Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency

Last updated: 03 November 2009

You must be recognised by Ofqual as a component awarding body (CAB) or a Diploma awarding body (DAB) to use the Diploma aggregation service (DAS).  The following information is relevant to awarding bodies who may not yet be a recognised CAB or DAB but who wish to know more about using DAS. 

Introduction
If you are a CAB you will use DAS to post constituent qualification results.  If you are a DAB you will use DAS to verify and make Diploma awards.

DAS requires centres and awarding bodies to share information through a single system.  All users must  sign up to legal and operational agreements to become authorised users of the service. These agreements are designed to protect your own commercial interests and also the interests of the Diploma learner and other parties involved in developing and supporting the service. For awarding bodies this includes:

• Participation Agreement: this is essentially a non-disclosure agreement and a prerequisite for gaining access to detailed system documentation, including the functional specification and the Application Programming Interface (API) guide.
  
• Testing and Operating Agreement:  this details the expectations and obligations on awarding bodies to demonstrate adequate testing of their systems and business processes associated with using DAS. The agreement also sets out the terms and conditions for using DAS and obligations on awarding bodies for meeting the needs of all parties involved in Diploma administration, in particular the Diploma learner, that are required to become an authorised user of the service. The Testing and Operating Agreement, combining the testing agreement and the legal agreement, is now available to Wave 2 and Wave 3 DABs and CABs.

Both these documents can be requested from DAS_Service_Management_Team@qcda.gov.uk.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs) relating to the agreements can be found to the right of this page.

Using the Diploma aggregation service
There are two methods by which you can access and use DAS:

• Manually, via a web browser (information is input as a single entry or through the upload/download of a batch file)
• Via a direct interface with your existing MI systems using an Applications Programming Interface (API)

The DAS application is designed to work with most of the popular web browsers, including:

• Internet Explorer 6.0 and 7.0
• Netscape 8.0
• Firefox 1.5 (also tested on Firefox 2.0 on Microsoft Windows XP SP2)
• Opera
• Safari

DABs must use the API, whereas for CABs this is optional. Where an awarding body is using the API, they will also use the web browser facility as a back up. Further information on each option is provided below. 

• Using the web browser service: the way in which you use the web browser service will depend on the amount of information you need to pass to DAS at any one time. The more information you have, the more likely you are to want to process it in one go, which will involve preparing batch files. Batch file definitions, which explain the required format, are provided to support you. 
  
• Using the API: if you are considering establishing a direct interface between your MIS and DAS, then your technical team will need to review our API Guide. This explains how the API for the aggregation service has been set up, so that you can configure your own systems accordingly. Two software development kits (SDKs) for Java and .NET clients are available to help you in developing your interface. These documents are contained in our secure, password-protected area - dasdocs.

Compatibility testing
To become an authorised user of DAS you must undertake compatibility testing to demonstrate that you can effectively use DAS to complete all the tasks necessary for Diploma administration. Your testing will be managed by the DAS Service Management Team. For information about testing windows, please contact the team at DAS_Service_Management_Team@qcda.gov.uk.

Key documents
You can access detailed documentation in the dasdocs secure area. You will need a username and password to access these documents. Please note that access to these documents is subject to a Participation Agreement being in place between your organisation and QCDA. This agreement can be obtained from the DAS Service Management Team at DAS_Service_Management_Team@qcda.gov.uk.

The following documents are available to DABs and CABs to support them in their analysis and detailed design activities:

• Functional Specification (including System Use Cases)
• Batch File Definitions (for uploading/downloading of information)
• API (Application Programming Interface)
• API Guide 

Next steps
As part of Ofqual’s Diploma qualification accreditation process, once you are recognised as a CAB or DAB you will be invited to contact us. We will then guide you through the process for becoming a DAS user and support you through your preparation and testing.

Guidance on posting results into DAS
New CABs and DABs will find it useful to read the document Guidance on posting results to DAS, which is available on this page (see Related links).

Workshops for awarding bodies
Presentations from previous workshops held for awarding bodies are available to the right of this page:

Release 3 workshop for ABs contains outputs from a workshop for Wave 1 awarding bodies held on 21 January 2009 to finalise the scope of DAS Release 3.

MIAP Diploma project contains outputs from a workshop held on 20 February 2009 for Wave 2 awarding bodies joining DAS in September 2009. The MIAP slides describe MIAP and the Learner registration service, and explain how component awarding can verify unique learner numbers (ULNs) before posting Diploma component qualification results in learner accounts in DAS.

The Compatibility testing slides describe QCDA's testing requirements and include advice on what awarding bodies should do before testing and what they should expect during testing.