Our LiveChat, email support and phone lines will be unavailable from 1-3pm on Tuesday 5 December as colleagues are attending an important business update and training event. If you have a T Level query during this time, you can email [email protected] or call 0191 240 8862. All other queries will be answered as quickly as possible after this time.
Yellow label FAQs
Please use the categories below to find the relevant answer to your question.
What is the yellow label service, and how will it affect me?
Yellow label is a traceable external assessment dispatch service provided by Parcelforce Worldwide and the Standards and Testing Agency (STA) which allows you to arrange high security collections to return papers to NCFE at no cost to you. It’s available for general qualifications and some other selected qualifications, including Functional Skills and T Levels.
Where a qualification is eligible, it means you no longer need to make your own
arrangements for the secure return of completed assessment papers, and instead can arrange a collection with Parcelforce Worldwide using a pre-paid label supplied by NCFE
Which qualifications and assessments is this service eligible for?
We’ve launched the yellow label service for our T Level Technical Qualification core exam papers (paper A and B) of our T Level qualifications, and our paper-based Functional Skills assessments (English and maths only). This is not available for ICT Functional Skills papers.
Further qualifications may be added to this list in the future.
What do centres need to do?
Where a qualification or assessment is eligible, you must prepare for this collection by packing all assessment materials (including completed and unused papers, and the invigilators’ register) into the grey envelopes received with the papers. Please then store
these in a secure location within your centre until they’re collected by ParcelForce Worldwide.
You should:
- Check that envelopes are securely sealed
- Ensure packages are ready to collect
- Store packages securely until the courier arrives
- Complete the dispatch log before the ParcelForce Worldwide driver arrives.
- Further details can be found here.
When will the papers be collected?
Scheduled collections
If you have timetabled exams on three or more days during any week in the summer exam series (May to June), your centre will automatically have daily scheduled collections.
Parcelforce Worldwide will contact you before the start of the exam series to arrange a mutually convenient two-to-three hour time window to collect your exam scripts. This will be tailored to your centre’s closing time and Parcelforce Worldwide’s schedules.
Functional Skills
On days where you have daily scheduled collections (see above), you can hand over
Functional Skills yellow label packages at the same time, and don’t need to book a separate collection.
If you have Functional Skills paper-based assessments taking place on days where you do not have daily scheduled collections, you’ll need to book an ad hoc collection to return Functional Skills exam scripts.
To do this, contact Parcelforce Worldwide exams helpdesk to arrange your ad hoc
collections, using the Parcelforce Worldwide website or by calling 0344 561 7998.
Collections can be arranged up to 14 days before your first exam and need to be booked at least 24 hours in advance. You’ll be given a booking reference number for each ad hoc collection, which you should note on the dispatch log for your reference.
What should we do if the driver does not turn up?
You must contact Parcelforce Worldwide directly on 0344 561 7998 if a driver does not arrive. NCFE is not responsible for arranging or managing the collection process.
What should we do if we lose the yellow label?
If a yellow label is lost or has not arrived within the allocated time, you can contact NCFE at [email protected]. to apply for a replacement. Labels are valid for two weeks from the date they’re produced. You shouldn’t request these more than two weeks before the examination date.
Replacement labels are dispatched within three working days. If the exam is less than a week away, we may email the labels to you instead, to print yourself.
Which papers can be returned by yellow label?
Only T Level Technical Qualification core exam (papers A and B) and Functional Skills assessments (English and maths only) should be returned using the yellow label collection service.
Other paper-based assessments should continue to be returned by a secure courier service arranged by centres, using the white returns label in the assessment pack. Assessment papers must never be returned by standard Royal Mail post.
We’ve got yellow address labels leftover. Should we have put more than one label on a package?
No. All packages must be labelled individually so that the STA can track and trace them through the Parcelforce Worldwide system. Make sure you’re using the correct labels by checking the ‘label printed’ date and destroying any old labels.
We have multiple yellow label packages that are going to the same address. Can we package them all together?
No. All packages must be dispatched individually so that NCFE and the STA can track and trace them through Parcelforce Worldwide system.
Our assessment papers have been dispatched using the wrong yellow address label. What should we do?
If you’ve used the wrong pre-addressed yellow label, you should contact NCFE at
[email protected] immediately.
We’ll need details of the assessment papers that you’ve sent and the yellow label details, including the unique consignment number along the barcode.
How can yellow label packages be tracked?
You can track each package or consignment of assessment papers by using the unique consignment number noted on the exam dispatch log. Trace your package by logging onto the Parcelforce Worldwide website and then entering the unique consignment number.
How can I arrange for Parcelforce to collect my yellow label packages from an alternative address?
Parcelforce Worldwide will only collect packages from centres that have a registered National Centre Number (NCN). You won’t be able to arrange collection from an alternative address without an NCN. If external assessments are administered on an alternative site,
arrangements will need to be made for papers to be returned securely to the main site for collection by Parcelforce Worldwide.
How can I get a National Centre Number (NCN)?
Our approvals team is working to ensure all existing centres have a NCN and will be requesting them in bulk for these centres from OCR. Therefore, no immediate action is required from you. Moving forward, new centres will be supported in acquiring a NCN on approval application.
How do I update my National Centre Number (NCN) address details?
The National Centre Number database is managed by Oxford Cambridge and RSA (OCR). Details on how to request an update can be found on their website.
Please note, when you access the OCR website looking for details on the NCN register, you may find details on centre inspections. Where NCFE applies for an NCN on a centre’s behalf, these inspections will not apply as we only request entries to the “higher NCN”
register which doesn’t require inspection (potential inspection by NCFE Assessment Audit Advisors may still apply and is unaffected by the NCN process).
If you already have an NCN, you may have an entry on the “standard” register, meaning an inspection applies. If you update your own details with the NCN, you will also need to tell us (via custom[email protected]) of that change so that our records match.