Qualifications and centres in scope
The qualifications in scope of these arrangements apply to any VTQs used for progression alongside or instead of GCSEs, AS and A Levels. Take a look at the table below for more information and view the full list of NCFE qualifications in scope.
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Level 1/2 and Level 2
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Level 3
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Purpose
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Qualifications taken alongside GCSEs at KS4 that can be used for progression to further education or training
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Qualifications taken instead of or alongside AS and A Levels in schools and colleges, and used for progression to further or higher education or training, including technical qualifications (TQs) in T Levels
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Size
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Minimum 120 GLH
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Minimum 180 GLH (equivalent to AS level)
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UCAS points
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N/A
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Minimum 16 UCAS points (equivalent to grade E at A level)
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Type
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Performance table qualifications (PTQs) only
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To include PTQs and non-PTQs
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These arrangements apply to all types of centres, including colleges, schools and training providers.
Key dates for term-time checkpoints and results
In December 2025, we let you know that we’d updated our arrangements to ensure the timely delivery of vocational technical qualifications (VTQ) results for your learners in 2025-26.
This academic year, we’re only doing one term-time checkpoint which is now open, and your action is required to ensure this checkpoint is completed by Thursday 30 April.
These arrangements apply to all types of centres, including colleges, schools and training providers. Please share this communication with your colleagues, including exams officers, curriculum teams, and senior leaders.
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Requirements for the term-time checkpoint (open from Monday 23 March until Thursday 30 April)
You can manage your learners who are in scope of the term-time checkpoint arrangements by searching in the 'My Learners' screen of the Portal. If you wanted to see all VTQ learners select ‘Current Learner Status’ as Registered and using the ‘Show only valid VTQ learners’ toggle. More information is available in the Portal User Guide in the ‘VTQ learners’ section.
You need to:
- check that all learners currently studying on an NCFE programme at your centre are registered with us on the NCFE Portal – your learners should be registered no later than 90 days after their start date, or late registration fees may apply (separate fees apply for T Levels and V Certs – see all details in our fees and pricing guide). If you need to add any new learners, you can find instructions on how to do this in the ‘registrations’ section of our Portal User Guide.
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Remove any learners who have withdrawn or transferred to a qualification out of scope of these arrangements. If you need to withdraw any learners, you can find instructions how to do this in our Portal User Guide under ‘withdrawing learners’.
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Ensure all planned end dates are completed and accurate – if your learners require a result by results days in August 2026, please ensure their planned end dates are no later than Thursday 20 August 2026. If you need to add or amended your planned end dates, you can find instructions in the Portal User Guide in the ‘manage learners' section.
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If you haven’t already, check and book any remaining learners who are required to sit external assessments for the summer series onto their assessments.
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Ensure any required EQA reviews are booked to be completed but no later than Tuesday 30 June (for internally assessed qualifications, to ensure the delivery of results by results release days.)
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Nominate a senior designated contact for your centre – this should be someone who we can escalate any issues to both during and outside of term time (even if you submitted this information last year, we require senior designated contact details to be resubmitted for 2025-26). Please note that if you’re the senior designated contact for multiple NCFE accounts, you’ll need to submit a separate form for each unique centre number. You can have multiple senior designated contacts if needed, to ensure that there is always someone from your centre available.
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Sign the declaration form on the Portal to confirm you have completed the above actions. The link to the declaration form can be found in the banner at the top of each Portal page. Please note that the term-time checkpoint is not complete until this declaration form has been signed and submitted.
Remember multi-factor authentication is required every time you log in to the Portal. You’ll need to set up multi-factor authentication for your account before you can access the Portal. For more information and guidance, please explore our FAQs page.
If you completed any registrations or bookings using our interim processes during the recent cyber security incident, please check that all information has been added correctly for your learners.
Consequences of failure to meet deadlines for information requests
As stated in your centre agreement, you must comply with all requirements for the provision of information to us within the specified timeframes. If your centre fails to respond to this term-time checkpoint or there is a lack of engagement from your senior designated contact, this may be considered as maladministration as it is in breach of our centre agreement.
As this is a single term-time checkpoint, you must meet the deadline for submitting information as we will be sending the data to Ofqual in early May.
