The assessment cycle and glossary of terms

The assessment cycle

Entries/registration
Schools/colleges register students or make entries for assessments
Take assessment
Students carry out internal assessment or take examinations
Centre marking
Schools/colleges mark the internal assessment and conduct internal standardisation
Marks submission
Schools/colleges submit the marks/grades to awarding organisations

External assessment/quality assurance
Awarding organisations mark assessments, moderate or verify internal assessments and marks
Cash-in/claim
Centres inform the awarding organisation that a student requires units to be aggregated to produce an overall outcome
Results issued
The awarding organisation will issue results and certificates
Post-results services
Schools/colleges can query results and seek a review

General qualifications / Vocational and Technical Qualifications

General Qualifications (GQ)	Vocational and Technical Qualifications (VTQ)
General qualifications such as GCSEs and A Levels are ‘linear’¹. Most examinations are externally assessed.	Vocational qualifications have a range of different structures and models. For example, some are ‘modular’ or ‘unitised’, others are linear. Assessments can be a mixture of internal assessments and external assessments.
Assessment takes place at one point, which is at the end of a student’s course.	For ‘modular’ qualifications, assessments are taken over the course of their programme of study, after each module is completed. For linear qualifications, all assessments are taken at the end of the student’s course.
Students receive an overall qualification grade.	Students receive an overall qualification grade.
Results are mainly issued in August.	Results are mainly issued in the summer for students progressing to university or employment. However, for some, vocational qualifications, results can be issued throughout the year when students have achieved enough units.

In England all General Qualifications are linear, however modular qualifications are available in other jurisdictions. The table outlines the process for linear qualifications. ↩︎

Glossary of terms

The table below details some key terms used when communicating with centres regarding level 1/2 and level 3 qualifications.

Term	Definition
Student	An individual who is enrolled in a centre for a specific qualification. They may also be referred to as a learner and/or candidate within specific awarding organisation communication.
Registration	The process by which centres inform the awarding organisation of the students on a specific learning pathway / programme.
Entry	The process by which a centre notifies an awarding organisation that a student intends to take an assessment. May also be referred to as a booking.
Assessment	The process of evaluating a student’s learning, skills, knowledge and understanding. In terms of vocationally related qualifications, this may include an evaluation of the student’s occupational competence and vocationally related achievement. This can also be referred to as an examination.
Claim / Cash-in	The process by which a centre informs the awarding organisation that a student has completed all units in a qualification and requires the awarding organisation to aggregate the student’s unit results to obtain an overall qualification outcome. This may also be referred to as cashing in, claiming or certificate / certification. N.B. Not all qualifications require centres to cash in or claim a qualification result. Exams Officers should refer to individual qualification specifications for information on specific qualification awarding processes.
Moderation	The process of verifying that assessment standards have been applied correctly and consistently between assessors, between centres and over time. This process may also involve making adjustments to marks where required, to compensate for any differences in the standards that are encountered.
External Quality Assurance	The process by which the awarding organisation ensures that assessment and internal quality assurance activities have been conducted by the centre in a consistent, safe and fair manner. External Quality Assurance is carried out by External Quality Assurers appointed by the Awarding Organisation.
Unit results	The result issued to a student following completion of an individual assessment unit. This may also be referred to as a component result or assessment result.
Qualification result	The result issued to a student once they have completed a qualification. This can also be referred to as certification or outcome.
Key dates	Important Awarding Organisation’s dates (timescales and deadlines) by which specific actions must be completed and deliverables achieved. Please refer to individual awarding organisation websites for more information.
Senior designated contact	A senior leader within a centre who has the authority to access information and take key decisions outside of term time as required.
Term-time check (before the main exam begins)	A formal check conducted by the awarding organisation with its centres. The term-time check seeks to ensure the awarding organisation has increased visibility of students’ taking assessments in a particular series (e.g. summer) and those expecting a qualification result following the series, to facilitate their progression.