Exams officers | NCFE

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Exams officers

Here at NCFE, we know how vital exams officers are.

Without you, it would be impossible to run and administer our exams successfully, so we work hard to make it easy for you to work with us.

On this page you’ll find all the key information to support you in your role, including timetables, a key dates calendar and FAQs, as well as monthly updates to ensure you’re kept up to date with any changes, events and training opportunities. 

Last updated (09/07/26)

July 2026
Summer assessment series – looking ahead to results in August 

All summer assessments are now complete and marking and moderation are well underway.  

All evidence should now be uploaded and all papers returned, but we still might have to raise queries with your exams teams. Please ensure that your teams are ready to resolve any queries as quickly as possible so that all learners can receive a result where expected.  

Our special consideration deadline has passed, and from now we will only accept requests in exceptional circumstances. Late requests may impact our ability to release results on the advertised results release date.  
As a reminder, results release dates are: 

  • We’ll release T Level results from our summer 2026 series to you on Wednesday 12 August, ahead of your students receiving them on Thursday 13 August. 
  • We’ll release V Cert results from our summer 2026 series to you on Monday 17 August, ahead of your learners receiving them on Thursday 20 August. This embargo period  allows you more time to prepare for sharing with learners, and nothing should be shared ahead of Thursday.  
  • Other external assessment results, such as our CACHE assessments, will be released on the dates stated in the assessment timetable. 

Results, including results slips and reports, will be available in the Portal. Chief Examiner and Chief Moderator reports and past papers and mark schemes will be available on the relevant qualification pages on our website, and you can view information on where to find your Final Moderation Report and Chief Moderator Reports in the results and support section of our moderation webpage.  

If you have queries about learner results following results release, please review our post results services webpage for information on reviews of marking or moderation, clerical checks, or access to scripts (where available).  

Some key points to note are:  

  • Any post result requests require the consent of your learner and therefore, you can’t submit any requests before 20 August 2026.   
  • You can find the timescales for requests on our website  
  • Before you can submit an appeal against a result you will need to exhaust all post-results services in full 

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Download our new assessment timetable 

Our assessment timetable for 2026/27 and 2027/28 is now available to download, with all V Cert and CACHE assessment dates.  

Thank you for your input throughout the consultation process. We’ve made a number of changes in response to your feedback, to align with other awarding organisations, or to minimise clashes with large volume general qualifications, ultimately with the aim to minimise burden and risk to you and your exam teams. Please see below for more information. 

For our V Cert Technical Awards: 

  • Following the publication of the GCSE and GCE results release dates for summer 2027, our result release to learners in 2027 will now be Thursday 19 August. 
  • Previously we released V Cert Technical Award results to centres under embargo 3 working days prior to results release to learners. To align with other awarding organisations, from summer 2027, we’ve taken the decision to reduce this embargo period to one working day prior to results release to learners. Therefore, in  summer 2027, you’ll be able to access V Cert Technical Award results on the Portal on Wednesday 18 August. 

We’ve amended some dates and times of our assessments. Please ensure these are updated in your calendars, and that you are using the latest version of the timetable: 

  • We’ve amended the previously published time of the NCFE CACHE Level 1/2 Technical Award in Child Development and Care in the Early Years assessment from 9am to 1:30pm on 8 June 2027 due to a clash with GCSE English Language. 
  • We’ve amended the previously published date of the NCFE Level 1/2 Technical Award in Engineering assessment from 9am on 19 May 2027 to 9am on 18 May 2027 due to a clash with GCSE English Literature. 
  • We’ve amended the previously published date of the NCFE CACHE Level 3 Applied General Award for Early Years, Childcare and Education, which will now take place on 10 June 2027 at 9am due to it being originally timetabled during the May half term holiday. 

For the NCFE CACHE Technical Level 3 Diploma in Childcare and Education (Early Years Educator): 

  • We’ve brought forward the assessment window dates and results release dates for the summer assessment opportunity for DCE2. The summer results release date is now 9 July 2027, giving you additional time to confirm completion of any internally assessed components and complete certification in advance of the general Level 3 results release date in August.  Further information on these amended dates can be found in the assessment timetable. 

We’ve removed a number of assessments from the timetable due to the withdrawal and closing of some CACHE qualifications and NCFE Applied General qualifications. The final assessment opportunities for these qualifications were during 2025-26.  

  • DEYEC1 and DEYEC2 
  • EYE/SAE 
  • EYE/EE1 and EYE/EE2 
  • Applied General Certificate – Art and Design 
  • Applied General Certificate – Business and Enterprise 
  • Applied General Certificate – Music Technology 

Please note that when returning hard copies of assessment papers, they should no longer be returned directly to NCFE. Instead,they should be returned to the address indicated on the assessment paperwork. 

We’d also like to remind you that the assessment timetable is a controlled document and is subject to regular updates and revisions. To ensure accuracy and avoid the risk of working from outdated information, please don’t download, save, or store local copies of the assessment timetable on internal systems or networks. The only valid and up-to-date version of the assessment timetable is the version accessed via our website. We can’t accept responsibility for any issues, delays, or errors arising from the use of outdated or locally stored versions of the assessment timetable. 

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Updates for exams officers 

Read the latest news and updates for exams officers here. 

On this page, you’ll find all the key information to support you in your role, including timetables, a key dates calendar and FAQs, as well as monthly updates to ensure you’re kept up to date with any changes, events and training opportunities.  

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Qualifications updates and withdrawals  

View this month’s Horizons update for the latest qualification changes and withdrawals.  

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Qualification-specific updates 

You can find the upcoming post results deadlines for assessments for our CACHE and T Level qualifications in the Key Dates Schedule. 

Access the Key Dates Schedule.  

We understand that there are times when a student or provider feels that a result is at variance with their reasonable expectations. Therefore, there is a range of post-results options available to providers to support you and your students.  

Requests for reviews of marking or access to scripts can be submitted by the provider on behalf of the student (with their consent), however before doing so, please ensure you’re familiar with our Enquiries about Results and Assessment Decisions Policy. 

More information on post-results services can be found here.  

Visit our assessment support page where you'll find everything you need to support you with assessment, including policies, forms and guidance on online assessment, remote invigilation, assessment and results queries, appeals, certificates, special considerations, access arrangements and reasonable adjustments, and much more. 

Visit our delivery support page where we have over 1000 informative and engaging learning resources. Here, you'll find all you need to deliver our qualifications and support your learners. 

View our Qualifications for Specific Delivery (QSID) document which provides qualification-specific instructions relating to the administration of external assessments for NCFE qualifications. 

The Exams Office, in conjunction with their training partner Exams Training, offers a range of face-to-face training events delivered by industry experts, supported by high quality resources and held at 4/5-star venues across England. Events are available for: 

  • Exams officers 
  • Senior leaders/line managers 
  • Invigilators. 

Learn more about how you can keep up to date with your training 

If you require a reasonable adjustment submission and/or paper modification, please ensure they’re booked before the below deadlines:  

  • Reasonable adjustments (PDF requests, language modifiers and speech recognition): prior to the booking cut-off date  
  • Paper modifications (braille): 30 working days before the assessment  
  • Paper modifications (enlarged paper or coloured paper): 15 working days before the assessment  
  • Reasonable adjustments (practical assistant): one day prior to the assessment  
  • All other reasonable adjustments: up to the assessment date.  

For more information on reasonable adjustments and how to submit an application, visit this page 

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Please note: the events we have linked from The Exams Office and Exams Officers & Data Solutions LTD are not an endorsement by NCFE. Exams Officers need to select the training that they believe is required for their role and circumstances.