Portal downtime
The Portal will be unavailable between 5pm on Friday 29th May and 10am on Saturday 30th May
We recently let you know about upcoming improvements to the order reports you access through the Portal. The updated report formats will no longer be available from June as previously communicated as we’re carrying out some additional work to ensure everything meets the high standards you expect from us.
You’ll continue to see your current Order Confirmation, Order Cancellation, and Order Summary reports in their existing format for now and there is no change to how you access or use the Portal.
We’ll confirm the new go-live date with you in the coming weeks. Thank you for your patience while we finalise these improvements.
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Qualifications updates and withdrawals
View this month’s Horizons update for the latest qualification changes and withdrawals.
Updates to the Interactive Media V Cert
We’ve made some small changes to the qualification specification for the NCFE Level 1/2 Technical Award in Interactive Media (603/7005/1). We’ll release version 1.5 in September 2026.
The changes are as follows:
- 3.5 – removed the assessment criterion referencing resolution.
- 3.6 – updated the assessment criteria to reflect the export settings learners select when exporting video, audio and image files.
These updates are designed to bring greater clarity and accuracy to the specification. They don’t introduce new technical content or increase the knowledge required of learners.
The revised terminology aligns with common industry usage and reflects the export options learners routinely encounter in standard media‑production software. These changes ensure the terminology used is accurate, aligned with real‑world practice and applied consistently throughout the specification, without altering assessment requirements or increasing technical demand.
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Annual monitoring review update
As part of your annual monitoring review, we wanted to remind you that you’ll be sent a link to an annual monitoring review self-assessment form to complete ahead of the review, and you’ll be sent a OneDrive link to upload evidence. If you indicate no changes to any of your documents, there is no need to upload any evidence unless specified by the Quality Reviewer. Please note that your Quality Reviewer will contact you 4-6 weeks before your review.
We hope this information will save you time when preparing for your review. If you need support, please contact [email protected].
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Updates for exams officers
Read the latest news and updates for exams officers here.
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Supporting your delivery
Our teams are running a variety of events this term to support you and your colleagues. Click the links below to discover what’s coming up and register your place:
Assessor training
This training is suitable for anyone assessing our qualifications, whether new to assessment, assessing our qualifications for the first time, or even experienced assessors who require CPD. If you attend this event, you’ll be eligible to receive a digital credential that you can add to your professional development portfolio. The next sessions are taking place on:
- Wednesday 6 May, 9:30am–12:30pm
- Wednesday 10 June, 9:30am–12:30pm
- Functional Skills Assessor – Wednesday 13 May, 9:30am–12:30pm
Sign up now
Internal quality assurance (IQA) training
This training is suitable for anyone involved in the IQA process for our qualifications, whether you’re new to IQA, applying it to our qualifications for the first time, or even if you’re an experienced internal quality assurer and require CPD. If you attend this event, you’ll be eligible to receive a digital credential that you can add to your professional development portfolio. The next sessions are taking place on:
- Friday 8 May, 9:30am–12:30pm
- Thursday 11 June, 9:30am–12:30pm
- Functional Skills IQA – Wednesday 20 May, 9:30am–12:30pm
- Functional Skills IQA – Wednesday 8 July, 9:30am–12:30pm
Sign up now
If you have any questions about assessor or IQA training, please contact the team at [email protected].
Please note, our assessor and IQA training is generic across our qualifications and not subject specific. Colleagues and trainers will be from a wide range of sectors. If you require subject specific training, you can arrange a support visit.
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Qualification-specific updates
