To make online claims for Cambridge Technicals via Interchange, see our step-by-step guide below or watch this video. For help getting started with Interchange, please see our Interchange page .

To get started, log in to Interchange, hover over Cambridge Technicals in the left-hand menu and then click on ‘Make claims’.

You will then be able to see a list of the Cambridge Technicals qualifications for which you can make a claim.

If you cannot see this area, check with your Centre Administrator that you have the correct Interchange role – you need either the ‘Centre Administrator’ or the ‘Tutor/Teacher’ role

You can search for your qualification by entering the entry code, title or part title in the find assessment area. Select the qualification and click ‘Create’ next to the qualification title. Then select ‘By Candidate’ or ‘By Unit’ to start building your claim.

If you have selected the ‘By Candidate’ option, you’ll build your claim by selecting individual candidates. This is useful when claiming multiple or all units for a particular candidate.

If you have selected the ‘By Unit’ option, you’ll build a claim by choosing units for the qualification. This is useful if one teacher is responsible for a unit or subject area and wants to build a unit claim, for example, per term.

It is possible to build claims over time using both the ‘By Candidate’ and ‘By Unit’ methods for the same claim.

You can build your claim over a period of time. If you've started one but you've not submitted it, you'll be able to edit it either by candidate or by unit. You can only start a new claim if you've submitted all previous claims for that qualification.

Centre assessors are members of the centre staff who will be marking the assessment and they’re not to be confused with the OCR moderator.

The first time you create a claim for each qualification, you will need to set up your centre assessors.

To do that, type the centre assessor’s full name followed by their initials in the boxes provided. Up to four initials will be accepted and these should be unique within your centre. Alternatively, if your centre uses teacher codes rather than initials, you can use those.

Make sure you set up your new centre assessors for each qualification before you start building the claim.

Any number of centre assessors can build a claim, but only one of them should submit it.

You can make a claim by candidate. To do that, you need to add candidates to your claim and add unit grades.

Adding candidates to your claim

Click on ‘Create’ and then ‘By Candidate’ next to a qualification title to see a list of all eligible candidates.

Then, click on ‘Create new’ next to the candidate’s name. You will see either all the available units for the qualification or, if you made unit entries (2012 suite only), all the units the candidate is entered for.

If you have only entered one centre assessor, you will see the assessor name pre-populated for every unit.

If you have multiple candidates listed, you can sort the results by clicking on the column headings: Candidate name, OCR candidate number, Date of birth or Action.

Adding unit grades

To add a unit grade, select the centre assessor from the dropdown list and then click the radio button in the ‘P’ (Pass), ‘M’ (Merit) or ‘D’ (Distinction) column for each unit you wish to claim for that candidate. You must not claim a ‘U’ (Unclassified) grade – this column is for moderator use only.

Repeat this process for each candidate, making sure you click on ‘Save claim’ each time.

You can add the grades for some or all of the units required to achieve the full qualification. If you only add some grades at this stage, you can return to the claim and continue to add the remaining grades to the claim as they are achieved before submitting the claim.

The radio buttons automatically default to ‘Not claiming’ until you enter the candidate's grade.

You can make a claim by unit. To do that, you need to select units and add candidates to a claim.

Selecting units

Click on ‘Create’ and then ‘By Unit’ next to a qualification title to see a list of all eligible units. To build a claim by unit, click on ‘Create new’ next to the unit title.

Once you have started to build a claim and have saved it, the action will change to ‘Edit’.

Adding candidates to a claim

On the next page you will see a list of all candidates with a qualification entry (registration). To add a grade for a candidate, click the radio button in the ‘P’ (Pass), ‘M’ (Merit), or ‘D’ (Distinction) column for each candidate. Remember, you must not claim a ‘U’ (Unclassified) grade as this column is for moderator use only.

Select the centre assessor for each candidate (you can select different assessors for different candidates) and make sure you click on ‘Save claim’ each time you update a candidate's record. Repeat this process for each unit.

When selecting grades and/or centre assessors, you can see the ‘Apply to all’ option message appear. This allows you to apply the grade/centre assessor selection to all candidates below your currently selected candidate on the page. This will not apply to any candidates above the candidate you have selected or to any other candidates appearing on another page.

For some 2012 suite Cambridge Technicals qualifications, it is possible to use units achieved with another awarding body to contribute to an OCR award. These qualifications are:

• Business Levels 2 and 3
• Health and Social Care Levels 2 and 3
• IT Levels 2 and 3
• Performing Arts Levels 2 and 3
• Sport Levels 2 and 3

To use units achieved with another awarding body for these qualifications, click on ‘Add units from another awarding body’, select the unit and a centre assessor then enter the name of the awarding body and click on ‘Add’. Enter the grade for each unit and click on ‘Save claim’. When you have finished adding units, click on ‘Done’ to return to the claims page.

For units issued by another awarding body, you must send evidence of the achievement (for example, a copy of the certificate or results slip) to your OCR moderator.

You can go back later to amend or add to a claim before submitting it. You can access the claim by hovering over ‘Cambridge Technicals claims’ in the left-hand menu and clicking on ‘Make claims’.

Search for the qualification, click on ‘Edit’ next to the claim then select either ‘By Unit’ or ‘By Candidate’ to view the claim.

Click on a candidate name to edit their claim and make sure you save the claim whenever you make any changes. If you cancel or do not save a specific candidate claim, all the details you have entered will be removed.

You can only make changes before submitting the claim.

Removing a unit from a claim

If you want to remove a unit from a claim, find the claim and then click on ‘Edit’ and ‘By Unit’. Then, select the unit from the list where you want it to be removed. Select the ‘Not claiming’ radio button for the first candidates in the list, then click the ‘Apply to all’ option to remove the unit for all candidates. Remember to click on ‘Save claim’ to save your changes.

Removing a candidate from a claim

If you want to remove a candidate from a claim, find the claim by hovering over ‘View claim history’ in the left-hand menu under Cambridge Technicals. Click on ‘Edit’ and ‘By Candidate’. Then, select the candidate you want to remove from the claim by clicking on the candidate’s name.

Click on the radio button in the ‘Not claiming’ column for all units and click on ‘Save claim’.

Removing a unit from a candidate’s claim

If you want to remove a unit from a candidate’s claim, find the claim by hovering over ‘View claim history’ in the left-hand menu under 'Cambridge Technicals'. Click on ‘Edit’ and ‘By Candidate’. Next, select the candidate you’d like to remove a unit for by clicking on the candidate’s name. Click on the radio button in the ‘Not claiming’ column for the relevant unit and click on ‘Save claim’

To submit a claim, you must obtain signed candidate declarations to authenticate the work of all the candidates submitted on the claim. Once you have all the candidates’ declarations, you can tick the centre declaration box.

You won’t be able to submit your claim before the centre declaration box is ticked because the ‘Submit to assessor’ button is disabled until then.

Please retain the signed candidate declarations, after submitting your claim.

When you click on ‘Submit to assessor’, a warning message will appear prompting you to confirm that you want to submit the claim. Only click ‘yes’ if you are ready as, after this point, you will not be able to edit it.

When you have included all the relevant candidate achievements, you can submit a claim from the ‘View claim history’ option on the claim.

Before submitting a claim:

• make sure you have checked and amended it as you won’t be able to do so after submission
• check that the email address shown for you is correct (Use a generic email address, in case you’re not available, eg exams@school.co.uk or sciencedept@centre.org)

You can also export your claim as a CSV file for your records.

If you want to send the results of your claims to a different email address from your Interchange profile, enter the new email address when submitting your claim.

Once you have submitted your claim, your OCR moderator will receive an email telling them your claim is ready for sampling. They will then log in to Interchange and select a sample from the claim.

When they have selected the sample, you will receive an email from Interchange telling you the sample is ready to view. This email will be sent to the email address you supplied when submitting the claim.

To view the selected sample, hover over ’Cambridge Technicals’ in the left-hand menu and click on ‘View claim history’. Click on ‘View’ next to the claim that has been sampled (indicated by the ‘Sampled’ message in the Status column). All the units/candidates that the OCR moderator wishes to sample are indicated with a green tick. You must ensure that this work is available at the moderation visit.

After the moderation visit, the OCR moderator will submit the claims as agreed with you at the visit. You will then receive an email from Interchange, confirming that the claim has been completed.

You can see the claim you are making at each stage of the process as well as after certification.

To view the claim status, hover over ‘Cambridge Technicals’ in the left-hand menu and then click on ‘View claim history’. Your most recent claim should be at the top of the list. You can also filter by qualification and order the columns alphabetically by clicking on the column headings.

At each stage of the process, the claim will show a different status:

You can check the whole claim or export the claim for your own records. The claim will stay available on Interchange for 12 months.

The claim number is generated when you submit the claim. The reference is generated once the OCR moderator has submitted the claim to OCR.

If you want to print a claim which includes a lot of different units, we recommend the following:

• 16–30 different units claimed – Set your printer to landscape to ensure your printed version matches the screen.
• 30+ units – Export your claim, as all units claimed may not show on the printed version.

If you have any queries about how to submit a claim, please contact our Customer Support Centre on 01223 553998 or email at support@ocr.org.uk.

Please quote your centre number, entry code and claim number in all communications.