Frequently Asked Questions

The term 'Minerva' is used to define the project that sits within the overall Diploma programme.  The Minerva Project will deliver the 'Diploma aggregation service'.

The NAA is an internal supplier to the QCA. NAA ‘School and Centre Support’ (NAA, SCS) has been commissioned to deliver readiness and implementation training and support to all centres that will use the Diploma aggregation service from September 2008.

Centres should continue to raise questions via NAA SCS.  Awarding bodies and other organisations involved in offering Diplomas are invited to use the feedback facility available on this website or email the Project at MinervaFeedback@steria.co.uk.

The aggregation service is a system and service being developed by the QCA to support the awarding of Diplomas.  Diplomas are component based qualifications which require data sharing across centres and awarding bodies.  The service will facilitate this data sharing and the aggregation of component results to enable the award of Diplomas.  Users will access this service either via the internet (using a web browser) or via an existing internal or MIS provider system (where a system-system interface has been established with the Diploma aggregation service).

There will be a phased roll out of the service (including the use of the Unique Learner Number - ULN) to centres and awarding bodies, beginning with those delivering Diplomas from September 2008.

Users will access this service either via the internet (using a web browser) or via an existing internal or MIS provider system (where a system-system interface has been established with the Diploma aggregation service).

Learner Administrators will be able to begin using the service to open Learner Accounts for Diploma learners from July 2008.  The full service for recording learner achievements and triggering a Diploma award will be available from September 2008.

Because the Diploma is a new qualification there is, by default, new administration activity for centres to carry out to open and manage learner accounts.  The benefit of the service is that is offers a single, central electronic system for administering Diplomas so that;

• Component achievements for a Diploma (including qualification results, the completion of work experience and the achievement of Personal Learning and Thinking Skills) can be recorded on one system
• Aggregation of results and the check for a match to Diploma rules of combination is automatic, thereby reducing the possibility of human error and speeding up the award process
• An intention to claim can be recorded on behalf of the learner in advance of results being received, to alleviate the administrative burden of processing claims during the summer series results period

The service will use the Unique Learner Number (ULN) being rolled out by MIAP.  This is because the ULN is the only identifier which has the required characteristics and enables a learner to be uniquely identified across the sector, in order to attribute qualifications accurately.  From September 2008 every learner undertaking a Diploma will require a ULN.

Yes, the Diploma aggregation service will be a supported service.  The Diploma aggregation service will be managed by the QCA Service Management function, supported by Steria who will maintain a second-line Service Desk providing technical and functional support to:

• Component Awarding Bodies (CABs) 
• Diploma Awarding Bodies (DABs) 
• NAA School and Centre Support 
• MIS Providers 
• System Users (eg LRS)

Centres themselves will not directly access the Steria Service Desk but will interact with DABs, NAA School & Centre Support and MIS Providers in line with current practice.  These organisations will resolve any local IT issues and business process queries before passing on any remaining technical or functional queries to Steria for resolution.
 

A technical interface specification will be made available to any MIS provider (whether commercial or in-house) who wants to offer Diploma-related functionality.  In this case, users will see their MIS, with the service linking in behind the scenes.

Yes.  NAA School and Centre Support (SCS) will be providing training to centres in various formats, including classroom-based training and e-learning.  Steria is providing ‘train the trainer’ training to other users.

No. Primarily this is a 14-19 qualification and the policy decision is that centres have a 'duty of care' responsibility to learners. This means that centres must access learner accounts on behalf of the learner.  However a centre can print out a copy of the learner account and give this to the learner.

The aggregation service will recognise centres (rather than consortia) that have been Gateway approved so there is no impact from a service perspective.  Where there may be an impact is on the centre itself if, for example, that centre is part of two consortia which operate very differently in terms of consortia working arrangements.  This could add administrative complexity, although NAA School and Centre Support (SCS) are already working with consortia to identify and resolve such issues as early as possible.

In order to set up a learner account using the aggregation service, the learner must have a ULN.  Although MIAP specifies that ULN’s are for 14 year olds and above there is nothing to prevent a school registering a child on the MIAP Learner Registration Service (LRS) at a younger age, at which point they will get a ULN.