Make entries with EDI and basedata

Find out how to use Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and basedata to enter students for exams.

How the process works

EDI is the process of setting up your school or college's Management Information System (MIS) so that it can receive and send your entries in the right format.

We will provide you with a basedata file for a series. This file will contain all the information that you need to make entries for each student. It will also give you details about the specification, such as timetables and fees.

You can import basedata straight into your MIS. If you need guidance on using your MIS, you will need to contact your MIS provider.

You can then set up and use JCQ's A2C Transport Application and send us the entry data. Use A2C's FAQs to help you.

The basedata files conform to version 14 of JCQ's formats for the exchange of exam related data, which uses the common JCQ data format.

Set up your MIS

To submit your entries through EDI, you'll need to take the following steps.

Download basedata

Our entries page shows the dates when we will update this page with basedata for each series.

We can only include one discount (or classification) code per award in our basedata.

Basedata 2023/24

Each entry option and a small number of component codes within our basedata have a gradeset code. This code identifies the grades that are available for that entry/component. The spreadsheet of gradeset codes for all awarding bodies is published by JCQ.

Older series are on our basedata archive page.

Time allowed set to zero

Some exam papers have been split into multiple components (eg section A is a component and section B is a component, but sections A and B are designed to be taken as one exam in a single exam slot).

As in the JCQ formats we’ve set the time allowed for these components as ‘000’.

Students can spend as much time as they want to on each component within the overall exam.