A message from our CEO, David Gallagher:

NCFE is actively responding to a cyber security incident after we discovered suspicious activity on our systems late last week. 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. Our teams, supported by external experts, are working hard to get our systems back up and running as soon as possible.

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.

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. All face-to-face and remote assessments for end-point assessment for week commencing Monday 1 December will be cancelled and rescheduled. 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.

Once again I apologise for the inconvenience, thank you for your support and patience as we respond to this incident.

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 assessments due to take place this week will go ahead as planned.

On-demand Functional Skills assessments can still be booked through Surpass, but paper-based assessments are unavailable, for the time being.

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.

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?

Our phone lines, email and live chat services are currently unavailable, for the time being, as well as the access to the Portal. We’ll let you know when these are fully online again. We appreciate you may have urgent queries that require a response so please complete the web form where you can submit priority customer enquiries on topics such as imminent external assessments, EQA reviews and learner registrations.

EPA assessments and results

Will scheduled EPA assessments go ahead?

All face to face and remote assessments for week commencing Monday 1 December will be cancelled and rescheduled. Our teams will be contacting all apprentices and providers to confirm the assessments that will be cancelled. We are also working to highlight alternative assessment dates and we’ll be in touch shortly to organise rebooking assessments.

Any online tests booked using Surpass/Secure Client will still go ahead, but please be aware our EPA teams will be unable to support at this time with any queries or technical issues.

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?

Yes, there will be a short delay to release of results. We’ll release all pending results as soon as possible.

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.

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 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

Due to the ongoing cyber security incident that NCFE is experiencing, we wanted to provide you with an update on results release for Functional Skills qualifications.

We have reluctantly made the decision to delay the release of results for our newly introduced English and maths Functional Skills qualification assessment papers, which we had planned to release this week. 

Why will results be delayed?

Back in July, we announced that our standard six working-day turnaround of results would be briefly suspended while we introduced new papers to our paper bank for English and maths. This covered assessments that learners were due to complete between 17 October and 27 November and applied to both paper-based and online assessments (including remote invigilation). This is our standard approach when introducing new assessment papers, as it allows for a full awarding activity to take place and to set pass marks for new papers. 

Once awarding had been completed, our plan was to release all results from that period on Thursday 4 December. 

However, the ongoing cyber security incident means that we have been unable to fully complete our awarding activity to a level where we can confidently ensure that learners’ results are valid and accurate. We therefore need to delay the release of these results until we can confidently complete this process. 

We understand that this will impact you and your learners, and we’re sorry for the inconvenience and concern this may cause. Our teams, supported by external experts, are working around the clock to return our operations to normal as soon as possible, after which we can release your learners’ results. 

Please read the information below on specific assessments and subject areas.

Assessment availability

You can still book and sit on-screen and remote invigilation assessments via Surpass, but we’ve temporarily suspended all paper-based assessments until further notice. We’re unable to dispatch any paper-based assessments for existing bookings with an assessment date of Thursday 4 December onwards.

Please note that although you can continue to deliver on-screen assessments, we are unable to release results within our six working-day turnaround until further notice. 

Digital Functional Skills 

We’ll continue to release results for our Digital Functional Skills qualifications within our standard six working-day turnaround, but these will only be available to view within Surpass. You won’t be able to view results in the Portal. Certificates for these results will not be produced or dispatched until further notice.

Essential Digital Skills 

If you have already booked an Essential Digital Skills assessment, your learner(s) can sit this in Surpass as planned. You can use Surpass to complete your internal marking and IQA process. Please note these marks are provisional and will need to be signed off by your External Quality Assurer (EQA). 

Our Portal is unavailable for the time being, so you are unable to book further assessments or make certificate claims for your learners.

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.

Regardless of your direct claims status, certificates for these results will not be automatically generated or dispatched, and you are unable to claim certificates until further notice.

Internally-assessed Entry Level English and maths assessments

If you have already booked an internally-assessed English or maths Functional Skills assessment and have downloaded the assessment materials, the learner can sit the assessment as planned. You may then complete your internal marking and internal quality assurance (IQA) process. 

Our Portal is unavailable for the time being, so you are unable to book further assessments, access assessment materials, or make certificate claims for your learners.

If you were due to have an external quality assurance review this week, please note that 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.

Further support

I am sorry for any inconvenience or concern this incident may cause. Please rest assured that our teams, supported by external experts, are working hard to get our systems back up and running as soon as possible. We will provide you with a further update at the beginning of next week.

If you believe your learners will be adversely impacted by this delay, please complete our web form, on this page, so that our team can review your query. 

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.

When will I receive my Functional Skills results?

The ongoing cyber security incident means that we have been unable to fully complete our awarding activity to a level where we can confidently ensure that learners’ results are valid and accurate. We therefore need to delay the release of these results until we can confidently complete this process.

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 be able to provide you with a further update at the beginning of next week with the new timeframe.

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?

You’ll only receive assessment papers with an assessment booking date up to Wednesday 3 December. Any bookings from Thursday 4 December onwards will not be dispatched. 

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.

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?

Our phone lines and live chat services are currently unavailable for the time being, as well as access to the Portal. We’ll let you know when these are fully online again. We appreciate that you may have urgent queries that require a response, so please complete the web form on this webpage where you can submit priority customer enquiries on topics such as imminent assessments. 

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.