Supporting Results Day

Candidate Advice Line August 2014

What is the Candidate Advice Line?

The Candidate Advice Line is a telephone help line set up to provide support and advice for our young learners in the week that they receive their examination results.

Why the Candidate Advice Line?

Results day can be very stressful for candidates, their parents or guardians. Months and months of dedicated hard work and studying culminates in the arrival of the eagerly anticipated brown envelope.

Who are the Candidate Advice Line?

The Candidate Advice Line is resourced by supportive SQA staff, specially trained to help candidates and parents with common enquiries about the layout and content of their certificate as well as provide advice on where to find support and information on the next steps to take if they have not achieved the results that they had hoped for.

Question time?

How many of you are aware that this service is available?

How many calls and e-mails do you think we receive on certification day?

Who do you think we receive the most calls from?

Answers?

The Candidate advice line opens at 8 am on 5th August and runs till 5pm on 8th August

Approximately 2150 calls and 616 e-mails are received on certification day 5th August

We receive calls from Candidates, parents, guardians schools, media, MSP’s and even lawyers!

More Info……..

What time do you think we receive the most calls ?

What do you think are the most common enquiries?

Answers? Peak call times are between 11am and 2pm

Most Common enquiries :1. Candidate has moved house and certificate has gone

to their old address2. Spelling of Candidate’s name is incorrect on

certificate3. Candidate has not received the results they expected

Business as usualThe Customer Service Team provide support for Candidates and Centres throughout the year. Daily they deal with 400 telephone and 370 e-mail enquiries. On certification day the number of enquiries received will increase by approximately 600%!

How can you help us to help you?The most common reason that candidates contact us is because the data we hold is inaccurate for example

Candidate’s name is spelt incorrectly Candidate’s address is incorrect Candidates unaware of the processes for changes in

personal data after the school closes for Summer holidays

How can you help us to help you?You can help us by ensuring that information held in your system matches what is held in SQA’s system ensuring

Candidate’s name is spelt correctly Candidate’s address is current Centre notifies SQA of any changes prior to the school

closing for Summer holidays Inform candidates of timelines for updating personal

data and what to do if it is too late

More ways you can help…. If Candidates and parents were aware:

What support will be available in school on results day Only the school can provide a breakdown of their

results, the Candidate Advice line does not have access to this information

Where to find information regarding procedures for Results Services and Exceptional Circumstances

And only the school can request clerical checks and/or marking reviews

We are unable to help with….. Directly updating candidate’s personal data Providing advice regarding expected results Initiating exceptional circumstances, clerical checks or

marking reviews

We will advise the candidate to contact the school for any of the above enquiries.

We can help with….. Referring candidates to Skills Development Scotland for

impartial careers advice and information on university vacancies and college options.

Providing contact details for UCAS if the candidate has failed to meet the conditions of the offer made by the University

And finally…….. we will listen to our young learners and provide them with

support and advice on certification day.

Further InformationContact details for Candidate Advice Line:

Telephone number 0345 279 1000 E-mail – results@sqa.org.uk

Operational hours: Tuesday 5th and Wednesday 6th August 08:00– 18:00hrs Thursday 7th and Friday 8th August 09:00 – 17:00hrs

www.sqa.org.uk I 0303 333 0330