The following is a summary of the key administrative processes of the new Diploma qualifications. For more guidance, see the Diploma Admin Guide below.

Please note that this Guide will be updated with additional information over the coming months.

• Administrative Guide for Diplomas (Draft) (PDF, 2 Mb)

Please see the timetables and key dates page for a calendar of key Diploma dates.

View frequently asked questions about Diplomas

Starting out

For each Diploma learner that you have enrolled at your centre, you should obtain a Unique Learner Number (ULN) from the Learner Registration Service.

This unique 10-digit number will enable the Diploma component results to be linked together for Diploma certification.

For more information, and to generate or check an existing ULN, please refer to the Learner Registration Service.

Component arrangements

Diplomas are made up of a number of parts or components, e.g. Principal Learning and Project qualifications. Most Diploma components are standalone qualifications and, apart from ensuring that a valid ULN is included with the entry/registration, there are no major differences to the standard OCR administrative processes.

Any centre within the consortium can make entries/register learners; however, the centre that makes the entries is responsible for submitting marks, applying for special consideration and receiving results, etc.

Guidance for the Principal Learning and Project qualifications can be found in the following guides:

• OCR administrative guide 2009 – 14-19 Qualifications (PDF, 1.3 Mb)
• Entry Codes 2009 – 14-19 Qualifications (PDF, 4.4 Mb)

For guidance on other components, such as OCR Nationals or Functional Skills, see the individual administrative guides.

Prior Achievement

Learners are able to include qualifications taken from as far back as January 2005 as part of their Diploma. Qualifications achieved before the learner account (see below) is opened are known as Prior Achievement.

Please refer to the Diploma catalogues for details of which qualifications can count towards a particular Diploma.

To be credited to a learner account, please complete a prior achievement form (Excel, 32 Kb) and email it to priorachievement@ocr.org.uk

Diploma arrangements

Before starting to administer the Diploma, you should ensure that someone from your centre has attended the NAA Diploma aggregation service training or received a visit from an NAA Centre Support Officer. To arrange a visit, contact the NAA.

You need to register with the Diploma aggregation service and set up OCR as one your Diploma awarding bodies.

You should open a learner account for each Diploma learner. At this point, you may wish to register OCR as their DAB. This is free of charge and will enable us to provide detailed support to centres for these learners.

As long as there is a learner account and a valid ULN, learners' component results will be sent automatically to their learner account by the component awarding bodies.

To claim a Diploma for your learners, you can use the Diploma aggregation service to:

• Either make an intention to claim (ITC) before the component results are available – As soon as a valid combination of results is received, the Diploma aggregation service will send a Diploma claim and trial grade to OCR automatically.
• Or, claim the Diploma manually once all the component results have been issued.

Once OCR receives your claim from the Das, we will make Diploma grades available on OCR Interchange. OCR will then issue a certificate and a Diploma transcript.