

To support you to understand some of the changes and additions to this version, as well as addressing some areas of previous feedback received, we’ve provided the following guidance for you to consider prior to reviewing and submitting feedback.  

Process and work to this point  

• We’ve worked with other awarding organisations offering similarly structured assessments to ensure that assessment set date and time assessments avoid overlap as far as possible.  

• We publish our Assessment Timetable is published two years in advance, whereas the GCSE and A Level timetable is published only one year in advance. Therefore, we’re aware there may be some clashes between our assessments and GCSE and A Levels but will manage these where possible through existing regulation allowances and assessment variation requests if needed. Please note that where relevant, we’ve referenced summer 2025 date changes and final assessment opportunities throughout this consultation document.  

Changes and additions  

• We’ve included our new Alternative Academic Qualifications (AAQs) which will have their first delivery in 2025-26.  

• We’ve amended dates for our Northern Ireland qualifications to allow for an earlier results release, in line with Northern Ireland summer term times.  

• We’ve amended the external assessment date for our Level 1/2 Technical Award in Health and Social Care to 20 May 2026 to avoid a clash with GCSE English Language.   

Who can respond?  

Your feedback is valuable to us, so we encourage all current, approved V Cert and CACHE centres to review the proposed Assessment Timetable and submit a response.   

How can I respond?  

Please review the proposed Assessment Timetable for 2025-26 and 2026-27, and then complete this form with all feedback. The deadline for feedback is 13 June 2025.  

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Updated guidance from JCQ on AI use in assessments 

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) has published an updated version of its AI Use in Assessment rules and guidance document. This document is designed to help students and teachers complete NEAs, coursework and internal assessments successfully as AI tools continue to rapidly develop, as well as to consider the potential risks of AI misuse and how they can be mitigated during assessment delivery. 

JCQ has also published the following resources:  

• a bulletin to accompany the new document, with a summary for heads of centre, teachers and students 

• a poster for students 

• an information sheet for teachers 

• a slide deck for senior leaders to present to teachers 

• a slide deck for teachers to present to students. 

Please take some time to familiarise yourself with the updated rules and guidance and share with your colleagues and students.   

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A message from Ofqual  

Please ensure to read the message from Ofqual’s Chief Regulator to school and college leaders, which contains important information about the summer exam season. It includes messages about maintaining security and integrity of exams and assessments, the importance of reviewing contingency plans, and Technical Awards and the terminal rule.   

CACHE qualifications: themed assessments 

We’ve updated the CACHE Assessment Themed Document. The new version of this document has replaced the older documents on the individual qualification pages on our website, under assessment materials and external assessment guidance.  

We haven’t changed any of the assessment theme titles, but we’ve removed old data for qualifications that are no longer live and updated the guidance for the Children’s Care Learning and Development (Northern Ireland)/Extended Diploma External Assessment.  

Ahead of booking and submitting learner work for these assessments, please take note of our top tips: 

• Ensure that you’re booking learners onto the correct theme, and that the work submitted is for the correct theme the learners are booked onto. This is essential to ensure that there are no delays in marking, which could lead to learners not receiving their results on time. 

Remember that learners are unable to submit the same assessment theme twice, except for CCLDNI/EDEA, where the learners are entitled to another attempt at the same assessment theme.  

• If you do submit learner work and it’s identified that this has been submitted for the incorrect theme, we’ll charge late assessment booking fees to amend the external assessment booking.  

If you have any questions with regards to these assessments, or require support with making assessment themed bookings, please contact our Customer Support team via email at [email protected] or through LiveChat on our website. 

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Qualification updates and withdrawals  

As a result of our strong partnership working with Active IQ we’ve focused on streamlining our product offer and have identified areas of overlap. Therefore, we’ve taken the decision to withdraw a small number of qualifications in sport and active leisure. Suitable alternatives are available from ourselves and Active IQ, please download the latest Horizons document to see the recommended alternative qualifications.   

• View our latest Horizons document, featuring qualification updates and maintenance information including qualification withdrawals, new qualifications, and qualification amendments.  

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T Levels 

• View our latest T Level communications. 

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V Certs 

• View our latest V Cert service messages. 

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Exams officers’ update  

• View this month’s update. 

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Functional Skills 

Sign up to our upcoming events: visit our Functional Skills service messages webpage for information on our events taking place in June.  

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Supporting your delivery: resources, training and events 

Professional Development Week: our next one will take place from Monday 30 June – Friday 4 July, find out more and sign up to the sessions now.  

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Education and Early Years student conference: join our next student conference on Friday 6 June, 10am-12pm, which will focus on working with children and young people. We’ll bring together early years and education professionals who will share their wealth of specialist knowledge and expertise when working with these groups, giving your learners an insight into this sector. Sign your learners up now.   

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Changes to your contact details: if contact details at your centre have changed for head of centre, programme, finance or exams contacts, please update us by completing this form.

Horizons archive

Explore our Horizons portfolio archive below.