We are currently experiencing severe operational disruption, and a number of our systems are offline and unavailable. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. Please go to our service continuity webpage where you can find a set of FAQs and an enquiry form to support you to submit urgent queries. NCFE Customer Support lines have reopened, and will be open between 10am and 4pm from Monday to Friday, on 0191 239 8000/0191 240 8862 and via email [email protected]
A message from our CEO, David Gallagher:
NCFE is actively responding to a cyber security incident after we discovered suspicious activity on our systems. While this remains ongoing, we wanted to make customers and stakeholders aware of this incident at the earliest opportunity.
We immediately took our systems offline as a precautionary measure – and as a result, we are experiencing disruption to our network. As a result of the actions we’ve taken to respond to the incident, our phone lines, live chat and Portal are unavailable, for the time being. We also proactively suspended our email system as a precaution, so NCFE colleagues are currently unable to access and respond to any emails you may have sent to us. We’ll let you know when these services are fully online again.
Our teams, supported by external experts, are making good progress towards the careful restoration of our services, and this work will continue throughout the weekend. The restoration will be a phased process that will start with the return of cloud-based services to colleagues, with the next priority being to bring our customer-facing platforms back online as soon as we can. I am also pleased to share that that our NCFE Customer Support lines have reopened and will be open between 10am and 4pm from Monday to Friday until further notice, please see the ‘Getting in contact’ section in our FAQs below.
Importantly, this will not impact T Level assessments due to take place this week and next week. On-demand Functional Skills assessments can still be booked through Surpass, but paper-based assessments are unavailable, for the time being. Our teams are working to highlight alternative assessment dates, and we’ll be in touch shortly to organise rebooking assessments.
Next steps
I am sorry for any inconvenience or concern this incident may cause. Please rest assured that our team is working around the clock to return operations to normal.
Regarding details of the incident itself, we have launched a comprehensive investigation into what happened. That remains in its early stages, and there are many questions to which we don’t yet have answers. In the meantime, our teams have prepared some answers below to support with initial enquiries but please do keep an eye on this webpage where updates will be regularly posted. If you have an urgent query you can complete the web form on this page for priority customer enquiries on topics such as imminent external assessments, EQA visits and learner registrations.
We remain extremely grateful for your patience and understanding during this time, and we apologise again for the disruption caused. We will continue to keep you updated with any further progress as and when this is made.
Yours sincerely
David Gallagher
Chief Executive
Please use the web form on this page to submit only priority customer enquiries on topics such as imminent external assessments, EQA visits, and learner registrations. Our teams will get back to you as quickly as possible.
FAQs
Assessments, results, registrations and term-time checkpoints
Is my assessment going ahead?
T Level core exam assessments due to take this autumn series will go ahead as planned, both as paper-based assessments and on Surpass.
On-demand Functional Skills assessments can still be booked through Surpass, but we cannot currently accept new paper-based booking.
Upcoming Functional Skills paper-based bookings made prior to Thursday 27 November will be processed from Monday 8 December, with first delivery attempted from Tuesday 9 December.
On-screen dental multiple choice question assessments can still be booked and sat through Surpass as normal.
Can T Level exam papers be returned using the yellow label service?
Yes, so please continue to follow existing guidance for yellow label service returns.
I need to upload evidence for the T Level employer set project, when can I do this?
When our systems are back up and running, you’ll be able to upload your students’ evidence.
Can I claim my learners’ certificates?
Our Portal is unavailable, for the time being, so you’re unable to claim your learners’ certificates at the moment. As soon as our Portal is available again, you'll be able to claim certificates as normal.
Can I still register learners?
Our Portal is unavailable, for the time being, so you’re unable to register learners at the moment. All late registration fees and late assessment booking fees will be waived during this period until the Portal is available.
Will I be able to complete my term-time checkpoint from Monday 8 December when the window opens?
We're delaying the opening of our first term-time checkpoint until Monday 5 January.
Our new window to complete your first term-time checkpoint will be Monday 5 to Friday 30 January 2026. Further information on how to complete your checkpoints will be made available once the window opens.
How can I access the non-exam assessment (NEA)?
Our Portal is unavailable for the time being, so you’re unable to download the live NEA. If you have previously downloaded the draft version of the NEA, this can be used for planning purposes only. The draft NEA must not be shared with learners to sit the assessment. We are working on making the live NEA materials available as soon as possible.
Visits and reviews
I have one or more of the below meetings booked this week - are they still going ahead?
- EQA review
- moderator visit or meeting
- meeting with the Provider Development team
- Teams or in person meeting with my Account Manager
- other meeting with NCFE colleagues
During this period all reviews, meetings and visits are on hold unless we’ve been in touch to confirm otherwise. We’ll contact you to reschedule as soon as we’re able to.
Getting in contact
Can I contact NCFE?
We’re pleased to confirm that our NCFE Customer Support lines have reopened and will be open between 10am and 4pm from Monday to Friday until further notice. Our telephone support is available via 0191 239 8000 and 0191 240 8862, along with our main email addresses: [email protected] and [email protected].
Our colleagues are currently working without access to some key systems, including the NCFE Portal, which means they may only be able to provide general guidance and limited support. Because of this, we kindly ask that you contact us only for priority enquiries, such as imminent external assessments and EQA visits.
Please be assured that our teams are working around the clock to restore full service as quickly and safely as possible.
EPA assessments and results
Will scheduled EPA assessments go ahead?
We’re planning for all assessments to go ahead as scheduled from Monday 8 December. Where this is not possible, we’ll contact your provider’s main point of contact and the learner directly using the details we hold in epaPRO.
Please be assured that rescheduling any cancelled apprentice assessments for the earliest possible date is a priority. We’ve already started to contact apprentices to reschedule their assessments, and this will continue to be a focus for the upcoming weeks.
Any online tests booked using Surpass/Secure Client will still go ahead, but please be aware support from our EPA teams will remain limited while our telephone and email systems remain offline. If you have an urgent query, you can reach our team via a web form on our dedicated service continuity support webpage.
If an assessment is cancelled, will a re-sit fee be charged?
No additional fees will be charged for any assessments that are cancelled and rebooked.
Will there be a delay to results being released?
We have begun releasing results for assessments that took place prior to Thursday 27 November, and these will continue to be issued over the coming week.
Can I register learners and request Gateway on epaPRO?
Yes, you can still access epaPRO to make registrations and request Gateway. Our teams will process your request as soon as possible. We are working our way through Gateway requests so you will start to receive updates for EPA shortly.
What happens if a learner does not submit their evidence because they didn’t receive a reminder during EPA, or if their assessment is rebooked and this moves them outside their EPA window?
Any periods of inactivity caused by our system disruption will be treated as an official pause to the EPA. This means the learner’s EPA timeframe will not be negatively affected, and their EPA period will be adjusted accordingly.
Meetings
I have one or more of the below meetings booked - are they still going ahead?
- Teams meeting with my Relationship Manager/Co-ordinator
- Teams meeting with EPA Sales team
- other meeting with NCFE colleagues
During this period, all meetings are on hold unless we’ve been in touch to confirm otherwise. We’ll contact you to reschedule as soon as we’re able to. In the meantime, if you have an urgent query, you can reach our team via a web form on our dedicated service continuity support page.
Getting in contact
Can I contact NCFE?
Our phone lines and email services are currently unavailable. We’ll let you know when these are fully online again. In the meantime, if you have an urgent query, you can reach our team via a web form on our dedicated service continuity support page.
Meetings
I have one or more of the below meetings booked this week - are they still going ahead?
- Teams meeting with my Relationship Manager/co-ordinator
- Teams meeting with EPA Sales team
- other meeting with NCFE colleagues
During this period all meetings are on hold unless we’ve been in touch to confirm otherwise. We’ll contact you to reschedule as soon as we’re able to.
Skills Assessment
I need support with one of the below Skills Assessment platform queries - what should I do?
- support with a system query
- gaining additional credits for learners due to take an assessment
- Skills Assessment renewal
If you have any urgent questions about our Skills Assessment platform, please fill in our urgent enquiries web form.
Functional Skills
Last week we let you know about the cyber security incident that NCFE is managing, and the impact it is having on results release for Functional Skills qualifications. We are getting in touch today with an update.
As a result of the incident, we reluctantly made the decision to delay the release of results for our newly introduced English and maths Functional Skills qualification assessment papers, which were due for release on Thursday 4 December.
As we took our systems offline as a precaution in response to the cyber security incident, we were unable to fully complete our awarding activity to a level where we could confidently ensure that learners’ results are valid and accurate. We therefore delayed the release of these results until we could complete this process.
We have now been able to complete this process fully for on-screen assessments and will start releasing these results from Wednesday 10 December. Results will be visible within the Surpass platform shortly, as the Portal remains unavailable for now.
We are still working on a solution to award and release results for our paper-based assessments, and we will provide you with a progress update by the end of this week.
Because the Portal is unavailable, we can’t issue certificates right now. If you have learners who urgently require a certificate for progression, please contact us through the web form on our service continuity page and our team will get back to you.
If you have other urgent queries, please continue to use the web form on our service continuity page.
We understand that this delay may have impacted you and your learners, and we’re sorry again for the inconvenience this may have caused.
Kind regards,
Sacha Finkle
Director of Delivery
If you’re not responsible for Functional Skills delivery at your centre please pass this on to the most relevant person.
Which results will I receive, and when?
All onscreen assessment results for English and maths sat from 27 October 2025 which have been on hold will be released.
Results will be available in Surpass, with release starting on Wednesday 10 December. The volume of results that we are releasing means it may be later this week before you see all the results you were expecting.
Where will I see results?
In the results screen in Surpass. Results will be visible in the Portal at a later date.
I can’t see the results I was expecting to receive, where are they?
This could be due to filters within the Surpass screen, so please ensure there are no date filters in place. It could also be because learner results are on hold for malpractice, or because they are between boundaries and further awarding activity is needed. These are normal activities unrelated to the cyber security incident, and our team will be in contact through email to confirm.
My learner has failed. What can I do?
You can book a resit for them in Surpass.
My learner has passed and needs their certificate, what can we do?
Because the Portal is unavailable we can’t issue certificates right now. If you have learners who urgently require a certificate for progression, please contact us through the web form on this page and our team will get back to you.
When will paper-based results be available?
We are still working on a solution to award and release results for our paper-based assessments, and we will provide you with a progress update by the end of this week.
Can I still book an onscreen or remotely invigilated Functional Skills assessment?
Yes, you can still make bookings for English, Maths, and Digital Functional Skills qualifications in Surpass. Please don’t attempt to make a new booking via Surpass for Essential Digital Skills assessments, as any bookings made for this qualification via this platform will be invalid.
I’m waiting on the delivery or dispatch of external assessment papers – when will I receive them?
All existing Functional Skills bookings with assessment dates from Thursday 4 December will have their first delivery attempt on Tuesday 9 December. We understand that some papers will arrive after the planned assessment date, but we wanted to allow centres the opportunity to re-schedule where possible. If you are unable to re-schedule before Friday 19 December, please return the blank papers to NCFE.
My papers have arrived but without personalised learner details, what shall we do?
To allow previous paper based bookings to continue we have printed and dispatched papers without our usual learner personalisation. Please use these papers with your learners as planned, but ensure thorough checks are in place so that the correct learner sits the correct paper intended for them.
For maths assessments you must ensure your learner sits the correct, matched versions of papers A and B and these remain together for return.
You may receive a blank invigilators register, too. If so, please add all details yourself and return to NCFE fully completed.
Will I have to manually cancel any paper-based external assessment bookings that are scheduled beyond Wednesday 3 December?
No, we will ensure that any bookings that do not go ahead are updated and that no fees are applied.
Can I continue delivering my internal assessments?
Yes, for any internal assessments already booked in the Portal your learners can continue to complete these as planned.
Can I view my results in the Portal?
Our Portal is unavailable for the time being, so you’re unable to view your learners’ results in the Portal. You will be able to view results for on-screen assessments in Surpass shortly.
What systems can I access?
You can access Surpass, SecureClient, and the NCFE website.
Can I still access the Portal?
Our Portal is unavailable for the time being. We will provide you with a further update once you are able to access this again.
When will systems be back online?
We’re unable to provide a timeline for this at the moment, but our team is working around the clock to return operations to normal. We will provide you with a further update once we have more information.
Why have results been delayed?
We are currently experiencing severe operational disruption, and a number of our systems are offline and unavailable. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause, and assure you we are working to restore services as soon as possible.
Why is my learner not appearing in Surpass to make a booking?
Learners will only appear in Surpass if a registration has been made in the Portal. If the learner has not been registered, you will not be able to book the learner for their assessment.
It says I can make a booking in Surpass for Essential Digital Skills – can I do this?
No, any bookings made for an Essential Digital Skills qualification in Surpass will not be recognised or logged as an official booking.
Will there be support available if I have issues when sitting an online assessment?
We’re pleased to confirm that our NCFE Customer Support lines have reopened and will be open between 10am and 4pm from Monday to Friday until further notice. Our telephone support is available for Functional Skills via 0191 239 8000, along with our main email address: [email protected]
Our colleagues are currently working without access to some key systems, including the NCFE Portal, which means they may only be able to provide general guidance and limited support. Because of this, we kindly ask that you contact us only for priority enquiries, such as imminent external assessments and EQA visits.
Please be assured that our teams are working around the clock to restore full service as quickly and safely as possible.
If you encounter any issues, you can access troubleshooting information on the Surpass website here. Further guidance on the administration, invigilation and installation of our online assessments can be found on our website here.