Level 3 Certificate in Sustainability: Moderation

Non-examined assessment (NEA) unit F228: Sustainability in practice is assessed using an OCR-set assignment, marked by the teacher and moderated via a face-to-face or virtual visit.

There are two moderation windows each academic year. After the first year, each window will be open for about three months.

For 2025/26, moderation window 1 will be open for one month and moderation window 2 three months. In subsequent years, window 1 will open earlier:

2025/26

• Moderation window 1 (Spring): 30 January to 27 February 2026
• Moderation window 2 (Summer): 9 March to 5 June 2026

2026/27 (Provisional)

• Moderation window 1 (Winter): 30 November 2026 to 26 February 2027
• Moderation window 2 (Summer): 8 March to 11 June 2027

• When students are ready for assessment, your exams officer will need to make NEA unit entries for the relevant series – before making NEA unit entries, students must have a registration entry.
• You choose the method of moderation for each series by submitting a visit arrangement form
• The total number of criteria achieved for each unit is the mark, which must be submitted 10 working days before your visit
• You will then receive a sample request. The sample must be uploaded to our Submit for Assessment service 3 working days before your visit
• Verbal feedback will be given on the day of the visit and written feedback will be sent to you shortly after the visit
• Grades will be confirmed and converted to a UMS mark on the set results day for the window

Number of moderation visits

The registration fee entitles you to two visits each academic year for a subject, one in each moderation window.

Make NEA entries

When students are ready for assessment, your exams officer must make NEA unit entries for the relevant series by the entry deadline. Before making NEA unit entries for F228 , students must have a registration entry for the subject.

More information for exams officers can be found at Registrations and Entries.

Submit your visit arrangement form

Teachers must request the date and the format of moderation (visit or virtual visit) via My Cambridge by the deadline for the window. For the first year, the deadline for moderation window 1 is in January, in subsequent years, the deadline will be the NEA unit entry deadline in November:

2025/26

From 2026/27

Submit total marks and receive a sample request

For the Level 3 Certificate in Sustainability, the mark is the number of criteria achieved by the student for unit F228. 

The total number of criteria achieved by each student must be added to the Cambridge OCR Moderation Service at least 10 working days before your moderation visit or virtual visit. This is accessed through 'My Cambridge'.

Once your marks (criteria achieved) have been submitted, you will receive a sample request for six students per unit or all students if you have fewer than six entered for the moderation window for the unit. The earliest you will receive a request is 15 working days before a visit.

Submit criteria level marks for the sample

At least 3 working days before your visit, add the details of the individual criteria achieved (P1,P2 etc) for the six students in the sample to Moderation Service. 

Upload the requested sample and recording documents to Submit for Assessment

Work for the students selected in the sample must be uploaded to our Submit for Assessment service at least 3 working days before your face-to-face or virtual visit. 

The sample must be uploaded for all visits to ensure we can carry out the same quality assurance for all visits.

When uploading the work for the students in the sample, you must upload your recording documents showing the criteria level marks for the whole cohort to Submit for Assessment. This could be the Cambridge OCR unit recording sheets (URS) if you have used them or your own centre-devised recording documents.

Submit for Assessment is accessed via our single sign-on service, My Cambridge. This is the same service we use for GCSE, A Level and Level 1/Level 2 Cambridge Nationals uploads.

Moderation takes place

If you have requested a virtual visit, this will be conducted via Microsoft Teams.

During the moderation visit, the moderator will review the submitted samples of work and provide verbal feedback.

Feedback and quality assurance

In addition to the provisional verbal feedback provided on the day of the visit, a written feedback report will be added to the Moderation Service approximately ten days after your visit following completion of our internal quality assurance checks.

If there are issues identified with the marking of any criteria, this will be highlighted during your visit. 

If there are several issues identified, there will be an opportunity for you to revisit your marking of these criteria before final results are issued for this moderation – but not to improve student work. Some additional moderator checks will be carried out and your moderator will support you with this process. More information can be found on our Additional Moderation FAQ page.

Results, grades and UMS

Centres will already know the outcome of moderation following their visit and any adjustments made during the quality assurance process.

Grades are released to centres on a set results day for the moderation window the day before they can be given to candidates. This is known as 'restricted results day'.

To calculate the grade, marks (total number of criteria achieved) are converted to a mark on a 'uniform mark scale' (UMS).

Details of the number of criteria and UMS marks available for each unit can be found in section 6.4 (Grading and awarding grades) of the specification.

Certificates

Unit certificates can be provided on request. These are not issued automatically.

In order to receive a qualification certificate, a certification entry for H082 (also known as 'cashing-in') must be made in the students' final series. Certificates are issued about eight weeks after results are issued for the series.