How to make entries

Making entries is an essential part of the Exams Officer’s role and depending on the centre requirements, this can take place multiple times a year.

It is crucial that you have a system in place to check with each department lead before submitting any entries, so your learners sit the correct exams, and it’s best practice to keep a record of this information.

You can make entries using EDI while following your MIS guidelines or you can make entries using Centre Services, but you must pick one system - you cannot use both methods for making entries or amendments.

After you’ve submitted your file via A2C, check Centre Services to confirm we’ve received it by clicking on the Pre-exams tab, then Entries, then Entries reports.

Please try to avoid sending more than one file a week if you’re making any amendments to your entries, as this can cause a delay if there are any errors within the files. All files are queued so sending a new file will not override or fix the first one.

Common errors are generally related to the learner details, which delays the processing of entry and amendment files. Please ensure the following are correct before sending your files, as errors need to be fixed manually so delay the processing of the entire file:

• Learner Name. Use full legal names where possible.
• UCI. Using the learner’s original UCI means there should not be any UCI matching errors if the learner has been entered for qualifications with us before. It is likely learner’s original UCIs have been allocated to them at secondary school. Getting the UCI right at this stage can also reduce the risk of issues when importing results on results day.
• Tier of entry. Only enter a learner for one tier where a tier of entry is needed for a subject. If there is doubt over which tier a learner will take, this can be changed free of charge before the amendment deadline.
• Specifications. Only enter a learner for one option per subject, such as 7041AA for History. You can change the option before the amendment deadline free of charge. Please also avoid entering your learners for prohibited combinations such as GCSE Combined Science: Trilogy with GCSE Combined Science: Synergy, as this will also flag as an error within your file.
• Unique naming of EDI files. To avoid files that you have sent via A2C being received as a duplicate file, make sure your files have unique file extensions. The extension is the two digit number after the X in the file name. For instance, if the last file you sent was .X01 name the next one .X02, .X03 and so on.

You could print out our handy guidance to make sure your entries are right first time Entries Quick Guide.

The entry deadline for the Summer 2026 series is 21 February 2026. Please send your file(s) by this date to avoid being charged late fees. The amendment deadline is 21 April 2026. You can find exams series guides, entry codes and much more information on making entries on our entries webpage and in our monthly Exams Officer update email for January. Our How to make entries flowchart is an excellent place to start.