Service messages

Updated on [18/06/2025]

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!

June 2025 

Assessments and results 

Deadline for making certificate claims   

If you’re delivering qualifications which are not V Certs or T Levels and are 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.    

You’ll need to make certificate claims for qualifications that don’t include an external assessment by Friday 11 July. If you’re awaiting external assessment results after this date, once they’re confirmed you should make these claims within two working days or receiving the result.  

You can find information on how to do this in the Portal User Guide. Find out more information about claiming certificates on our timely delivery of results webpage. You can also read our certification FAQs. 

Transferring learners 

If you need to transfer a registered learner to a different qualification, for example from a certificate or award to a diploma, please ensure you do so using the ‘transfer’ option in the manage learners screen in the Portal, rather than making a new registration. This will ensure that all existing results the learner has achieved are carried over to the new qualification. 

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Qualification updates and withdrawals  

View this month’s Horizon update for the latest qualification changes and withdrawals. Please ensure to read this document if you deliver any of our early years, childcare and dental nursing qualifications, as a number of these are being withdrawn. We’ve included links to suitable replacement qualifications where relevant.  

Fees and pricing for 2025-26 

As we approach the end of the academic year, we’d like to share some information with you about our fees and pricing for 2025-26. Read more.   

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CACHE qualifications 

CACHE assessments – key reminders  

We wanted to share some key reminders with you about AI usage and referencing for CACHE assessments. 

AI usage   

Within the recent academic year, we’ve seen an increase of suspected AI usage instances in the CACHE external assessments. This is predominantly within the following external assessments: HSC/CEA, HSC/EDEA, HSC1, HSED2, CCE1 and DCE2.   

When our examiners review external assessments, they’re looking for the following as indicators of potential use of AI: 

• americanised spelling 

• phrasing or sentences that seem out of place 

• instances of incorrect/inconsistent use of first-person and third person 

• inconsistent use of language throughout the assessment 

• the use of synonyms at a more advanced level than expected 

• unexpected use of punctuation for the level of assessment. 

Please note that this list is not exhaustive.   

Instances of potential AI usage within an external assessment will go through a review process. If agreed by our chief examiner, this will be raised to our Provider Assurance team for investigation.   

During this process, any assessment result will be placed on hold until the investigation is completed. Once the investigation is completed, dependent on the outcome of the investigation, it still may take a few further days for the results to be released.   

It’s increasingly important that you’re being vigilant when it comes to your learners potentially using AI, as this can cause delays to the release of external assessment results, or lead to your learners being disqualified from the assessment.   

Referencing  

To support with referencing queries, we’ve compiled some frequently asked questions. 

CACHE themes   

Remember to check the assessment bookings for CACHE themed assessments, and ensure learners are booked onto the correct assessment theme.   

Any incorrect theme bookings made will result in additional fees, as we’ll need to make amendments to the assessment booking if this is after the external assessment booking cut-off date.   

When submitting work for learners onto relevant themes, please cross check the theme of work you’re submitting against the theme they are booked onto.   

You’ll be asked, via the NCFE Portal when making a booking and when submitting learner evidence, to confirm that the theme is correct.   

Our updated CACHE themed document can be found on the relevant qualification pages under the assessment materials tab.   

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Functional Skills 

• View our latest Functional Skills communications. 

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T Levels 

• View our latest T Level communications. 

• If you’d like to get approved for delivering T Levels, or additional T Levels, from September 2025, please remember that the deadline is Friday 27 June. Read our FAQs for more information. 

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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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NCFE and JCQ – continued alignment  

We’ve been a full member of JCQ for many years, and over the last several sessions we’ve adopted many of the JCQ assessment policies and approaches, including those relating to appeals, special considerations, and maladministration and malpractice.  

From summer 2025, we’ll be fully adopting the JCQ Post Results Services booklet. Our previous NCFE equivalent was very closely aligned to these policies and approaches. Therefore, the new adoption will mean there will be very little noticeable difference to you. However, we believe this change will give you the confidence that the NCFE qualifications you deliver have services and standards on par with those offered for GCSEs and A Levels, and also will help alleviates the administrative burden of reviewing and maintaining two parallel documents.   

From the 2025-26 session and beyond, we’re working on further alignment still, to give clearer and more consistent guidance to you, including plans to adopt the General Regulations, the Instructions for Conducting Examinations booklet, and the Access Arrangements and Reasonable Adjustments booklet. We’ll share more information with you over the coming months on the timelines and benefits.   

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Supporting your delivery: resources, training and events 

Professional Development Week: learn about AI, maths and more during our next Professional Development Week, which will take place from Monday 30 June to Friday 4 July. Find out more and sign up to the sessions 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.