National Centre Number Register

OCR manages the National Centre Number (NCN) Register on behalf of the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ).

The NCN Register holds the official details for exam centres in England. Awarding organisations use this information to maintain accurate centre records within their internal systems. It is important that the information held for your centre is correct, as it supports the delivery and regulation of examinations.

Information from the NCN Register is shared with the Standards and Testing Agency (STA) to support the operation of the Yellow Label Service in England.

NCN data is also supplied to the LEAP/SERAP Office, based at the University of Bath. This office is responsible for collating information on exam centres and results for the Department for Education (DfE). For this reason, it is essential that your centre’s details are accurate and kept up to date.

What is the annual update?

To ensure the information held on the NCN Register remains accurate, centres are required to complete an annual update.

The annual update is issued by email to centres at the beginning of October and must be completed by 31 October. The update asks you to review and confirm key details about your centre, including contact information and operational arrangements.

Completing the annual update helps ensure that awarding organisations and education bodies are working with the correct information and that national services linked to examination delivery can operate smoothly.

For further guidance on what to expect and how to prepare, see NCN annual update.