TQ Access Arrangements
Published 21 January 2022
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2022
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tq-access-arrangements-guide-to-the-data-submission-process/tq-access-arrangements
Introduction
In order to fulfil our regulatory and accreditation functions as set out in the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009, we require awarding organisations to provide exams delivery data for regulated qualifications.
What data will be collected?
Access Arrangements data will be collected for all Technical Qualifications (TQs) within T levels for learners in England.
When will data be collected?
Data will be collected according to the reporting schedule which is agreed and maintained by Ofqual’s data services team.
Updates to formats and guidance
This guidance document will be updated regularly. Any changes to procedure will be incorporated into the guidance document.
How to submit your data
Your data should be submitted to us in CSV format. Please refer to the ‘Connecting to Ofqual’s data portal and uploading data’ document on our web page to help you submit your files to us. If you need to ask us about a data submission please do contact the Data Services team by emailing [email protected], please do not send your data files via email to Data Services or to any other Ofqual email address, or via Contact the Regulator in the Portal.
Uploaded data
Once files have been successfully uploaded, the data will be validated against a set of validation rules. These are detailed in the sections below. If validation is successful, the data is automatically transferred into our systems and you will receive email confirmation. If the file is unsuccessful at any stage of validation you will receive an email with details of the validation failure. Please correct your file and resubmit it.
Amendments to data
Ofqual staff will not alter data once it has been submitted. If you find an error or omission after you’ve had a successful upload, please notify us by email by emailing [email protected]. We need to reject the existing submission before you can upload a new file.
How your data will be used
This data will be used to undertake our regulatory activities and, where required, to produce Official Statistics to fulfil our responsibility as a government department.
General completion guidelines
Data should include all approved access arrangements for assessments taken within the reporting period.
File format
The file must be CSV format and the first row must be headers as displayed in the ‘Name’ column of the table below. The subsequent rows must have the values of the data to be reported which must match the format and validation rules below.
| Name | Description | Position | Validation Regular Expression | Description of Regular Expression / Accepted values |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ReportingDate | Date the file was due to be submitted to Ofqual regardless of when it was actually uploaded (this date will be made available by Ofqual) | 1 |
^(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])[/](0[1-9]|1[012])[/](20)\d\d$ or ^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])$
|
The date in the following format: day (2 digits), forward slash, month (2 digits), forward slash, year (4 digits), or: year (4 digits), a dash, month (2 digits), a dash, day (2 digits) |
| AwardingOrganisation | Acronym of the awarding organisation (AO) | 2 | ^.{1,100}$ |
A valid AO Acronym. 1 to 100 characters accepted Note: value must be consistent within the file. |
| QualificationNumber | Unique identifier for the TQ as it appears in Ofqual’s Register of Regulated qualifications | 3 | ^.{1,10}$ |
Valid Qualification Number. 1 to 10 characters accepted |
| ULN | Unique Learner Number | 4 | ^.{0000000001,9999999999}$ |
A numeric value between 0000000001 and 9999999999 |
| UCI | Unique Candidate Identifier | 5 | ^.{1,13}$ |
A valid Unique Candidate Identifier Note: enter -2 if not available |
| UKPRN | UK Provider Reference Number | 6 | ^.{10000000,99999999}$ |
A numeric value between 10000000 and 99999999 |
| NCN | Centre ID – National Centre Number | 7 | ^\d{1,5}$ |
Up to 5-digit integer Note: enter -2 if not available |
| AccessArrangementType | Type of access arrangement | 8 | ^(25% extra time|Oral Language Modifier|Alternative accommodation|Bilingual dictionary with extra time|Practical assistant for practical assessments|Coloured/enlarged paper|Practical assistant for written papers|Computer reader/reader|Scribe/speech recognition|Extra time over 25%|Sign Language Interpreter|Other)$ |
Accepted values: 25% extra time Oral Language Modifier Alternative accommodation Bilingual dictionary with extra time Practical assistant for practical assessments Coloured/enlarged paper Practical assistant for written papers Computer reader/reader Scribe/speech recognition Extra time over 25% Sign Language Interpreter Other |
| RequestDate | Date when request for access arrangement was made | 9 |
^(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])[/](0[1-9]|1[012])[/](20)\d\d$ or ^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])$
|
The date in the following format: day (2 digits), forward slash, month (2 digits), forward slash, year (4 digits), or: year (4 digits), a dash, month (2 digits), a dash, day (2 digits) |
| DecisionDate | Date when the application was accepted or rejected | 10 |
^(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])[/](0[1-9]|1[012])[/](20)\d\d$ or ^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])$
|
The date in the following format: day (2 digits), forward slash, month (2 digits), forward slash, year (4 digits), or: year (4 digits), a dash, month (2 digits), a dash, day (2 digits) |
| Status | Status of the application | 11 | ^(Accepted|Rejected|Pending)$ |
Accepted values: Accepted Rejected Pending |
| RejectionReason | Reason for rejection (where applicable) | 12 | Accepted values as per pre-agreed list | Accepted values: Candidate doesn’t meet requirements Centre doesn’t have proof of candidates meeting requirements Note: enter -2 if not applicable |
| TemporaryOrLongTermCondition | Binary field to describe the reason behind the need for an access arrangement | 13 | ^(Temporary|Long- term)$ |
Accepted values: Temporary Long-term |
| AssessmentSeries | Assessment series data relates to, for example June 2023, where applications are for one series only. | 14 | ^(June)([][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9])$ |
Full month name and year of Assessment series. for example June 2023 Note: enter -2 where applications are not restricted to an individual assessment series (in which case date ranges should be given in fields 15 and 16) |
| StartDate | Start date of the granted application | 15 |
^(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])[/](0[1-9]|1[012])[/](20)\d\d$ or ^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])$
|
The date in the following format: day (2 digits), forward slash, month (2 digits), forward slash, year (4 digits), or: year (4 digits), a dash, month (2 digits), a dash, day (2 digits) |
| EndDate | Approval valid until this end date | 16 |
^(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])[/](0[1-9]|1[012])[/](20)\d\d$ or ^(20)\d\d[-](0[1-9]|1[012])[-](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])$
|
The date in the following format: day (2 digits), forward slash, month (2 digits), forward slash, year (4 digits), or: year (4 digits), a dash, month (2 digits), a dash, day (2 digits) |
Contacts
For all queries relating to the data collection process, amendments to data previously provided, or for general guidance. please contact: