Our latest updates

 April 2025

Updated [07/04/2025]

News for all T Level providers 

Key dates and reminders

Preparing for the summer assessment series 

Following the release of the autumn series results, we’re now looking ahead to the summer series and sharing some useful reminders with you to help ensure these assessments go smoothly. 

Please see our summer assessment series webpage for more information on: 

• reminders on social media sharing and risk of malpractice 

• booking cut-off dates 

• reasonable adjustments  

• special considerations  

• key reminders on the Employer Set Project (ESP), Occupational Specialisms (OS) and core exams. 

Core component entry cut off 

If you still need to book your core component re-sits, the entry cut offs for the core component on all T Level qualifications are in April. Specific dates for each qualification are below and can be found in the Key Dates Schedule.  

• Education and Early Years – Thursday 10 April 

• Digital Business Services – Friday 25 April 

• Digital Support Services – Friday 25 April 

• Health – Thursday 17 April 

• Healthcare Science – Thursday 17 April 

• Science – Wednesday 23 April 

Any entries made after these dates will be subject to a late or very late entry fee as per the key dates schedule and our 2024-25 Fees and Pricing list. 

Advanced assessment materials: a reminder on access guidance 

We wanted to remind you about our guidance for accessing advanced assessment materials. 

We provide access to advanced assessment materials connected to our Employer Set Projects and Occupational Specialisms at least three days before these assessments are due to officially commence. This helps to ensure that your provider has the opportunity to make all necessary preparations to deliver the assessment successfully and in full accordance with our guidance.  

However, these materials should only be accessed by members of your exams team and administrators. Tutors and students shouldn’t have access to any advanced assessment materials until the day of the assessments. Please refer to the Key Dates Schedule for exact dates as these may vary slightly between each series. 

This guidance on these materials must be followed by all providers to protect the integrity of our assessments. Breaching our assessment guidance and regulations is considered as malpractice or maladministration, and we may impose sanctions in line with JCQ guidance. If you become aware of a breach, please complete our online centre staff malpractice form, or contact our T Level Customer Support team at [email protected].  

We’d also like to remind all providers that sensitive information relating to live assessment materials should not be shared in social media forums, such as Facebook. This would also be considered as malpractice or maladministration and is sanctionable in accordance with JCQ guidance. Please share this reminder with all your team members connected to any NCFE qualifications or assessments.

VTQ timely delivery of results 

VTQ timely delivery of results: deadline for second term-time checkpoint approaching  

The window for the second term-time checkpoint closes on Friday 2 May 2025. Visit our timely delivery of VTQ results webpage for more information on the actions you need to take and where to find support.

Key dates   

Key Dates Schedule consultation: we need your feedback  

We need your feedback on the content and structure of our 2025-26 and 2026-27 Key Dates Schedule. Read more and share your feedback before Friday 9 May. 

Supporting your delivery: resources, training and events 

Administration support for moderation 

We’d like to remind you that administration training is available on the moderation webpage. This training will guide you through the administration duties required and help ensure everything is completed correctly and efficiently.    

Please keep the following key points in mind:   

Evidence upload limits:  

• Be mindful of the upload limits for evidence. You should ensure that files meet the specified size requirements to avoid any issues when uploading evidence.  

• Find useful tips under the evidence upload banner on our moderation webpage.   

Evidence labelling:    

• You should label all evidence clearly, by including the corresponding task number in the document title. For example, labelling a document as ‘Task 3’ will clarify which evidence corresponds to which task.    

• All files and documents must include the student’s name and the name of the task(s).   

• Student names on evidence submissions must match the names used to register the student with NCFE.  

Evidence upload checklist: 

 You can find the evidence upload checklist for each Occupational Specialism (OS) via the Portal.  

• Please complete the checklist and upload them alongside the student evidence. The checklist includes a reasonable adjustment section where you must confirm if any reasonable adjustments have been applied and submit the JCQ form giving details.  

Watch our handy guidance videos:  

• How to access assessment materials 

• How to submit provider marks for moderation   
• View students selected for moderation and upload evidence . 

Delivering the T Level in Health? 

If you’re delivering this qualification, please note that part 1: practical assessment activity (core) and part 2: practical assessment activity (pathway) has two separate assessment windows.  

You must submit all marks for the core elements by the core deadline and then all marks for the pathway by the pathway deadline, as outlined in the Key Dates Schedule.  You’ll receive two separate sampling plans for the core and pathway, and core will be made available first. The sampling plan will be generated once all marks have been submitted, and the assessment window has closed. This will be available in the Portal.   

For more support when entering marks, view our Entering Provider Marks 603/7066/X Assignment 2 guide. 

Upcoming events  

We have a full schedule of interactive and useful training events taking place in April and May. Visit our events webpages for more information.   

We’ve highlighted some key ones below and you can find others on our subject-specific webpages (linked at the end of this page).  

• Drop-in clinic: Education and Early Years T Level toolbox, Friday 11 April at 4:30-5:30pm: This Education and Early Years toolbox drop-in clinic is an opportunity for you to ask questions to our Provider Development team.  

• NCFE virtual drop-in clinic: supporting new T Level approvals, Monday 28 April at 4:30-5:30pm: Do you need support with your new T Level approvals? Join our virtual drop-in clinic for guidance and support.  

• Drop-in clinic: Health and Science T Levels toolbox, Tuesday 5 May at 8:30-9:30am: The Health and Science toolbox drop-in clinic is an opportunity for you to ask questions to our Provider Development team.  

• Digital Sector Manager Q&A clinic, Thursday 22 May at 8:30-9:30am: Join our virtual clinic with specialists from the digital sector, addressing your questions to ensure readiness for successful assessment outcomes.  

• Drop-in clinic: supporting new T Level approvals, Friday 23 May at 12-1pm: Do you need support with your new T Level approvals? Join our virtual drop-in clinic for guidance and support.  

• Maximising educational impact with prompting theory and genAI tools, Tuesday 1 July at 2-3:30pm: Discover how to apply prompting theory to enhance real-world educational outcomes using cutting-edge generative AI tools such as Copilot (Microsoft), Gemini (Google), and ChatGPT. This interactive webinar will explore the practicalities and unique strengths of each tool, providing actionable strategies for supporting various educational tasks. Attendees will gain insights into effective AI integration to optimise teaching and learning. 

• Effective questioning in mathematics for vocational contexts, Wednesday 2 July at 3-4:30pm: Incorporating maths into vocational programmes can often pose challenges for educators. This live online training session on effective questioning in maths is designed to empower vocational teachers to enhance student engagement and deepen understanding, fostering critical thinking skills essential for real-world problem-solving. The session provides a focused, interactive opportunity to develop effective questioning strategies tailored to vocational teaching and learning in maths. 

Professional Development Week: register your interest to be the first to know more 

Our next Professional Development Week will take place from Monday 30 June – Friday 4 July. This week will feature a range of virtual training sessions, workshops, and 'in conversation with' events, designed to enhance professional skills and provide valuable insights into the field. Our previous Professional Development Weeks have been attended by hundreds of educators, exams colleagues and senior leaders. 

You’ll have the opportunity to join live and recorded, free taster sessions on practical teaching strategies, innovative tools, and methods to engage students. This will be a useful introduction to some of our paid CPD events that will be taking place at a later date, so you can experience the content before signing up to the full session.  

Sign up and register your interest if you want to be the first to hear about our plans for Professional Development Week!