Working to meet deadlines for submitting non-exam assessment/internally marked units

Submitting marks and preparing candidate work for deadlines can be time-consuming for both teachers and exams officers but it’s vital you submit marks and work by the deadlines so we can carry out your moderation and issue results on time. If you don’t submit marks or work by the deadlines, this may be investigated as maladministration, so here’s some key information to support your planning.

New free training material

To support your understanding of the OCR moderation processes for internally assessed qualifications, we have developed new online training resources for teachers. This training will give you the skills and confidence you need to mark and submit your students’ work successfully. You can register for this training now at train.ocr.org.uk

When is my mark submission deadline?

• 31 March – Cambridge Nationals visiting moderation (Creative iMedia, Health and Social Care, Sport Science, Sport Studies)
• 31 March – AS and A Level and GCSE Physical Education
• 15 May – All other qualifications
• 31 May – AS and A Level Art and Design

Submission dates do vary. Make sure you know the date for your subject!

If you miss the visiting moderation mark submission deadline, we will ask you to amend your entries to submit via postal moderation or the OCR Repository.

When does candidate work need to be submitted?

Your exams officer will receive a sample request via email within one to two days of submitting your marks. You then have 3 working days to send the work to the OCR moderator – either by uploading it to the OCR Repository or sending by post. It is your centre’s responsibility to make sure this happens so do keep in touch with your exams officer.

Top tips

• All of your candidate work is ready to send you submit your marks
• All work is clearly labelled and all electronic links work
• You are submitting the correct forms and cover sheets
• If sending by post:
  • You use the delivery address shown on the sample request (unless we tell you not to)
  • There is a return address on the back of the packet

What happens if we can’t meet a deadline?

Although deadlines are important, we understand the unexpected can happen. If you think you may miss the mark submission deadline due to exceptional circumstances, you must let us know to avoid risk of a malpractice investigation. You can do this by submitting a special consideration request.

Check list

• Submission deadline – put the date in your calendar now!
• Work backwards putting in milestones required to hit the deadline. Here is a suggested timeline. Remember, you can submit marks earlier than the deadline if you’re ready
  • 4–5 weeks before deadline – deadline for final submission of work from your students
  • 3–4 weeks before – hold an internal standardisation meeting to check marking accuracy and rank order of your cohort
  • 3 weeks before – share marks with candidates, allowing 2 weeks for reviews
  • 5 days before – check the candidate work is ready for submission
  • 5 days before – check the required paperwork is prepared (centre and candidate authentication, cover sheets, record forms, etc)
  • 5 days before – final internal standardisation meeting to agree marks to be submitted
  • 2 days before – aim to have everything ready and, if ready, submit
  • Deadline day – submit marks via Interchange or via EDI – your exams officer may help you with this
  • Mark submission + 1 – sample request emailed to your exams officer
  • Sample request received – check all submission materials to be sent in and take copies to be retained in the centre
  • Sample request + 3 – send all requested candidates’ work to OCR

For more information about submitting marks and work, take a look at the administration pages.

If you have any queries about this update please call our Customer Support Centre on 01223 553998 or email general.qualifications@ocr.org.uk.