Introduction page 1

The exam cycle

This section covers:

 An introduction to:

o the exam cycle

o key dates
o access arrangements
o Access Arrangements Online (AAO)
o Centre Admin Portal (CAP)
o types and levels of qualifications
o assessment
o conducting external examinations
 Next steps

Introduction to the exam cycle

The exams management and administration process that needs to be undertaken for
each exam series is often referred to as the exam cycle and relevant tasks required
roughly grouped into the stages:

 planning
 entries
 pre-exams (exam preparation)
 exam time
 results and post-results
The exam cycle guides you through the exam year detailing the tasks which need to
be undertaken and completed, and any relevant deadlines.
Awarding bodies and JCQ provide information, regulations, guidance and
instructions on the exams cycle for their qualifications and should be your primary
source of reference and support for the qualifications delivered in your centre.
The Exams Office provides generic support through the exam cycle and beyond.

Support resources
The Exams Office:

 A GUIDE TO MANAGING EXAM PLANNING

 A GUIDE TO MANAGING ENTRIES
 A GUIDE TO MANAGING EXAM PREPARATION
 A GUIDE TO MANAGING EXAM TIME
 A GUIDE TO MANAGING RESULTS AND POST-RESULTS (or outside of the main
summer exams period - A GUIDE TO PREPARING FOR A RESULTS DAY)
 NEW EXAMS OFFICER: MONTHLY SUPPORT GUIDES
 EXAMS KEY TERMS GLOSSARY

Introduction to key dates

'Key dates' is a common term used to describe exam administration dates provided
to centres by awarding bodies. Each awarding body normally provides key dates
information for its own qualifications on its public website.
JCQ provides key dates summarising the ‘need to know’ key dates for the main
examination series of GCSE, GCE and Project qualifications which are common to
JCQ member awarding bodies. Where an awarding body is not a JCQ member (or is
a member offering qualifications which do not come under common arrangements),
common key dates will not apply unless stated by the awarding body. In such cases
the individual awarding body’s key dates must be followed.

Support resources
JCQ: Key Dates
Awarding bodies include:

 AQA: Dates and timetables

 OCR: Key dates and timetables
 Pearson: Key dates
 WJEC (and Eduqas): Key dates and timetables
The Exams Office: Key Dates Calendar Tool

Introduction to access arrangements

Introduce yourself to what these arrangements are as explained by JCQ:
Access Arrangements are pre-examination adjustments for candidates based on
evidence of need and normal way of working. Access Arrangements fall into two
distinct categories: some arrangements are delegated to centres, others require prior
JCQ awarding body approval.
Access Arrangements allow candidates/learners with special educational needs,
disabilities or temporary injuries to access the assessment without changing the
demands of the assessment. For example, readers, scribes and Braille question
 papers. In this way Awarding Bodies will comply with the duty of the Equality Act
2010 to make 'reasonable adjustments'.

Introduction to Access Arrangements Online (AAO)

This tool allows centres to submit approval applications for access arrangements
and to order modified papers.
For qualifications beyond the scope of AAO, the individual awarding body's process
for submitting approval applications and ordering modified papers must be identified
and followed.
AAO is accessed through the Centre Admin Portal (CAP).

Support resources
JCQ:

 AAO Useful Information

 Access Arrangements and Reasonable Adjustments (sections 6, 8)
The Exams Office: A GUIDE TO MANAGING ACCESS ARRANGEMENTS

Introduction to CAP (Centre Admin Portal)

Introduce yourself to CAP as explained by JCQ:
CAP, allows centres to process alternative site arrangements, centre consortium
arrangements, overnight supervision arrangements, transferred candidate
arrangements and very late arrivals on-line.
It also includes Access Arrangements Online, allowing centres to process access
arrangements applications and order modified papers, as well as interactive JCQ
documentation.
CAP is accessed via awarding body secure extranet sites.

Support resources
JCQ: CAP (Centre Admin Portal)

Introduction to types and levels of qualifications

Research information to ensure your understanding of the types and levels of
qualifications offered by awarding bodies and how qualifications are regulated.
 Support resources
Ofqual:

 Types of regulated qualifications

 What qualification levels mean
 Register of Regulated Qualifications Find a regulated qualification
 Exam regulation and administration

Introduction to assessment
The method of assessing qualifications, and the individual components within a
particular qualification can be varied and methods of assessment can include:

 timetabled written examinations

 examinations to be taken within a window of dates
 on-screen tests
 on-demand tests/examinations
 non-examination assessment (and coursework)
 practicals and performances
 speaking tests (orals)
 listening examinations (aurals)
 endorsements
These may be external or internal assessments.

External assessment normally means that it will be marked (assessed) by the

awarding body.
Internal assessment normally means that it will first be marked (assessed) by the
centre, then externally moderated by the awarding body. (Note, where there is an
endorsement within a qualification this may be monitored rather than moderated by
the awarding body).
Internal assessment includes coursework and non-examination assessments (NEA).
Marks awarded for each component part of a qualification (where a qualification is
made up of separate components/units) contribute to the final grade for the whole
qualification awarded to the candidate.
GCSE, AS and A level (in England) are linear qualifications meaning assessment
takes place at the end of the course

 Assessment is predominantly by timetabled exams with NEA only used where it is

needed to test essential skills
 A levels are graded on a scale A* to E, AS levels A to E and GCSEs 9 to 1 (9 being
the top grade)
 AS and A levels are standalone qualifications and AS results do not count towards
the achievement of an A level

Support resources
JCQ:

 Instructions for conducting coursework

 Instructions for conducting non-examination assessments

Introduction to conducting external examinations

In order to comply with the regulations as set by the JCQ member awarding bodies,
you must be fully familiar with JCQ's Instructions for conducting
examinations publication. Where an awarding body is not a JCQ member or where
a qualification does not come under the JCQ common arrangements, then awarding
body instructions must be known and followed.
(For centres in England only) When conducting external examinations in your centre,
you will need to understand that candidates' completed exam papers (referred to as
‘scripts’) for many qualifications are sent to awarding bodies via the secure dispatch
of exam scripts service (the Parcelforce Worldwide yellow label service*). This
service to dispatch exam scripts for externally assessed general qualifications and
other eligible accredited qualifications is centrally funded (i.e. at no cost to the
centre) by the Standards and Testing Agency (STA), an executive agency,
sponsored by the DfE.
*The service covers collections from schools, colleges and pupil referral units (PRUs) in England.
Establishments in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Channel Isles, the Isle of Man, British
Forces Post Offices (BFPO) and international centres are not in scope

Centres not involved in the secure dispatch of exam scripts service must obtain proof
of postage/dispatch for each packet of scripts, which must be retained on the
centre’s files until the results are published, in case of loss or damage and must use
a method of dispatch which is reliable and ensures prompt delivery.

Support resources
JCQ: Instructions for conducting examinations
STA: Dispatch of exam scripts: yellow label service

Next steps
Having asked questions, done your research and gathered information, you should
be better equipped to get started on the priority tasks that need to be undertaken.
 Identify, book and attend any face-to-face/online training and network events
relevant to your role as may be offered by awarding bodies and other organisations.

Support resources
The Exams Office:

 Consult the relevant monthly support guide for a generic overview of key tasks that
may need to be considered. It would be useful to look at previous months guides to
put tasks into perspective (unless you start in September)
 To support you in the completion of various key tasks, refer to the guides to
managing each stage of the exam cycle and the associated resources the guides
signpost to
Exam Planning

This section covers stage 1 of the exam cycle:

 Understanding the planning process

 Identifying key tasks and activities

Planning is the first stage of the exam cycle. This is a period where an annual exams
plan could be drawn up for the year. It is also a time when information is gathered,
information is shared and forward planning for upcoming exam series' gets
underway.
Support resources
The Exams Office:

 NEW EXAMS OFFICER: MONTHLY SUPPORT GUIDES

 TERMLY CHECKLISTS
This section provides a brief overview of the main aspects of the process that need
to be managed and highlights the key tasks that may need to be undertaken.

Building an annual exams plan

To be clear on the tasks you need to undertake in your role, it is good practice to
produce an annual exams plan (further referred to in this section as ‘plan’). The
purpose of this plan is to aid planning for the year and to minimise the risk of
deadlines being missed and essential tasks not being undertaken or overlooked.

Benefits of building a plan

By devising a plan, you are reducing risk in your centre. Example risks, and possible
consequences include:

 missed deadlines incurring late or other penalty fees

 candidates not being entered/registered for their
qualifications/examinations/assessments potentially affecting future progression
 awarding bodies not despatching secure assessment materials on time
 candidates not being informed of their centre assessed marks in sufficient time for
them to consider whether to request a review of the centre’s marking before marks
are submitted to the awarding body for moderation
 results being delayed or unavailable (subsequently affecting the performance
measures of the centre)
A plan also provides a visual way of demonstrating the spread of exam activity
across the academic year, easily identifying the busiest periods or potential peaks
(and troughs) in workload - particularly useful for exams officers (EOs) who also
undertake other roles in their centre.
Sharing your plan with your line manager would help to highlight the key aspects of
your role and the spread of exam activity within the centre, confirming the need for
you to be kept informed of centre-wide decisions or events that may affect your
role/exam activity.

Support resources
The Exams Office: ANNUAL EXAMS PLAN TEMPLATE

Key tasks and key dates

Refer to 2023-2024 JCQ publications and awarding body exams administration
information to identify key administrative processes associated with the qualifications
delivered in your centre.

 Regularly check awarding body websites and email alerts/e-newsletters for

information, updates and reminders
 Understand the key tasks required and the key dates and deadlines that need to be
met
 Ensure your centre responds to the National Centre Number
Register (NCNR) annual update by the end of October
 Add key dates and deadlines relating to key tasks to your plan
Note that the key dates for non-JCQ member awarding bodies (or qualifications
offered by members that do not come under JCQ common arrangements) may vary

Gather information about examination/assessment periods and add this to your plan,
for example:

 dates of the first and last examinations on the common timetable (the November
(GCSE) series and summer (May/June GCE and GCSE) series) including any
designated ‘contingency days’ (or sessions) within the summer common
examination timetable (in the event of national or significant local disruption to
examinations)
 dates of other examinations that may take place outside of the common timetable
 dates/periods of examinations/assessments that may take place in other series’, over
‘test weeks’, during ‘windows of assessment’, on demand, etc.
When gathering and collecting information from teaching teams in your centre, set
(and publish) clear internal deadlines for the return of information.

 Set appropriate internal deadlines to enable you to effectively meet external

deadlines
  Add internal deadlines to your plan
Determine if you will be required to manage the conducting of internal examinations
and tests (such as mock exams (PPEs), end of year exams, etc.) and/or other tests
(such as CATs, Yellis, ALIS, UATs, etc.)

 Identify how and when these will take place

 Add relevant dates or testing periods to your plan
From the centre-wide calendar identify if there are any planned events that may
impact upon your role, on exam rooms or even on exam candidates.

 This might include events such as an awards evening, parents’ evenings, educational
visits, periods of work experience, etc.
 Add relevant events to your plan
Identify events or meetings you will be attending and consider other activities which
impact upon your role/time - add these to your plan.

Early key dates

As a priority task in a new academic year (unless as good practice this was
undertaken before the end of the last summer term) identify any key dates that fall
early in the autumn term that may affect your centre and take the appropriate action.
As example, for the (GCSE) November exam series, key dates may include:

 Final date for awarding bodies to make basedata available

 Final date for ordering modified papers using Access Arrangements Online (AAO)
 Final date to submit Form JCQ/CCA – centre consortium arrangements for centre
assessed work using Centre Admin Portal (CAP)
 Final date for entries
 Final date for requesting transferred candidate arrangements using CAP
 Final date to process applications for access arrangements using AAO
As example, for the (GCSE and GCE) Summer (June) exam series, key dates may
include:

 Final date for awarding bodies to make basedata available

Support resources
JCQ: Key Dates and Timetables
The Exams Office:

 Key Dates Calendar Tool

 Exams Timetable Tool
 EXAMS KEY TERMS GLOSSARY (to understand the acronyms)
Information gathering and information sharing
Identify all the qualifications your centre is delivering for examination/assessment
during the current academic year.
Liaise with teaching teams to gather this information - this is their field of expertise
although you may need to point them to awarding body administrative guides when
relevant entry code information may not be clearly detailed in the awarding body
specification they are delivering.
Formalise this information gathering exercise to provide an audit trail of when
information was gathered and who provided the information
Ensure all relevant qualification information is gathered including:

 Awarding body
 Qualification type
 Specification title and code (if different to the entry code)
 Entry code
 Option and unit codes (where these may be applicable to the qualification)
 Exam series
 Cohort/year group intending to take the qualification
 Estimated number of candidates
You may choose to gather information towards the end of the summer term to
enable forward planning for the new academic year and to provide awarding bodies
with any early information* where they may require this. Alternatively, you may
decide to gather information at the start of the autumn term.
(*Early information could include estimated entries, intention to offer, intention to
teach information, etc. where an individual awarding body may require this. It could
also include final entries submission for an awarding body that has a November
series entry deadline very early in the autumn term. By providing early information,
awarding bodies may also make advance materials or early question papers (may
also be referred to as preliminary or pre-release materials) available to centres
delivering certain subjects where information is required for the subject
teacher/candidates before exam time. Early information can be an important source
of information for awarding bodies, used to inform examiner recruitment and to
calculate the despatch of exam stationery and early exam papers.)

 Ensure all qualifications are identified - check timetabling or other relevant reports or
information held in your centre (or in your management information system) to
ensure all qualifications have been identified
 Ideally collate all the information gathered into a summary providing one
single/central point of reference – this could become your annual qualifications
plan
(Such a plan would also be useful to inform contingency planning in case of teaching
staff or EO absence and to cross reference with, as entry deadlines approach, to
ensure that all entries have been made at the appropriate time)
Gather information from JCQ and awarding bodies and where relevant, share with
others in your centre. The expectation from these organisations is that centres will
access information online through websites (including secure extranet sites and
CAP) and through email updates/e-newsletters.

 For general exams-related information (that is not subject-specific), EOs are

increasingly seen as the channel (gatekeeper) through which information is
signposted to other relevant centre staff
 Work with your senior leader/line manager to ensure you have sufficient time to
perform your role and familiarise yourself with relevant awarding body and JCQ
documentation
 Allocate time to do your research to ensure you are aware of the information that is
available online relating to the management, administration and conducting of
examinations and look at ways you might use technology to signpost relevant
information to appropriate staff in your centre
 Ensure you are accessing the most up-to-date information where information is
academic year specific

Support resources
The Exams Office:

 INFORMATION GATHERING FORM TEMPLATE

 ANNUAL QUALIFICATIONS PLAN TEMPLATE
 JCQ PUBLICATIONS CHECKLIST TEMPLATE

Briefing candidates and staff

Candidates must be provided with information about their examinations and
assessments. Consider any information they may need to be made aware of early in
the academic year (or even at the start of their course of study).
Candidate briefings may need to take place at various times (for example, during the
planning stage and again during the pre-exams stage of the exam cycle) dependent
on the qualifications candidates are taking. Briefings should reinforce what
candidates must and must not do when sitting written examinations and/or on-screen
tests, and when producing coursework and/or non-examination assessments.
It may be appropriate It may be appropriate for a full briefing session or special
assembly to be delivered early in the year, then follow this up before exams take
place to reiterate information that specifically relates to exam time, the issue of
results and the arrangements for post-results services.
Consider information that must be brought to the attention of, or shared with
candidates (and where relevant, parents/carers).
This includes:

 the centre’s complaints policy and internal appeals procedure

  notification of their exam entries and the dates and times of their exams/assessments
 details of when provisional statements of results will be distributed
 the arrangements for post-results services and the availability of senior members of
centre staff immediately after the publication of results
 the centre’s procedures for how it will deal with candidate requests for post-results
services
Consider how, and prior to assessments and/or examinations taking place relevant
JCQ Information for candidates documents will be distributed to candidates, as
example:

 Coursework and/or Non-examination assessments – before candidates start to

work on any coursework and/or non-examination assessments
 Privacy Notice (Information for candidates – Information About You and How We
Use It) – before any candidate's personal data is shared (for example, at the
start of a course leading to a vocational qualification, or, where candidates are
following GCE and GCSE qualifications, when the entries are submitted to
awarding bodies for processing)
 Social media - before candidates start to work on coursework and/or non-
examination assessments, and take any exams/on-screen tests
 Written examinations and (where relevant) On-screen tests – before candidates
take any examinations/on-screen tests
Also consider how candidates will be made aware of the content of the current
JCQ Unauthorised items and Warning to candidates posters.
Alongside the delivery of a briefing session(s), consider producing a briefing
document (such as a handbook) to provide candidates with all the information they
need to be aware of/must be notified of/must be obtained from, and include any
centre-specific information and instructions you wish to convey to them.
Determine how it will be confirmed that candidates have been provided with required
information.
Consider how teaching staff, particularly newly qualified teachers (NQTs), are briefed
so they are aware of the exam cycle process in place in the centre for the
qualifications they deliver and the role they may play within this.
Briefing content could include, for example:

 Planning: information gathering and sharing - internal (and where relevant, external)
deadlines - relevant JCQ regulations (including conflicts of interest) - scheduling of
non-examination assessments, etc.
 Entries: making entries and providing entry codes - avoiding late entries - making
changes to entries, etc.
 Pre-exams: information for candidates - submitting marks and candidate work for
moderation, etc.
 Exam Time: the people present in exam rooms – releasing question papers, etc.
 Results and Post-Results: relevant information about results, post-results services
and certificates, etc.
Support resources
JCQ:

 General Regulations for Approved Centres (sections 5.8, 6.2)

 Information for candidates documents
 Exam Room Posters
The Exams Office:

 CANDIDATE EXAM HANDBOOK TEMPLATE

 CANDIDATE DECLARATION/CONFIRMATION FORM TEMPLATE
 TEACHER GUIDE TEMPLATE

Reporting
Record/report any issues that may affect your planning that you need to discuss and
resolve with your line manager. Example issues could include:

 information not being provided to you by teaching teams when requested

 internal deadlines not being met

Support resources
The Exams Office: EXAMS OFFICER/LINE MANAGER MEETING REPORT FORM
TEMPLATE

Ensuring the security and integrity of the examination/assessment system

The secure room and secure storage facility
A centre is required to have a secure storage facility/facilities in a secure room that
must solely be used for the purpose of administering secure examination materials.
Ensure appropriate arrangements are in place so the required conditions can be
met.
Check any recent JCQ Centre Inspection Service report(s) and ensure any issues
that may have been raised around secure storage have been/are being addressed.
Confidential materials
Ensure all the regulations and instructions relating to the confidentiality and security
of materials that will be sent to the centre in advance of exams/assessments
(including the arrangements for handling secure electronic materials) are understood
and followed.
Support resources
JCQ:

 General Regulations for Approved Centres (including sections 3.6, 5.3n-o)

 Instructions for conducting examinations (ICE) (sections 1-5)
 Exams Materials Receipt Log - Point of Delivery
 Exams Materials Receipt Log - Exams Officer
The Exams Office:

 A GUIDE TO MANAGING CONFIDENTIALITY & SECURITY IN THE EXAM CYCLE

 SECURE STORAGE AND CONFIDENTIAL MATERIALS CHECKLIST
 SECURE ROOM/SECURE STORAGE FACILITY KEYHOLDER AND ACCESS LOG
TEMPLATE
 CONFIDENTIAL MATERIALS: INITIAL POINT OF DELIVERY LOG TEMPLATE
 CONFIDENTIAL MATERIALS: RECEIPT, SECURE MOVEMENT, CHECKS AND
SECURE STORAGE LOG TEMPLATE
 HANDLING SECURE ELECTRONIC MATERIALS LOG TEMPLATE

Centre assessed work

Where relevant/applicable to your role, signpost relevant teaching teams to the
requirements for keeping candidates' work secure.

Support resources
JCQ:

 Instructions for conducting non-examination assessments

 Instructions for conducting coursework
The Exams Office: NEA SECURITY CHECKLIST TEMPLATE

Conflicts of interest
Understand what is deemed a conflict and the requirements in relation to what has to
be declared and recorded. Collect information from any potentially affected centre
staff.
Ensure:

 awarding bodies are informed, where required

  clear records are maintained including detail of the protocols put in place to reduce
any potential risk to the security and integrity of exams/assessments
 records are available to a JCQ Centre Inspector/awarding body where these may be
requested

Support resources
JCQ: General Regulations for Approved Centres (section 5.3k)
The Exams Office:

 DECLARATION OF INTEREST FORM TEMPLATE

 CONFLICTS OF INTEREST LOG TEMPLATE

Third party arrangements

Understand the JCQ requirements, where a centre uses a third party to deliver any
part of a qualification (including the assessments). The centre must maintain
oversight of, and responsibility for, the delivery of the qualification in accordance with
the JCQ regulations and awarding body requirements. A written agreement with the
third party must be in place (unlessexclusions from third party arrangements apply).
This will ensure there is a shared understanding of the arrangement and will manage
the risk of failure by the third party to deliver the expected service. The centre must
ensure that a copy of the written agreement is available for inspection if requested by
the awarding body.

Support resources
JCQ: General Regulations for Approved Centres (section 3.1)
The Exams Office: THIRD PARTY AGREEMENT TEMPLATE

Access arrangements and reasonable adjustments

Confirm how these are managed and administered in your centre for arrangements
requiring awarding body approval and those that are delegated to centre approval.

Support resources
The Exams Office: A GUIDE TO MANAGING ACCESS ARRANGEMENTS

Invigilation
To ensure external exams are conducted according to JCQ and awarding body
regulations and instructions, a centre must provide fully trained invigilators for exams
(including computer based and on-screen assessments).
Review your number of existing invigilators in an attempt to determine if numbers
are/will be adequate to cover external exam/assessment periods throughout the year
(and internal exam/test periods if it is your centre policy to conduct these under
external exam conditions using invigilators).
Where and when appropriate, consider the recruitment of additional invigilators.
JCQ regulations require a training session on the current regulations (as set out in
the Instructions for conducting examinations) to be held for any new invigilators
and those facilitating an access arrangement for a candidate under examination
conditions. The existing invigilation team must be made aware of any changes.
Centres must ensure that the testing of invigilators’ competence and their
understanding of these regulations is rigorous. This must also extend to those
facilitating an access arrangement.
A record of the content of the training given to invigilators and those facilitating an
access arrangement for a candidate under examination conditions must be available
for inspection and retained on file until the deadline for reviews of marking has
passed or until any appeal, malpractice or other results enquiry has been completed,
whichever is later.
If teachers, teaching assistants, tutors, senior members of centre staff or Learning
Support Assistants are used to invigilate, they must be fully trained (and made aware
of any changes) in line with JCQ regulations.
However, it must be ensured that, wherever possible, a teacher, a teaching
assistant, a tutor or a senior member of centre staff who teaches the subject being
examined, or a Learning Support Assistant who has supported one or more
candidates is not an invigilator during the examination. In exceptional circumstances,
a teaching assistant or a Learning Support Assistant, who has supported one or
more candidates in the room, may act as an invigilator. However, they must not be
the sole invigilator. Where a candidate with a particular need is accommodated in
another room and their allocated teaching assistant or Learning Support Assistant
must act as the invigilator, another invigilator will be required.

Support resources
JCQ:

 General regulations for Approved Centres (section 5.9)

 ICE (sections 12-13)
The Exams Office: A GUIDE TO MANAGING INVIGILATOR RECRUITMENT AND
TRAINING

JCQ inspection
Understand the role of, and be prepared for visits by, the JCQ Centre Inspection
Service.
The JCQ Centre Inspection Service (CIS) operates on behalf of the JCQ Awarding
Bodies. The CIS conducts inspections to support centres in delivering examinations.
This safeguards the integrity of the examination system by ensuring JCQ regulations
are adhered to and that examinations are administered fairly to all students.

Support resources
JCQ:

 General Regulations for Approved Centres (section 5.3x-y)

 ICE (Introduction)
 JCQ Centre Inspection Service Changes
The Exams Office: A GUIDE TO JCQ CENTRE INSPECTIONS

Exam policies
Confirm the required exams-related policies/procedures are in place in the centre.
These should be annually reviewed and updated (where required) to ensure
compliance with current regulations and to reflect current practice in the centre.
Determine who is responsible in your centre for each policy/procedure.

Support resources
JCQ: General Regulations for Approved Centres (section 5.3z)
The Exams Office: POLICY CHECKLIST

Exams review
You may plan to undertake a review at the end of the academic year and/or you may
decide to review each exam series as it comes to an end. Consider the information
you may need to gather along the way to inform your review(s).

Support resources
The Exams Office: A GUIDE TO MANAGING EXAMS REVIEW

Exams records management

Ensure you are clear on the exams-related information/records that need to be
retained once an exam series/exam year is over in line with any records
management policy in place in your centre.

Support resources
The Exams Office:

 EXAMS ARCHIVING POLICY TEMPLATE

 Policy Generator Tool

Private candidates
A candidate who has not received any tuition at the centre must be entered as a
private candidate. A candidate who is re-sitting a qualification should be entered as
a private candidate if the candidate is not receiving any tuition at the time entries are
submitted.
Where it is your centre policy to host private (external) candidates in your centre:

 Gather any updated information from awarding bodies on the administration of

private candidates
 Prepare any information which needs to be provided to a potential private candidate
who approaches your centre regarding an exam entry/entries

Support resources
The Exams Office: A GUIDE TO MANAGING PRIVATE CANDIDATES
Exam Entries

This section covers stage 2 of the exam cycle:

 Understanding the entries process

 Identifying key tasks and activities

Entries refers to the period when candidate and qualification data is collected,
collated, checked, processed and final entries submitted to awarding bodies to meet
clearly published deadlines.
Awarding bodies provide guidance on Entries (specific to their qualifications) in
exams administration information provided on their websites. JCQ provides generic
information.

Support resources
JCQ:

 General Regulations for Approved Centres (section 5.6)

 Entries section of the JCQ website
This section provides an overview of the terminology and processes in this critical
stage of the exam cycle to support the management and administration of entries.

Entry dates
Key dates are published by awarding bodies which include entry deadlines. These
are the final dates stipulated by awarding bodies when entry information must be
submitted by. An individual awarding body normally publishes its own entry
deadlines in the key dates information published on its website.
Where entry deadlines for qualifications are common to JCQ member awarding
bodies, these are also published as common key dates by JCQ.

Support resources
JCQ: Key Dates
The Exams Office: KEY DATES CALENDAR TOOL

Entry series
Exam entries are normally collected by series (exam series) unless an awarding
body offers 'on demand' entries for any of its qualifications.
A series is a group of exams/assessments held in a specific period - normally
identified by month and year - the (May and) June exam series is often referred to
under the broader heading of ‘summer’.

Entry types and entry codes

There are different entry routes for different qualification types. Awarding body
exams administration information should clearly show the entry type.
When making entries, entry types and entry rules should be taken into consideration.
Entry types include linear, unitised and registration/qualification entry.
Linear
GCSE, AS and A Level qualifications (in England) are linear.

 The qualification is made up of a specified number of components (which can be

timetabled exams and/or non-exam assessment), but these are not entered
individually (However, a small number of linear qualifications may use a unitised
entry structure)
 A single qualification entry is made in the final exam series at the end of the course
(to meet the entry deadline for the series)
 All externally assessed components that are timetabled written exams are taken in
the final exam series
 Any internally assessed component(s) marks are submitted for external moderation
in the final exam series
 The final grade is reported against the single qualification entry when results are
issued
 The qualification can be re-taken during its shelf life - all the externally assessed
components must be re-taken as component marks previously achieved cannot be
re-used
Unitised

 The qualification is made up of a specified number of units (which can be exams

and/or non-exam assessment)
 Assessment can be taken across different exam series (However, not all unitised
qualifications are the same structure - entry rules and processes must be checked
with the relevant awarding body)
 Each unit has an entry code and units being taken must be entered individually in the
relevant exam series (to meet the entry deadline for the relevant exam series)
  Unit results are reported when results are issued for the relevant exam series the
units were entered in
 A certification entry (subject award entry) is made when the candidate is eligible to be
awarded the qualification grade at the end of the course (to meet the entry
deadline for the exam series)
 The certification entry is the mechanism (trigger) for awarding bodies to issue the
final qualification grade
 Without a certification entry the candidate will not receive a final qualification grade
 Individual units can normally be re-taken and the qualification re-certificated
Registration/Qualification entry

 Learners may need to be registered onto the programme of study at the start of the
course (for example, BTECs)
o Externally assessed units need to be entered (to meet the entry deadline
for the relevant exam series) (From 2022, entries may also need to be
made for some BTEC internally assessed components as they are set
and moderated by Pearson each assessment series)
 Qualification entries may need to be made for candidates before test unit entries are
made (for example, Cambridge Technicals)
o Unit entries for timetabled tests need to be entered (to meet the test
entry deadline for the relevant exam series)
Entry codes are normally provided by awarding bodies in annually updated exams
administration information. An entry code is provided for all parts of a
qualification against which a result will be reported.

Entry basedata

Awarding bodies normally provide basedata on their public websites. Basedata is an

electronic file of data containing exam information, including:

 qualification/specification entry codes

 timetable information (date, session and duration of exams/assessments)
 entry fee information
Basedata is provided for centres using a compatible management information
system (MIS) that facilitates exams management and administration into which the
electronic data can be imported/downloaded for the purpose of generating an entry
file.
For centres without a MIS facility, basedata has no relevance.

 A basedata file is awarding body, exam series (and often qualification) specific
 Note the key dates when basedata is released by an awarding body - this signals a
starting point for preparing final entries
 Dependent on the MIS used, once basedata is imported/downloaded some form of
entry list (class list/mark sheet, etc.) can be generated through which entry data
can be attached to individual candidates
  Once entry data is attached to relevant candidates for each required
qualification/subject within the basedata set, the final entry file (submission) can be
generated ready for sending (submitting) to the particular awarding body
Centre-specific basedata
Where a programme of study is approved for an individual centre (for example,
certain BTEC qualifications) basedata is specific to the centre’s approvals, therefore
centre-specific registration basedata must be requested through the awarding body’s
secure extranet site.

Entry fees
Centres are charged entry fees for final entries by awarding bodies.
Final entries made after the entry deadline for the particular exam series will
normally incur late fees or very late (higher) fees.
Penalty fees may also be incurred for making changes (amendments/withdrawals) to
entries. An awarding body may offer a window of opportunity, after an entry deadline
has passed, for making changes without a penalty charge.
Amendments made after this point will normally incur amendment
fees. Withdrawals made after this point will not normally generate a refund of fees.
Check awarding body key dates information relating to amendments and withdrawals
to determine if there are windows of opportunity to make any required changes
without penalty fees.
There are no common fee arrangements between awarding bodies. Each awarding
body determines and publishes the fees for the services it provides.
As part of the preparation for making final entries, gather information on the
deadlines, fees and charges that affect the entry process.

Support resources
The Exams Office: DEADLINES FOR ENTRIES, FEES AND CHARGES TEMPLATE

Early entry information

After information gathering in your centre, you should be in a position to provide
relevant awarding bodies with an early indication of entries that may be made later in
the exam process.
This early information may need to be submitted to awarding bodies as estimated
entries. These would be the centre’s best projection of the number of candidates
that are likely to be entered n a particular exam series.
Awarding bodies may/may not require estimated entries - an awarding body may
only require this information for subjects where pre-release materials are provided to
centres.
  Pre-release is material required by a subject teacher (of certain subjects only) to
deliver particular aspects of the qualification
 Failure to submit estimated entries where the awarding body requires this could
result in the subject teacher not receiving vital information on time
 This material may also be referred to as preliminary, early, advance
material/information
 There is no fee charged to the centre for making (submitting) estimated entries and
the centre is not committed in any way
 Awarding body processes for making (submitting) estimated entries, provided in
exams administration information, should be identified and followed
 Deadlines for the submission of estimated entries normally apply - check JCQ or
awarding body key dates information to identify any deadlines
In certain circumstances (particularly where qualifications are being reformed/new
specifications being accredited) some awarding bodies may require earlier
information, prior to estimated entries.

 This might include preliminary entries, intention to enter, intention to offer or a

similarly named request from an awarding body (this is normally an awarding
body’s way of ensuring a centre receives appropriate information prior to the start
of the delivery of a new or reformed qualification)
 Awarding body guidance/updates should identify if (and when) early information
should be provided

Final entry information

Final entries confirm to awarding bodies the details of each individual candidate and
the entry codes for the exams/assessments each are being entered for in the
particular exam series.
Awarding body processes for making (submitting) final entries, provided in an
individual awarding body’s exams administration information, should be identified
and followed.
Deadlines for the submission of final entries apply – refer to JCQ or awarding body
key dates information to identify final entry deadlines.
Fees are charged by awarding bodies for final entries. Higher fees are normally
charged where entries are received late (i.e. received after the entry deadline/final
date for entries).
Identify your internal process for collecting and collating final entry information.
Where you are collecting final entry information from teaching teams, clearly identify
an internal deadline when this information should be provided to you.
(Note the JCQ requirements around not enteringcandidates for a qualification at the
same level and in the same subject multiple times in the same series)
Consider entries for any candidates on your centre roll who may be educated
elsewhere or in alternative provision. Liaise with the exams officer at the alternative
centre and with the subject lead to determine where the candidate will sit exams and
which centre should make the entries. The agreement on which centre will make the
entries may vary. There may be implications for any subject containing an element of
internal assessment (centre assessed work).
Changes can be made to final entry information after it has been submitted to an
awarding body.

 Changes are normally amendments (to candidate details or entry information)

or withdrawals (removing a candidate’s entry or entries)
Additions can be made to final entry information after it has been submitted to an
awarding body.

 Additions are normally where an entry/entries are added to an existing candidate or

where a new candidate and associated entries are added
 Additions made after the final entry deadline will normally be classed as late entries

Support resources
JCQ: Unique Candidate Identifiers (UCI)
The Exams Office:

 MANAGING ENTRIES: CANDIDATE NAMES AND GENDER IDENTITY

 A GUIDE TO AVOIDING LATE ENTRIES
 EXTERNAL ENTRIES COLLECTION FORM TEMPLATE
 EXAM ENTRY/RE-SIT FORM TEMPLATE
 CHANGES TO ENTRY INFORMATION FORM TEMPLATE
 LATE ENTRY FORM TEMPLATE

Candidate details
Final entry information should include the name (as a minimum, first name and
surname), date of birth, etc. of the candidate.
(Note the JCQ requirement that candidates should be entered under names that can
be verified against suitable identification such as a birth certificate, a driver’s licence
or a passport to prevent problems in the future. For example, if a candidate needs to
confirm their results to a third party or obtain a replacement certificate. Whilst the
centre is best placed to understand the candidate’s circumstances and make an
informed decision, a candidate should only be entered under alternative names in
exceptional circumstances)
The status of the candidate must also normally be provided indicating whether they
are an internal or an external (private) candidate.
Identifiers are also required - dependent on the awarding body (and sometimes the
qualification) this includes:

 candidate number
  unique candidate identifier (UCI)
 unique learner number (ULN)
Candidate number

 This is a four-digit identifier generated/allocated by the centre at the time of entry in

the range 0001 to 9999 (at exam time candidates will normally be required to write
this number on their exam scripts)
 For centres using their MIS for exams administration, a routine can normally be run
to generate candidate numbers
UCI

 This is a 13-character identifier generated by the centre

 This is made up of centre number (characters 1-5), unitary awarding body (UAB)
identifier – normally zero for UK centres on the NCNR (character 6), last 2 digits of
academic year of registration/UCI allocation (characters 7-8), candidate number
(characters 9-12) and a check character used to verify the correct format of
characters 1-12 (character 13)
 For centres using their MIS for exams administration, once candidate numbers have
been generated, a routine can normally be run to generate UCIs
 A UCI should be unique and follow a candidate across centres
ULN

 This is a unique10-digit identifier allocated to a learner by the Learning Records

Service
 This is used to ensure learner achievement information can be provided to a
learner's personal learning record (PLR)
 ULNs are unique and follow a learner across their education career

Internal exams

If it is your centre policy to conduct internal exams under external exam conditions,
consider formalising the process for collecting internal entry information.

Support resources
The Exams Office: INTERNAL ENTRIES COLLECTION FORM TEMPLATE

Submitting entry information (making entries)

Estimated entries (where these may be required by the awarding body) are normally
submitted online via the awarding body’s extranet (secure website). A username and
password are required to login to the secure site.
For centres using their MIS, final entries are normally submitted as an entry file.
To generate an entry file, basedata first needs to be imported into
the MIS (see Entry basedata above).

 Only one entry file per basedata set must be submitted to an awarding body
 Any changes or additions must be submitted by generating amendment files
 Training (and/or instructions) on generating and submitting an entry file and
amendment files should be made available by the MIS provider/MIS support
The entry file and any subsequent amendment files are submitted to the awarding
body by electronic data interchange (EDI) via the A2C Transport Application.
When generated, EDI files will automatically be named by the MIS in the
agreed JCQ format.
For centres without a MIS facility, final entries (and any subsequent amendments)
should be submitted online via the awarding body secure extranet site. The awarding
body will normally provide guidance on how to do this in exams administration
information provided on websites.

Support resources
JCQ:

 About A2C
 JCQ formats

Entry checks, confirmation and feedback

Once entries (and any subsequent amendments) have been made/submitted and
the awarding body has processed them, entry checks can be made on the individual
awarding body’s secure extranet site. Any identified errors should normally be
corrected using the original entry method (EDI or secure site).
Awarding bodies normally provide entry confirmation/feedback documents/reports on
secure extranet sites. Warning reports may also be provided where issues have
been identified.
Normally confirmation/feedback:

 is automatically generated by awarding body entry systems and documents/reports

may vary by awarding body
 confirms the entries a centre has made and highlights any issues or problems that
may have been detected in relation to candidate details and/or entry information
 provides candidate statements of entry (For centres with a MIS facility, composite
candidate statements of entry can normally be generated from the system showing
entries for all awarding bodies in a single statement)
 should be checked, and any discrepancies resolved with the awarding body as a
matter of urgency
Private candidates
If it is your centre policy to accept private candidates and you have processed an
entry/entries on their behalf, consider the next step in keeping the candidate
informed.
(During exam time you may come across the term ‘pirate’ candidate – this is not to
be confused with the term ‘private’ candidate. A ‘pirate’ candidate is a candidate who
sits an exam but has no entry. To ensure the work of such a candidate is marked
and a result issued, an entry must be made with the relevant awarding body.)

Support resources
The Exams Office: PRIVATE CANDIDATE: PROVISIONAL ENTRY
CONFIRMATION TEMPLATE

Although not referenced in this section, it is crucial to note that other important key
dates and deadlines fall prior to, at the same time or shortly after the entry deadline
for an individual exam series. Tasks related to these, include:

 ordering modified papers to the deadline

 instigating alternative site arrangements to timescale
 requesting centre consortium arrangements for centre assessed work to deadline
 requesting transferred candidate arrangements to deadline
 applying for approval for access arrangements to deadline
These tasks are covered in more detail in section 5 of this module.
Exam Preparation

This section covers stage 3 of the exam cycle:

 Understanding the exam preparation process

 Identifying key tasks and activities

Exam preparation (or referred to as pre-exams) is the period when preparation for an
upcoming exam series gets underway. It is good practice to start preparation well in
advance of the exam period.
This section provides a brief overview of the main aspects of preparing for an exam
period.
Support resources
JCQ:

 General Regulations for Approved Centres

 Instructions for conducting examinations

Candidates taking exams elsewhere or under joint teaching

arrangements
There may be instances where candidates entered by your centre may be taking
their exams elsewhere. There may be certain qualifications that are delivered under
joint teaching (consortium) arrangements taking place in your centre or at another
centre.
Ensure any relevant approval request/notification required by the awarding body is
completed by the deadline for the particular exam series. Example instances
(arrangements) are shown below.

Alternative site arrangements

An alternative site arrangement must only be used by a centre where it is intended
that an examination for any candidate(s) will be conducted at an address other than
the centre’s registered address.
There must be a specific reason for this arrangement and the centre must notify the
JCQ Centre Inspection Service. The notification of intent to conduct examinations at
an alternative site must be submitted online using the Centre Admin Portal (CAP), no
later than six weeks before the start of the examination series.
(This notification should only be used for the qualifications listed - for any other
qualifications contact the individual awarding body)
However, it is acknowledged that last minute alternative site arrangements may need
to be put in place in an emergency at exam time.
The address of the alternative examination venue, the dates it is to be used and the
maximum number of candidates likely to be involved must be given.
Question papers must be kept in the secure storage facility at the centre’s registered
address until 90 minutes before the awarding body’s published starting time for
the examination. The question papers must be securely packaged and taken to the
alternative examination venue by a member of centre staff and always kept under
secure conditions.

Support resources
JCQ:

 Instructions for conducting examinations (section 11)

 Alternative Site guidance notes

Centre consortium arrangements

A consortium is a group of centres from which candidates are taught and assessed
together.
Where candidates from different centres are taught and assessed together for a
qualification which contains a centre-assessed component/unit but will be entered
through the centre at which they are on roll, the relevant awarding body must be
informed that the centres wish to be treated as a consortium.
The awarding body must be notified (by the centre nominated as consortium co-
ordinator/lead). Centre consortium arrangements should be submitted using CAP to
the awarding body deadline for the relevant exam series.
(CAP should only be used for the qualifications listed - for any other qualifications
contact the individual awarding body)

Support resources
JCQ:

 Instructions for conducting non-examinations assessments (section 6)

  Guidance Notes - Centre Consortium Arrangements

Transferred candidate arrangements

Candidates must sit their examination(s) at the centre’s registered address unless
the centre is using an alternative site arrangement or has received permission from
an awarding body for a transferred candidate arrangement. (This is where a
candidate transfers from one registered centre to another after the submission of
examination entries)
Arrangements will only be accepted in exceptional circumstances where a candidate
is unable to take externally assessed timetabled written components at their
registered exam centre and applies to take their exam(s) at a registered host centre.
(CAP should only be used for the qualifications listed - for any other qualifications
contact the individual awarding body)
When using CAP, part 1 of the application for transferred candidates must be
completed by the entering centre and part 2 by the host centre. The host centre
must submit the fully completed application to the awarding body deadline for the
relevant exam series.

Support resources
JCQ: Guidance Notes for Transferred Candidates

Access arrangements and modified papers

Ensure published modified papers are ordered by the deadline. The deadline is
normally much earlier than the entry deadline for a particular exam series.
Ensure the awarding body deadline for processing applications for access
arrangements is met for the relevant exam series. However, access arrangements
should normally be processed at the start of the course.
All arrangements must be approved (where awarding body approval is required) and
in place prior to a candidate taking an exam or assessment. Appropriate
documentation (where required) and evidence for awarding body approved and
centre delegated arrangements must be available on file and is subject to JCQ
inspection.
Candidates should be made aware of the arrangements that are in place for their
exams and assessments and any exceptions where these will not be applied.
Compile a list of all access arrangement candidates, and their needs, to support the
production of your centre exam timetable (see Timetabling below).
Prepare (print from AAO where applicable) any required cover sheets in advance to
reduce the administrative burden during exam time.
Be prepared to deal with temporary/emergency access arrangements as they may
arise during the exam period and reserve invigilators to call on at short notice should
the need arise.

Support resources
JCQ: Access Arrangements, Reasonable Adjustments and Special Consideration
(Forms)
The Exams Office:

 A GUIDE TO MANAGING ACCESS ARRANGEMENTS

 ACCESS ARRANGEMENTS: CANDIDATE NOTIFICATION FORM TEMPLATE
 ACCESS ARRANGEMENTS: CANDIDATE TRACKING SPREADSHEET
TEMPLATE
 (ACCESS ARRANGEMENTS) USING WORD PROCESSORS: INFORMATION FOR
CANDIDATES TEMPLATE

Confidential materials
Once final entries are processed by awarding bodies (and even before this when
advance materials may be made available), confidential exam materials start to be
dispatched/made available (including secure electronic materials) to centres.
Materials may include:

 advance/pre-release materials
 exam question papers and resources, including modified exam papers
 material accessed/downloaded from awarding body secure sites/via secure file
transfer
 exam papers securely emailed (or accessed via secure file transfer) on the day of the
examination
 exam stationery

JCQ requirements include that centres must:

 be able to demonstrate the receipt, secure movement and secure storage of question
papers and confidential materials
 ensure that envelopes and boxes containing confidential materials are signed for
 keep a log at the initial point of delivery of confidential materials, recording each
awarding body’s deliveries and the number of boxes received
 make appropriate arrangements to ensure that confidential examination materials are
only handed over to authorised members of staff
 on receipt, immediately move confidential materials, still in their dispatch packaging,
to the secure room for checking and transferral to the centre’s secure storage
facility
 keep a log of the check
 have specific arrangements in place for handling secure electronic materials
Prior to the delivery of any materials, ensure all the JCQ regulations and instructions
(and any additional instructions that may be provided by an awarding body) are
understood and followed.
Ensure all authorised members of staff who may be involved in the receipt and
movement of deliveries are appropriately briefed on the requirements for confidential
materials. Confirm their understanding of, and compliance with, the process in place
in your centre that must be followed to ensure the requirements are met.
Packages or boxes containing confidential materials must only be opened and the
contents checked in the secure room.
Using a copy of the centre exam timetable (see Timetabling below) is an ideal way of
checking/recording that expected exam question papers and materials have arrived
in sufficient quantities. Tick or highlight on the timetable as papers and associated
materials arrive - this will make it easier to check if anything is missing before the
exam period starts.
Sealed question paper packets must be arranged in date and session order in
the secure storage facility to mitigate the risk of packets being opened on the wrong
date or session. This also facilitates an additional check that all materials have been
received well in advance of the exam/assessment date, reducing the risk of missing
materials on exam day.
Some materials may need to be taken out of (and sometimes returned to) the secure
storage facility during the time the material is confidential. The instructions regarding
this should be clearly visible through the window of the sealed packet and/or
additional information on how these materials should be handled provided by the
awarding body. Ensure you have a system in place to record this.
Required arrangements must be in place when removing question papers from
secure storage, which includes ensuring that the correct question paper packets are
opened. A member of centre staff, additional to the person removing the question
paper packets from secure storage, e.g. an invigilator, must check the day, date,
time, subject, unit/component and tier of entry, if appropriate, immediately before a
question paper packet is opened.
This second pair of eyes check must be recorded.
If it is subsequently identified following the second pair of eyes check that the wrong
question paper packet has been opened, it must be resealed. The incident must be
reported to the relevant awarding body’s Malpractice Investigation Team
immediately.
Check additional materials as they arrive and safely store them until required (ideally
in date order where the nature of the material is determined by a date). This might
include for example:

 attendance registers
 examiner/marker address labels
 moderator address labels
Support resources
JCQ: Instructions for conducting examinations (sections 1-5)
The Exams Office:

 A GUIDE TO MANAGING EXAM PLANNING (Ensuring the security and integrity of

the exam/assessment system)
 CONFIDENTIAL MATERIALS: INITIAL POINT OF DELIVERY TEMPLATE
 CONFIDENTIAL MATERIALS: RECEIPT, SECURE MOVEMENT, CHECKS AND
SECURE STORAGE LOG TEMPLATE
 HANDLING SECURE ELECTRONIC MATERIALS LOG TEMPLATE

Non-examination assessments
Dependent on the qualifications delivered in your centre, there may be assessments
for certain subjects which will take place ahead of the dated exams timetable.
Teaching teams who may be planning for and conducting these assessments should
be following JCQ instructions together with any separate instructions provided by the
awarding body.
The requirements for keeping materials secure, and the requirements for the storage
and retention of candidates work, should also be known and followed.

Support resources
JCQ: Instructions for conducting non-examination assessments
The Exams Office:

 A GUIDE TO MANAGING EXAM TIME (Non-examination assessments)

 NEA SECURITY CHECKLIST TEMPLATE

Internal assessment and endorsements

Internal assessment means that candidates’ work will first be marked by the centre
(centre assessed) then externally moderated by the awarding body. Some
qualifications include endorsements. The grades awarded by the centre must be
submitted to the awarding body. Endorsements may be monitored rather than
moderated
(These include the Practical Skills Endorsement for the A Level Sciences designed
for use in England and the Spoken Language Endorsement for GCSE English
Language specifications designed for use in England)
Research information provided by awarding bodies on how and when marks and
endorsement grades should be submitted.
Awarding bodies will likely require these to be submitted online via their secure
extranet.
Understand that a sample of marked candidates’ work will also be required by the
awarding body for moderation.

Support resources
The Exams Office: A GUIDE TO ADMINISTERING INTERNAL ASSESSMENT

Timetabling
One of the first tasks when starting exam preparation is to produce
a centre (master) exams timetable for the entire exams period (series). This
timetable should provide the date, session and duration of every dated
exam/assessment that has been entered for the exam series.
For centres using a MIS facility, an outline (skeleton or similarly named) timetable
should be able to be drawn/reported from the system and exported as a spreadsheet
for further manipulation. This facility may only be available once entries have been
attached to candidates.
For other centres, a personalised timetable can be created using the Exams
Timetable Tool (if the required qualifications are provided in the tool) and exported
for further manipulation.
Alternatively, a timetable will have to be manually produced from exam timetable
information provided on individual awarding body websites.
Further manipulation to build a definitive centre exam timetable will include:

 adding the start time in place of the AM or PM session ensuring the awarding bodies’
published starting times are understood
 amending the duration to show the finishing time of each exam instead
 inserting rows to show to show the finishing time of extra time candidates etc.
 inserting columns to show:
o the number of candidates for each exam (a MIS generated timetable
should normally already show this)
o exam room(s) allocated to each exam
o invigilator(s) allocated to each exam room
o notes, for example on particular rooms/resources that may be required
for certain exam papers, access arrangement candidate information, etc.

When the centre exam timetable is finalised, provide site/premises staff with a copy
to ensure exam rooms are set up as and when required, and so it is recognised that
any planned fire drills or outside work that might affect the noise in exam rooms, etc.
can be avoided.
Support resources
JCQ: Instructions for conducting examinations (section 6)
The Exams Office:

 EXAMS TIMETABLE TOOL

 EXTRA TIME GUIDE
 EXTRA TIME CALCULATOR TOOL

Timetable clashes
Check if any candidates have a timetable clash of exam papers.
A timetable clash is where two or more exam papers that a candidate has been
entered for are timetabled on the same date, in the same session. Arrangements
(within the regulations) may need to be made to vary the timetable for a candidate
with a clash/clashes.
For centres with a MIS facility, a ‘clash report’ or similar named routine can normally
be run to identify candidates who may be affected. For other centres, a manual
check would normally need to be undertaken or centres may request that candidates
check their individual statements of entry/exam timetables and report where they
identify a clash.
Clashes must be resolved.
When clashes are resolved, the centre exam timetable should be amended to show
the order the clashing papers will be taken. Affected candidates would also need to
be informed and issued with a revised candidate timetable (manually adjusted by the
centre), on the understanding that they will be supervised throughout.
The most important point to note in resolving clashes is that candidates should be
under the required level of supervision, from the start of their first to the end of their
final clashing exam paper, as though the awarding bodies published starting times
were in place. This includes any periods between clashing exam papers that take
place in the exam room under formal examination conditions or in a different room
under centre supervision.
There may be circumstances, where overnight supervision arrangements may need
to be explored. As these arrangements should only be applied as a last resort and
once all other options to accommodate all papers on the timetabled day have been
exhausted, determine your centre policy on overnight supervision arrangements.
Where an arrangement is approved as a last resort by the centre, the JCQ Overnight
Supervision and Overnight Supervision Declaration forms must be completed before
the overnight supervision is to commence. The JCQ Overnight Supervision form is
completed online using CAP.. The JCQ Overnight Supervision Declaration form is
downloaded from CAP for signing by the candidate, the supervisor and the head of
centre.
In situations where the clash arrangements may need to be discussed with the
candidate, it would be advisable to formalise the process by recording what has
been discussed and agreed. This would minimise the risk of a candidate
misunderstanding the arrangements that have been put in place, misreading their
timetable or being subject to a malpractice offence (Failing to abide by the conditions
of supervision designed to maintain the security and integrity of the examinations).

Support resources
JCQ:

 Instructions for conducting examinations (sections 7-8)

 Guidance notes for overnight supervision of candidates with a timetable variation
The Exams Office:

 RESOLVING EXAM TIMETABLE CLASHES FORM TEMPLATE

 MANAGING OVERNIGHT SUPERVISION ARRANGEMENTS FORM TEMPLATE )
 POLICY GENERATOR TOOL (Overnight Supervision Arrangements Policy)

Rooming
Calculate the number of rooms required for each exam session - confirm the rooms
will be available and add these room details to the centre exam timetable. The rooms
selected must be appropriate for the type of assessment taking place.
Confirm any additional rooming that will be required for access arrangement
candidates.
Confirm where candidates’ personal belongings and any unauthorised items not
allowed in exam rooms will be stored.

Resources
Understand the candidate resources that may be allowed or need to be provided in
exam rooms.
Determine the materials that your centre provides as standard in exam rooms and
prepare ‘exam room boxes’ in advance.

Support resources
JCQ: Instructions for conducting examinations (sections 9-10)
The Exams Office: EXAM BOX CHECKLIST TEMPLATE
Exam rooms
Accommodation for exams must meet the requirements.
In circumstances where there may be intent (for a valid reason) to hold an exam
anywhere other than at the centre’s registered address, note the alternative site
arrangements that must be made.
Exam rooms must provide the appropriate conditions for candidates – ensure
invigilators are trained to check their exam room is set up according to the
requirements.
Specialist rooms (containing specialist equipment) may need to be used for exam
papers of certain subjects - awarding bodies normally provide information for
affected subjects in their stationery / materials list(s) / exam requirements
information.

Support resources
JCQ: Instructions for conducting examinations (section 11)
The Exams Office: EXAM ROOM CHECKLIST TEMPLATE

Seating plans
A seating plan must be created that shows the exact position of each candidate in
the examination room. Any changes made to seating arrangements during the
examination must be noted on the seating plan. The seating plan must be available
to an awarding body upon request. Candidates with access arrangements must be
identified on the seating plans that are held as part of your centre records.
For centres using a MIS facility, a ‘seating’ type report can normally be used to
create seating plans.
Consider any changes that might need to be made to entries that may impact on
seating plans that have been created early.

Support resources
JCQ: Instructions for conducting examinations (section 11)
The Exams Office: SEATING PLAN (and seating tips) TEMPLATE

Invigilation
Be clear on the invigilation arrangements that need to be in place, understand who
can invigilate and the candidate/invigilator ratios required in exam rooms.
Ensure invigilators are fully trained in the conduct of exams that impact on the role of
the invigilator and they understand the arrangements that may be in place for
candidates with access arrangements.
Confirm invigilator availability for the exam period and allocate invigilators to exam
rooms on the centre exam timetable. Inform invigilators of the dates and times of the
exams to which they have been allocated.
Consider if any additional invigilators will need to be recruited and trained to ensure
the centre’s invigilation team can sufficiently cover the main exam period.
Confirm facilitators and invigilators supporting and supervising access arrangement
candidates are trained in their role.
Allocate a roving invigilator against any rooms where a roving invigilator must be
deployed.

Support resources
JCQ: Instructions for conducting examinations (sections 12-14)
The Exams Office:

 A GUIDE TO MANAGING INVIGILATOR RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING

 ROVING INVIGILATOR CHECKLIST TEMPLATE
 INVIGILATION SUPPORT RESOURCES

Contingency planning
Ensure your centre’s exam contingency plan confirms what will need to happen in
case of disruption during the exam period.

Support resources
JCQ: Instructions for conducting examinations (section 15)
The Exams Office: EXAM CONTINGENCY PLAN TEMPLATE / POLICY
GENERATOR TOOL (Exam Contingency Plan)

Briefing candidates and staff

Ensure candidates are fully briefed on all the information they are required to know in
advance of exam/assessments and know what is expected of them at exam time.
Before they sit any exams/assessments, candidates (including any private
candidates entered through the centre) must be:

 notified of their exam entries and the dates and times of their exams/assessments
  made aware of relevant JCQ Information for candidates documents
 made aware of the content of the JCQ Unauthorised items and Warning to
Candidates exam room poster
 made aware of the arrangements for post-results services and the availability of
senior members of centre staff immediately after the publication of results
(Candidates must be made aware of the arrangements for post-results services
prior to the issue of results)

Confirm teaching teams have processes in place to inform candidates:

 when any non-timetabled assessments will take place (you may decide to collate this
information and add it to candidate timetable information that is issued)
 of their centre assessed marks in sufficient time for candidates to be able to
consider whether to request a review of the centre’s marking prior to the
submission of marks to the awarding body for moderation (although confirming this
may be beyond the role of the exams officer)

Support resources
JCQ:

 General Regulations for Approved Centres (section 5)

 Information for candidates documents
 Exam Room Posters
The Exams Office:

 CANDIDATE EXAM HANDBOOK TEMPLATE

 ’INSTRUCTIONS FOR CANDIDATES’ BRIEFING TEMPLATE
 'Instructions for Candidates' video
 TEACHER GUIDE TEMPLATE

Private candidates
If your centre has made entries for a private candidate and is hosting their written
exams, ensure the candidate is provided with the required information together with
any centre-specific information and instructions you need to convey to them.

Support resources
The Exams Office:

 PRIVATE CANDIDATE: FINAL EXAM INFORMATION TEMPLATE

 PRIVATE CANDIDATE: CHECKLIST TEMPLATE
Transferred candidates
Ensure any candidate that you have transferred out to a host centre or alternative
provision for written exams, is provided with the required information (including exam
timetable, relevant JCQ notices, results and post-results information) and any host
centre-specific information they may need to be aware of.
For any candidates that you have accepted as a transfer in and are acting as a host
centre for written exams, determine if there is any centre-specific
information/instructions which need to be conveyed to them.
Ensure any private/external or transferred candidate who is not known to the centre
is aware of the required photographic documentary evidence that must be shown to
prove they are the same person who entered/registered for the exam/assessment.

Alternative site
For any candidates who may be taking exams elsewhere, ensure any additional
information they may need about the alternative site is provided.

Centre staff
Brief relevant staff on the exam timetable and confirm the information that has been
provided to candidates, so they are able to deal with any questions from candidates.

Support resources
The Exams Office: ARRANGEMENTS FOR CONDUCTING EXAMS IN THE
CANDIDATE'S HOME TEMPLATE

Irregularities
Irregularities describe events/incidents that may happen in exam rooms or in the run
up to an exam that are unplanned. However, you may be able to prepare systems in
advance of exams to help you deal with certain instances/situations should they
arise.
Through training, invigilators must know they must be vigilant and remain aware of
incidents or emerging situations in the exam room and record these irregularities on
an incident log.
Research and understand how to deal with late and very late arrivals, suspected
malpractice incidents and special consideration applications.
Identify your centre’s policy for how candidates who are absent for an exam will be
dealt with.
Support resources
JCQ:

 Instructions for conducting examinations (sections 20, 21, 24)

 Guidance Notes - Very Late Arrival Form
 Suspected Malpractice: Policies and Procedures
 A guide to the special consideration process
The Exams Office:

 EXAM ROOM INCIDENT LOG TEMPLATE

 EXAMS POLICY TEMPLATE
 SPECIAL CONSIDERATION POLICY TEMPLATE
 POLICY GENERATOR TOOL (Candidate Absence Policy, Candidate Late Arrival
Policy, Malpractice Policy (Exams), Special Consideration Policy)

Emergencies
Ensure invigilators are trained in the centre’s emergency evacuation policy and the
procedure(s) to be followed in case of the need to evacuate the exam room in an
emergency. An evacuation would be required in instances where it would be unsafe
for candidates to remain in the exam room.

Support resources
The Exams Office:

 EMERGENCY EVACUATION POLICY (Exams) TEMPLATE

 POLICY GENERATOR TOOL Emergency Evacuation Policy (Exams)

JCQ Centre inspections

Be prepared for visits by the JCQ Centre Inspection Service. Ensure an inspector is
accompanied throughout a visit which (dependent on the inspection type) is likely to
include entering exam rooms and the secure room.

Support resources
The Exams Office: A GUIDE TO JCQ CENTRE INSPECTIONS

The exam room

Confirm the process that is used in your centre to verify the identity of candidates in
exam rooms, including any private, external or transferred candidates.
Example procedures could include:

 the production of desk/seat or identity cards from your centre’s MIS showing
candidate details and photograph
 candidates required to bring their photographic student ID card to all exams
 a senior member of centre staff (who has not taught the subject being examined and
is approved by the head of centre) who knows the candidates confirming identity
and seating as candidates enter the exam room

Other than candidates and invigilators, understand who is authorised/not authorised

to be present in exam rooms and why.
Ensure invigilator training covers the steps invigilators have to take so that the
required conditions for question papers, stationery, materials and other
equipment can be met.
Confirm experienced invigilators have been updated on any regulation changes for
the current academic year that impact on the role of the invigilator.
Ensure invigilators understand that candidates must be under formal examination
conditions from the moment they enter the exam room until the point at which they
are permitted to leave.
Identify your centre’s invigilator announcement that must always be given at the
beginning of a written exam, and ensure invigilators are trained and briefed
appropriately so they are aware of the information and instructions they must give to
candidates before the exam starts.
Confirm invigilators know what they may, must and must not do in the exam room.

Support resources
JCQ:

 General Regulations for Approved Centres (section 5)

 Instructions for conducting examinations (sections 16-19)
 Notice to Centres - The people present
The Exams Office:

 POLICY GENERATOR TOOL Candidate Identification Procedure, Food and Drink

Policy (Exams)
 EXAMS POLICY TEMPLATE
 INVIGILATOR ANNOUNCEMENT

Dispatch of exam scripts

Be clear on how exam scripts should be dispatched (the yellow label service for
centres in England) and the qualifications included in this service.
Ensure all arrangements for scheduled and/or ad hoc collections are confirmed in
advance.
Where any qualifications sit outside the scope of this service, identify the awarding
body arrangements for dispatching scripts.

Support resources
JCQ: Instructions for conducting examinations (section 29)
DfE (STA): Dispatch of exams scripts: yellow label service

At the beginning of, during, at the end of and after the exam
Fully understand the instructions before exams begin.
These areas are further covered in section 6 of this module.

Support resources
JCQ: Instructions for conducting examinations (sections 16-31)
The Exams Office: A GUIDE TO MANAGING EXAM TIME
Exam Time

This section covers stage 4 of the exam cycle:

 Understanding the exam time process

 Identifying key tasks and activities

Exam time is the period when exams take place, when exam preparation is complete
and the running and conducting of exams is the primary focus.
This section highlights some of the key areas that need to be considered at exam
time. However, JCQ Instructions for conducting examinations (ICE) and General
Regulations for Approved Centres, plus any additional awarding body instructions
that may be provided, must be fully followed when conducting exams in your centre.

Support resources
JCQ:

 General Regulations for Approved Centres

 Instructions for conducting examinations

Conducting examinations
Ensure you and your invigilators know, understand and follow all the JCQ regulations
as stipulated in the Instructions for conducting examinations relating to exam
time.

Non-examination assessments
Windows of assessment for non-timetabled exams/assessments normally open well
before the dated exam timetable starts. These are classed as non-examination
assessments (as nationally all candidates are not taking these at the same time but
normally in a ‘window’ of time stipulated by the awarding body).
Any type of assessment that is not set by an awarding body, designed to be taken
simultaneously by all relevant candidates at a time determined by the awarding
body, and taken under conditions specified by the awarding body (including
conditions relating to the supervision of candidates during the assessment and the
duration of the assessment) is classified as non-examination assessment (NEA).
‘NEA’ therefore includes, but is not limited to, internal assessment. Externally
marked and/or externally set practical examinations taken at different times across
centres are classified as ‘NEA’.Certain assessments may need to be conducted
under external conditions (instructions should normally be provided by the individual
awarding body).
Where applicable to any subjects delivered in your centre, ensure awarding body
instructions for conducting assessments are followed in relation to any specific
invigilation and rooming requirements.
Moderator or examiner visits where applicable to certain qualifications/subjects, may
also take place. Identify from awarding body guidance any documentation that needs
to be prepared/provided to teaching teams in advance. This would normally apply to
subjects with a practical/performance element.

Support resources
JCQ: Instructions for conducting non-examination assessments (Foreword)

Question papers and exam materials

Once final entries are processed by awarding bodies (and even before this when
advance materials may be made available), confidential exam materials start to be
dispatched/made available (including secure electronic materials) to centres.
Awarding bodies normally send out question papers and other required exam
materials well in advance of an exam/assessment date. Key dates and/or exams
officer updates provided by awarding bodies should normally give an indication of
when materials will be dispatched, allowing centres to determine when to expect
these.
In the interim (between receipt of the confidential materials for each exam and the
date of the exam), erratum notices may be sent by the awarding body. An erratum is
a notice sent to centres by an awarding body where an error has been found or a
change is required to a published exam question paper prior to the date of the exam.
Notices may be sent in hard copy or by a secure electronic method. Where
appropriate, ideally affix the notice to the relevant sealed question paper packet(s) in
the secure storage facility to ensure the notice will not be overlooked at the time of
the exam. Follow the instructions on the notice, which may involve an announcement
being made to the candidates before the start of the exam.
Examiner/marker address labels (where provided separately to attendance registers)
should be safely stored, preferably in date and session order:

 for ease of access to a label (particularly where an awarding body may send an
update or change of examiner details)
  to reduce the risk of error in the wrong label being affixed to the plastic envelope for
dispatching scripts

During the exam period, look out on a daily basis for any
urgent alerts (emails/communications) from awarding bodies that might highlight, for
example:

 problems with exam papers

 recall of exam papers and issue of replacement papers
 further issue of erratum notices
 changes to examiner/marker details

Support resources
The Exams Office: KEY DATES CALENDAR TOOL

On the day of each exam

Sealed question paper packets relating to a timetabled written exam must not be
opened until the day, date and time (as in session) of the exam.
In order to avoid potential breaches of security, care must be taken to ensure that
the correct question paper packets are opened. A member of centre staff, additional
to the person removing the question paper packets from secure storage, e.g. an
invigilator, must check the day, date, time, subject, unit/component and tier of entry,
if appropriate, immediately before a question paper packet is opened. This second
pair of eyes check must be recorded.
If it is subsequently identified following the second pair of eyes check that the wrong
question paper packet has been opened, it must be resealed. The incident must be
reported to the relevant awarding body’s Malpractice Investigation Team
immediately.

Support resources
JCQ:

 Instructions for conducting examinations (sections 5,18)

 Second Pair of Eyes Check form
The Exams Office: EXAM ROOM CHECKLIST TEMPLATE

Attendance registers
Attendance registers should be safely stored, in date and session order for ease of
access in daily preparation for exam sessions.
If, as a result of making amendments to final entries, an updated attendance register
is provided by the awarding body, confidentially destroy the original and replace with
the update. Where amendments may be made, and an updated attendance register
is not provided in time, either make handwritten changes on the attendance register
or use a centre MIS generated version providing all the required details.

Completion of the attendance register

An attendance register must be completed during the exam according to the
instructions (ideally when identifying candidates or once candidates are seated and
have started the examination, and most definitely before the end of the exam) and
must accurately reflect candidates who are present, absent, transferred or
withdrawn.

Support resources
JCQ: Instructions for conducting examinations (section 22)

Exam day checklist

Create/use a checklist of key tasks to be undertaken each exam day with reminders
of how to deal (in a standard way) with unplanned for events that may arise on a
daily basis.

Support resources
JCQ: Exam Day Checklist
The Exams Office:

 EXAM DAY CHECKLIST TEMPLATE

 Managing an exam day videos

Exam rooms
All exam rooms, (including where a candidate and an invigilator may be in an exam
room on a 1:1 basis) must provide candidates with appropriate conditions for taking
the exam. Create/use an exam room checklist so you/your invigilators are able
to confirm (and have a signed record of) the invigilation arrangements and exam
room conditions in place, ensuring each exam room is set up in a standard way and
in accordance with JCQ requirements. An incident log is required in every exam
room to record any issues or irregularities that may happen in the exam room at the
point of occurrence.
Support resources
JCQ: Exam Room Incident Log
The Exams Office:

 EXAM ROOM CHECKLIST TEMPLATE

 EXAM ROOM INCIDENT LOG TEMPLATE

Exam room resources

Determine your centre’s policy on providing materials/resources for candidates in
exam rooms. Confirm what the centre provides as standard or expects candidates to
provide.
Consider preparing exam room ‘boxes’ in advance, which can easily be transported
around the centre/handed to invigilators to be taken to exam rooms. Perhaps
produce a checklist of what a ‘box’ should contain and delegate the task of checking
and re-stocking boxes to invigilators. Perhaps extend the use of the checklist to
confirm the ‘on the day/session’ materials issued to invigilators.
Confirm the centre's position on food and drink in exam rooms.

Support resources
JCQ: Instructions for conducting examinations (section 18)
The Exams Office:

 EXAM BOX CHECKLIST TEMPLATE

 POLICY GENERATOR TOOL (Food and Drink Policy)

Identifying candidates in exam rooms

Ensure the centre’s written procedure to verify the identity of all candidates at the
time of the exam or assessment (including any private/external or transferred
candidates) is known, understood and followed by invigilators.

Support resources
JCQ:

 Instructions for conducting examinations (section 16)

 General Regulations for Approved Centres (section 5)
The Exams Office:

 POLICY GENERATOR TOOL (Candidate Identification Procedure)

The people present in exam rooms

Confirm that invigilators and other centre staff understand the rules about the people
present in exam rooms.

Support resources
JCQ: Instructions for conducting examinations (section 17, Appendix 8)

Invigilator briefing
Through required training/update prior to exams taking place, invigilators must know
what is expected of them and must follow ICE instructions where relevant to the role
of the invigilator.
Invigilators must be made aware of the Checklist for invigilators (for written
examinations) prior to exams taking place.
Invigilators must fully understand the exam(s) taking place in the room they have
been allocated to and should be briefed accordingly prior to each exam session on
all the arrangements, including:

 the required question papers, other exam materials and exam stationery
 the duration of the exam(s)
 the attendance register(s)
 the seating arrangements/seating plan
 the arrangements for any access arrangement candidates in the exam room
 any timetable clash candidates in the exam room and the supervision arrangements
 any other appropriate instructions or information

Support resources
JCQ:

 Instructions for conducting examinations (section 12)

 Checklist for invigilators (for written examinations)

Access arrangements and modified papers

Liaise with the ALS lead/SENCo to confirm all the required arrangements are in
place for candidates to access exam rooms and access their assessments.
Invigilators will be made aware of access arrangement candidates in the exam room,
as these candidates will be identified on the seating plan. However, ensure
invigilators are appropriately briefed on the arrangements in place for these
candidates.

Modified papers
Check in advance that orders for published modified papers have been received in
time for the date of the exam. Understand what is permitted in terms of preparing
any paper that may be required for a computer reader, or a question paper on
coloured/enlarged paper.

Support resources
JCQ: Instructions for conducting examinations (section 5)

Cover sheets and information for facilitators

Remember to issue the cover sheets that need to be provided before an exam starts
for certain access arrangements and any other information that may need to be
provided to staff acting as a facilitator (for example, a reminder of the rules of the
particular arrangement).

Support resources
JCQ:

 Access Arrangements, Reasonable Adjustments and Special Consideration (Forms)

 Access Arrangements and Reasonable Adjustments (Appendices)

Alternative site
If the JCQ Centre Inspection Service has been notified of any candidate/candidates
intending to take an exam/exams at an alternative site, ensure the instructions are
clearly followed (with particular reference to removing question papers from the
secure storage facility and transporting papers to the alternative venue).

Support resources
JCQ: Instructions for conducting examinations (section 11)

Word processors
Ensure the logistical arrangements for any candidate using a word processor in
exams are in place before the start of each exam. As good practice, you may decide
to annotate 'WP' on the attendance register against any candidates with word-
processed scripts.
Confirm the centre's position on the retention of electronic copies of word-processed
scripts.

Support resources
JCQ: Instructions for conducting examinations (section 14)
The Exams Office:

 ACCESS ARRANGEMENTS: WORD PROCESSOR CHECKLIST TEMPLATE

 POLICY GENERATOR TOOL (Word Processor Policy)

Temporary/emergency arrangements
Be prepared to deal with situations that may emerge due to candidate indisposition
or incapacity during exam time (late diagnosis of a disability, late manifestation of an
impairment or a temporary injury/impairment).In a last-minute situation, keep the
candidate under supervision from the required time while appropriate arrangements
are put in place.
As a contingency, try to identify if a classroom or office could be held on standby to
use (if needed) in an emergency situation and if there is an ‘invigilator trained’
member of staff who could be called on to invigilate.

Support resources
JCQ: Access Arrangements and Reasonable Adjustments (section 8)
The Exams Office: ACCESS ARRANGEMENTS: MANAGING EMERGENCY
ARRANGEMENTS FORM TEMPLATE

The role of a roving invigilator

Be aware of the role of a roving invigilator. This is a role which could (where time
permits) be performed by you or more appropriately by a trained invigilator.
Where the invigilator additionally acts as a practical assistant, a reader and/or a
scribe, as in (ICE) paragraphs 13.2 to 13.4, the centre must additionally use a
‘roving’ invigilator. The ‘roving’ invigilator will enter the room at regular intervals in
order to observe the conducting of the examination, ensure all relevant rules are
being adhered to and to support the practical assistant/reader and/or scribe in
maintaining the integrity of the examination.
Support resources
JCQ: Instructions for conducting examinations (section 13)
The Exams Office: ROVING INVIGILATOR CHECKLIST TEMPLATE

Irregularities
Situations that may need to be managed during exam time include the following
examples.

Candidate late arrival to an exam

Ensure instructions around candidate late/very late arrival to an exam are fully
understood (including the centre’s discretionary position on allowing candidates to
enter the exam room and sit the exam).
Ensure invigilators are aware of your centre’s process for dealing with candidates
who arrive late/very late to an exam room and record any instances on the exam
room incident log to support any follow up reporting requirements.
Candidate very late arrival to the exam room must be reported to the awarding body
within seven working days of the date of the exam paper concerned. The report must
be made using CAP accessed through an awarding body’s secure extranet site.

Support resources
JCQ:

 Instructions for conducting examinations (section 21)

 Guidance Notes - Very Late Arrival Form
The Exams Office: POLICY GENERATOR TOOL (Candidate Late Arrival Policy)

Candidate absence from an exam

Make sure invigilators are aware of your centre’s policy/process for dealing with
absence in the exam room. Ensure absences are recorded correctly on the
attendance register which is sent to the examiner/marker.

Support resources
JCQ: Instructions for conducting examinations (section 22)
The Exams Office:
  A GUIDE TO DEALING WITH CANDIDATE ABSENCE
 POLICY GENERATOR TOOL (Candidate Absence Policy)

Candidate suspected malpractice in an exam

Be aware of JCQ policies and procedures relating to actual or suspected
malpractice.
As a central point of reference perhaps print out and display in a prominent position
the Indicative sanctions against candidates.
Consider printing a supply of the report form JCQ/M1 (Report of suspected
candidate malpractice) to enable the investigation/reporting process to start
immediately if an incident occurs.
Perhaps prepare a standard notification letter/template ready to use in case there is
need to notify a candidate that an allegation of suspected or actual malpractice has
been made against them.

Support resources
JCQ:

 Instructions for conducting examinations (section 24)

 Suspected Malpractice: Policies and Procedures (Appendix 6)
 JCQ M1 Report of suspected candidate malpractice
The Exams Office:

 SUSPECTED MALPRACTICE: CANDIDATE NOTIFICATION FORM TEMPLATE

 POLICY GENERATOR TOOL (Managing Behaviour Policy, Malpractice Policy)

Emergencies
Invigilators must be aware of the centre’s policy for dealing with an emergency
evacuation of the exam room, should such a situation arise, so they are able to take
the appropriate action.

Support resources
JCQ: Instructions for conducting examinations (section 25)
The Exams Office:

 POLICY GENERATOR TOOL (Emergency Evacuation Policy)

Candidates eligible for special consideration in an exam
Where a candidate may sit an exam under adverse conditions, determine if the
candidate is eligible for special consideration.
Understand how to apply and the timescales involved.
Consider printing a supply of form 10 JCQ/SC (and form VQ/SC where this may be
relevant) as a starting point to record situations as they may emerge (where the
awarding body requires applications for special consideration to be made online, the
completed hard copy form will simply provide your centre record).

Support resources
JCQ:

 A guide to the special consideration process

 Access Arrangements, Reasonable Adjustments and Special Consideration (Forms)
The Exams Office: POLICY GENERATOR TOOL (Special Consideration Policy)

At the beginning of the exam

Confirm all the required instructions are known, understood and followed by all staff
involved in conducting exams and supervising candidates in exam rooms.
Ensure when candidates are invited to enter the exam room, they are supervised at
all times under formal examination conditions (where they must not talk to, attempt to
communicate with or disturb other candidates once they have entered the exam
room) until the point when they are permitted to leave the exam room.
An invigilator announcement must be given before the start of each exam so all
candidates are clearly reminded of what they must and must not do.

Support resources
JCQ: Instructions for conducting examinations (sections 16-19, Appendix 3)
The Exams Office: INVIGILATOR ANNOUNCEMENT

During the exam

Ensure all staff involved in conducting exams and supervising candidates in exam
rooms know, understand and follow the required instructions.
Invigilators must understand they must be vigilant and remain aware of incidents or
emerging situations, looking out for malpractice or candidates who, for example, may
be feeling unwell or require a toilet break. These incidents must be recorded on an
incident log.
Candidates who are allowed to leave the examination room temporarily must be
accompanied by a member of centre staff who must not be the candidate’s subject
teacher or a subject expert for the examination in question.
Those candidates may be allowed extra time at the discretion of the centre to
compensate for their temporary absence.
Determine your centre's position on this.

Support resources
JCQ: Instructions for conducting examinations (sections 20-25)
The Exams Office: POLICY GENERATOR TOOL (Leaving the Examination Room
Policy)

At the end of the exam

Invigilators must instruct candidates to stop working at the exact finish time of their
exam and remind candidates that they are still under examination conditions.
Invigilators must give candidates the required instructions at the end of the exam in
relation to their scripts (answer booklets and any additional answer sheets).
All scripts, question papers and any other exam materials must be collected in
before candidates are permitted to leave the exam room.Exam office staff, including
invigilators, must ensure scripts are handled securely at all times.
When checking that the candidate and centre information matches the details on the
attendance register, if a discrepancy is identified the centre may correct the
discrepancy or add to the information recorded by the candidate on the front of their
answer booklet and/or on any supplementary sheets used. This should be restricted
to the centre number, candidate number, candidate name or component/unit code.
The correction should be counter-signed on the script. Centres must not alter any
other details on the candidate’s script.

Support resources
JCQ: Instructions for conducting examinations (sections 26-27)

After the exam

Scripts should be packaged and dispatched as soon as practically possible after the
exam.
Before packaging, check that any additional loose sheets have been placed inside
candidates’ answer booklets.
Check that fully completed cover sheets have been placed inside the scripts of
access arrangement candidates (where a cover sheet is required by the
arrangement) unless an individual awarding body issues a different instruction. (For
word processed work, follow any instructions issued by the individual awarding
body).
Check the attendance register has been fully completed and include in the package
with the scripts.Only scripts (in the order they appear on the register) and the
completed attendance register should be included in the plastic envelope - nothing
else should be sent to the examiner/marker.
Any required follow-up reports should be sent/submitted directly to the awarding
body.
A completed attendance register must still be sent to the examiner/marker even
where no candidates attended the exam (due to being absent or withdrawn).
Follow the instructions for despatching scripts through the yellow label service or for
sending the scripts of papers not covered by the secure despatch of exam scripts
service.
Centres must ensure that scripts are always kept in the secure room until as close to
the collection time as possible. Script packages must not be left unattended at the
collection area.
When all candidates in the centre have completed the exam, the related question
papers may then be released to relevant centre staff in accordance with the
regulations.

Support resources
JCQ: Instructions for conducting examinations (sections 28-31)
DfE (STA): Dispatch of exam scripts: yellow label service guidance

Post-exam administrative follow up

Required follow up by a centre includes the completion and submission of any very
late arrival reports, actual or suspected malpractice reports and special consideration
applications.
Follow up documentation must be submitted to the relevant awarding
body not to JCQ.
Identify timescales specified in the very late arrival and suspected malpractice
reporting process. I
dentify the key date identified by awarding bodies for submitting special
consideration applications.
In the main summer exam series, consider identifying a regular weekly slot to deal
with administrative follow up that needs to be completed (apart from the ‘immediate’
requirement for malpractice reporting). Operating in this way might help to reduce
the stress and burden of trying to keep up with this on a daily basis whilst also going
some way to ensuring that required follow up is not missed.
Consider compiling a regular report on the exam series to inform meetings with your
line manager; this is also a way of recording confirmation that appropriate follow up
has been completed.
Ensure that signed records of the seating plan, the invigilation arrangements and the
centre’s copies of the attendance registers for each exam are kept until the deadline
for reviews of marking has passed or until any appeal, malpractice or other results
enquiry has been completed, whichever is later.
As well as keeping the required records on file, it would be useful to collate
information relating to each exam room in date and session order enabling queries to
be dealt with quickly and efficiently.
This information might include:

 the exam room checklist (to confirm the required exam room conditions and
invigilation arrangements were in place)
 the exam room incident log (to confirm any issues or irregularities were recorded and
where relevant, reported – perhaps even to show that there were no issues in the
exam room)

Awarding bodies may also contact a centre following exams to resolve any queries
or issues that may be identified, particularly during the marking process.

Support resources
JCQ: Instructions for conducting examinations (section 12)
The Exams Office:

 SPECIAL CONSIDERATION: APPROPRIATE EVIDENCE TEMPLATE

 SUMMER EXAMS WEEKLY REPORT FORM TEMPLATE
Results and Post-Results

This section covers stage 5 of the exam cycle:

 Understanding the results and post-results process

 Identifying key tasks and activities

Results and post-results is the final stage of the exam cycle where candidates are
issued with their provisional results, where post-results services are made available
by the awarding bodies and ultimately certificates, to confirm final results, are issued.
This section highlights some of the main aspects of the process that need to be
managed and highlights the key tasks that may need to be undertaken.
The results and post-results process for general qualifications is well documented
and clearly defined by JCQ member awarding bodies. The General Regulations for
Approved Centres, the current Post-Results Services publication (which provides
information on the common arrangements for GCSE and GCE qualifications)
together with additional information provided by awarding bodies (for these and other
qualifications) must be fully understood and followed.
Where your centre may be involved with other qualifications outside of the common
arrangements, you may need to separately research relevant awarding body
administrative guidance to identify the process(es) and key dates that need to be
understood and followed.
As example, for a particular type of qualification (non GCE/GCSE), part of the results
administrative process might require results reporting, where centre-assessed
(internally assessed) marks must be submitted by the centre to the awarding body by
a key date (deadline). This process enables the awarding body to combine these
marks with any externally assessed unit marks and confirm final grades for the whole
qualification for candidates and issue certificates.

Support resources
JCQ:

 General Regulations for Approved Centres (section 5)

 Post-Results Services

Centre policy
Understand your centre’s way of working in managing results and post-results.
Determine if your centre’s exams policy defines the role of the exams officer in the
results and post-results process and the roles of other centre staff involved in
this. Identifying roles will be particularly pertinent in the run up to and on results
day(s) where processes might include:

 accessing results
 producing results analysis
 issuing results to candidates
 issuing press releases
 interpreting results for candidates
 supporting distressed or anxious candidates
 discussing results with candidates and making decisions on any post-results services
that may be considered appropriate
 providing advice/guidance/support to candidates regarding progression routes
 liaising with FE/HE institutions where required

Planning and preparation

Particularly for the main summer results period, plan well ahead and identify tasks
that can be completed before the end of the summer term to reduce the
administrative burden at results and post-results time, which has to be managed
alongside the start of a new academic year. Consideration should be given to the
following:

 what information candidates should be briefed on in advance of results being issued

 how candidates will receive their statements of provisional results on results day
 what other information will be provided to candidates on results day
 what results information and analysis will be required for SLT and teaching teams
 what, if any, results information or analysis will be provided to external organisations
including the media
 which post-results services are made available by awarding bodies
 what are the key dates (deadlines) for applying for post-results services
 what are the fees charged by each awarding body for post-results services
 how certificates will be issued/distributed to candidates and how any unclaimed
certificates will be retained

Support resources
The Exams Office:
  KEY TASKS REVIEW CHECKLIST TEMPLATE
 RESULTS DAY CHECKLIST TEMPLATE
 POLICY GENERATOR TOOL (Certificate Issue Procedure and Retention Policy)

Key dates
Determine relevant key dates for results and post-results for the qualification(s) in
question. This will include:

 restricted release of results date

 results issue date
 priority post-results services deadlines
 non-priority post-results services deadlines
 certificates issued by date

Gather JCQ and relevant awarding body key dates and post-results services
information.

Support resources
JCQ:

 Key Dates
 Post-Results Services

Briefing candidates
All candidates should be informed in advance of the arrangements that will be in
place for the issue of their results and certificates.
Candidates must be made aware of the arrangements for post-results services prior
to the issue of results.
The centre’s written procedures for how it will deal with candidates’ requests for
these services must be made widely available and accessible to all candidates.
The centre must ensure that senior members of centre staff are available
immediately after the publication of results and that all internal candidates are aware
that all post-results service requests must be made through the centre.
An overview of this information could be included with exam information which is
issued to candidates or candidates are briefed on in advance of the exam period.
Determine if candidates will be offered any options regarding results and certificates
- for example, granting others permission to collect on their behalf.
Consider preparing a standard form to confirm how results and certificates are
issued in your centre and provide a means to collect candidate permission where
candidates cannot attend the centre to collect results/certificates in the normal way.
Support resources
JCQ:

 General Regulations for Approved Centres (section 5)

 Post-Results Services (sections 4, 6)
The Exams Office:

 CANDIDATE EXAM HANDBOOK TEMPLATE

 CANDIDATE PERMISSION FORM TEMPLATE
 POLICY GENERATOR TOOL (Access to Scripts, Reviews of Results and Appeals
Procedures)

Retention of candidates' work

Where any of the qualifications or units/components of a qualification taken in an
exam series are internally (centre) assessed, the sample of candidates’ work that
has been sent to the awarding body for moderation is normally returned to the centre
at the end of the moderation period (electronic work is not returned).
All candidates’ work whether part of the sample sent for moderation or not, must be
retained according to the requirements.
In case of later query, it would be useful to log moderated work as it is returned to
the centre before passing it back to the relevant teaching team for the required
storage and retention.
Feedback (in the form of a moderator report) is normally provided to centres.
Confirm with each relevant awarding body if, how and when moderator reports are
issued. If reports are made available online, signpost this to relevant teaching teams
and ensure they have appropriate access rights to awarding body secure extranet
sites.

Support resources
JCQ: General Regulations for Approved Centres (section 3)
The Exams Office: MODERATION RETURNS LOG TEMPLATE

Entry amendments
(Applicable to centre’s using a MIS facility for sending and receiving information
to/from awarding bodies - this section is not relevant to centres without/not using a
MIS facility)
Ensure any changes to entries (amendments, withdrawals) made after final entries
were submitted are reflected in the centre’s MIS, as a mismatch of entries to results
received may result in error messages when importing/downloading results.
Check with each relevant awarding body to determine if basedata needs to be
refreshed (with the most up to date basedata) before results are accessed to
minimise the risk of error messages when importing/downloading results.

Accessing results
Identify how you will access results information. Most awarding bodies do not
normally provide hard copy of candidates’ results - information will therefore need to
be accessed electronically.
Results are normally accessible under restricted release to centres only. Understand
what this means by consulting the current JCQ Release of results notice. Restricted
results information must be kept securely until results issue day.
Where entries have been made through a centre’s MIS, results can be accessed by
electronic data interchange (EDI) where result files are sent by awarding bodies to
the centre via A2C. Result files can be downloaded (imported) into the centre’s MIS.
Where relevant, follow any guidance from your MIS provider in terms of preparing for
results download.
If a centre’s MIS and the relevant awarding body’s system becomes A2C compliant,
results will be provided via the transport integrated in the A2C system by an
automated ‘polling’ service; the term ‘download’ is currently relevant to centres using
electronic data interchange (EDI) via the A2C Transport Application.
Remember the requirement for keeping results information secure until the following
day. This may require a temporary restriction (embargo) within your MIS to prevent
unauthorised access to results information by other centre staff.
Alternatively, or for centres without a MIS facility, results information can be
accessed by login to awarding body secure extranet sites. Ensure that unauthorised
staff cannot access results information on these platforms on restricted release
date(s) by checking their user access rights.
Candidate statements of results (results slips) should be available online for printing
(and/or exporting/downloading) via the awarding body’s secure extranet site.
Results are provisional as they could be subject to amendment after a review of
results - certificates, when issued later, confirm final results.
On restricted release day, authorised staff in centres can:

 access results data and results reports issued by the awarding bodies
 prepare for the release of results to candidates (for example, printing candidate
statements of results or exporting PDFs to prepare for issue by email)
 check results and start to resolve any queries with the awarding bodies
 prepare centre results analysis reports (although these cannot be shared more
widely until after candidates have received their results the following day)
Support resources
JCQ:

 Results and Certification

 A2C

Understanding and interpreting the results

Awarding bodies provide information to support the understanding of results (marks
and grades).
Generic information is provided on the awarding body’s public website. Information
specific to a centre’s results will normally be provided on the awarding body’s secure
extranet site.
JCQ collates and publishes the collective results (including GCSE, AS/A Level), for
its members but cannot supply regional, centre or candidate information.
The DfE releases more detailed information on regions and specific centres over the
year.

Support resources
JCQ: Examination Results
DfE: Statistics: 16 to 19 attainment
The Exams Office: AWARDING BODY RESULTS AND POST-RESULTS
INFORMATION LINKS TEMPLATE

Unitised qualifications
As entries are normally made at unit level and a subject award (certification entry)
entered in the terminal exam series, results are normally provided to candidates as
an overall grade for the qualification against the subject award and a mark and grade
provided against each unit.
Grade boundaries may be published at unit and qualification level.

Linear qualifications
Entries are normally made at qualification level. Results may therefore only be
provided as an overall subject mark and grade against the qualification.
However most JCQ awarding bodies now provide XML results files
containing component marks, qualification marks and grades for linear general
qualifications which are issued via the A2C Transport application at the same time as
your EDI files and can be imported into your MIS.
Component marks for candidates are also provided on the awarding body secure
extranet site.
Grade boundaries may only be published at qualification level.

Qualifications with a Registration/Qualification entry

(Examples include BTECs and Cambridge Technicals)
A registration or qualification entry has normally been made at the start of or early in
the course. Externally assessed units (and in some instances, internally assessed
units) have been entered during the course for the required exam series.
Unit results are issued on scheduled results days for the relevant exam series.
Results provide the grade (and where applicable, the mark) for each unit. When all
the required units have been assessed, externally assessed unit and internally
assessed unit marks are combined to provide an overall grade for the qualification at
the end of the course.
For centres with a MIS facility, in order to receive overall qualification grades
via EDI/A2C centres may be required to request and import results entry basedata
((to create a results request entry file for BTECs) or import summer basedata
(Cambridge Technicals) into their MIS.

Support resources

 Consult the results pages of individual awarding body websites to determine the
results reports that are provided and identify when these are made available and
how to access them

Candidate statements of results

Identify how statements of results will be prepared for issue to candidates.
For centres with a MIS facility, once results data has been downloaded (or
transported) the system should provide a composite candidate statement of results
report (or a similarly named report) which can be printed/exported.
Alternatively, or for centres without a MIS facility, candidate statements of results
should be available online for printing/exporting via the awarding body’s secure
extranet site.

Sharing results and publishing results

Determine your centre’s policy on sharing results with those with parental
responsibility and publishing results, for example in the media.
Support resources
DfE: Understanding and dealing with issues relating to parental responsibility
ICO: Exam Results

Post-results services
Once results are released the exam series enters the final stage of the exam cycle -
post-results.
This is the time awarding bodies make post-results services available. JCQ provides
information and guidance in the Post-Results Services publication setting out the
common arrangements for post-results services.
As the awarding bodies will publish their own administrative guidance on post-results
services on websites, this publication should be read together with the information
issued by the awarding bodies.
In advance of the release of results, research JCQ and awarding body information to
understand the services that will normally be available (listed below).

 Reviews of Results (RoRs) services: Clerical re-checks, Reviews of marking and

Reviews of moderation
 Appeals (The Appeals process is available to those who remain dissatisfied after
receiving the outcome of a review of results and have appropriate grounds for
appeal)
 Access to Scripts (ATS) services
 Missing and incomplete results services (MIRs)
 Late certification service (applicable to centres following unitised GCSE, GCE AS
and A-level specifications in Wales and Northern Ireland)

RoRs and ATS services are normally available at individual unit/component level of a
qualification.Research and understand how these services should be administered.
Collate information from awarding bodies on their post-results services, deadlines,
fees and charges. Identify your internal deadlines to ensure external deadlines can
be effectively met.
Prepare centre-specific information for candidates and centre staff clearly
highlighting the services available, the cost of each service and providing a way of
collecting informed consent, where applicable.
Ensure retention periods for signed consent/permission forms or e-mails from
candidates are known and followed.
Identify your centre’s policy regarding fees and charges, determining who pays
(candidate or centre) and if awarding body fees are charged or a composite centre
fee levied.
Consider producing a form to provide information on the services available and to
collect requests, consent/permission and payment information - highlight internal
deadlines that must be met.
Ensure you have logins (username and password) to access awarding body secure
extranet sites to enable the online submission of RoRs and ATS requests.
Perhaps use a simple spreadsheet log to track to conclusion submission of requests
to, and outcomes from, awarding bodies.
If the outcome of a RoR or MIR changes a result, your centre’s result records (and
any results analysis that has been produced) will need to be updated to reflect this.

Support resources
JCQ: Post-Results Services (sections 4, 6, Appendices A, B)
The Exams Office:

 A GUIDE TO ADMINISTERING POST-RESULTS SERVICES

 POST-RESULTS SERVICES: DEADLINES, FEES AND CHARGES TEMPLATE
 POST-RESULTS SERVICES: REQUEST, CONSENT AND PAYMENT FORM
TEMPLATE
 POST-RESULTS SERVICES: TRACKING LOG TEMPLATE
 POST-RESULTS SERVICES CHECKLIST TEMPLATE

Re-sits/Retakes
Be prepared to deal with any enquiries about re-sits or retakes of the qualifications
for which results have just been issued.
The term ‘re-sit’ normally relates to taking an individual unit of a qualification again,
where this may be available as an option for unitised specifications.
The term ‘retake’ normally relates to taking the whole qualification again (or at least
taking all the written exam papers again and carrying forward the marks achieved for
any non-examined (NEA) component where this is permitted by the awarding body’s
specification).
Either way, a candidate would need to be entered again (if your centre is willing to
facilitate this).
However, entry opportunities are dependent on the qualification and the availability
offered by the awarding body.
Research the relevant awarding body’s ‘Entries’ information to establish what is
available to be taken, in which exam series is this next available and how much does
this cost.
Identify your centre’s policy regarding fees and charges determining who pays
(candidate or centre) for re-sit/retake entries.
Identify your process for collecting entry requests and when this will be made
available to potential candidates.
Devise a form or electronic process for candidates to request an entry to be made for
them.

Support resources
The Exams Office: EXAM ENTRY/RE-SIT FORM TEMPLATE

Analysis of results
Determine if your role requires you to be involved in the provision of results analysis.
Where relevant, confirm the analysis that is required, for whom and by when.
For centres with a MIS facility, identify any analysis tools available within the system
to support this task.
Confirm and understand if you have a role in any DfE performance tables checking
exercise that may be required.

Support resources
DfE: School and College Checking Exercises Information

Certificates
Ensure all candidates are aware of the arrangements for the distribution of
certificates.
Certificates to confirm final results normally arrive around two months after the issue
of results (certificates for some VTQs may arrive earlier). Identify the centre’s
responsibilities affecting the distribution, retention (and destruction) of unclaimed
certificates which includes obtaining and maintaining accurate candidate contact
information to ensure the correct and secure despatch of certificates.
Determine how certificates are checked on receipt and how they are subsequently
issued to candidates.
Consider if certificates may be required early for an awards evening or similar event
and establish if the awarding body offers the opportunity to request early certification.

Support resources
JCQ: General Regulations for Approved Centres (section 5)
The Exams Office: CERTIFICATE COLLECTION INFORMATION FOR
CANDIDATES TEMPLATE