Do you have any advice relating to the format of the online submission?

• Word and text documents should be a maximum of 20 pages   
• Consider different background and foreground colours – use a high contrast. 

As, background colours can appear stronger when converted, which makes it difficult to read any foreground text. 

• Do not include any macros or automation (Visual Basic code)

• Make sure documents are not password-protected

• All content is visible, and nothing overlaps (one item covering another), for example images, text boxes or shapes. We cannot move content around to see anything which is hidden by an overlap.

• Do not create interactive pdf files, embed links, include QR codes or zip files.

2027 Guidance 

The 2027 Guidance notes do not differentiate between the different approaches 1 and 2 (as either or a mix of approaches is acceptable).

The reason we outlined two different approaches (1 and 2) was because the 2025 and 2026 syllabuses were published before the decision to move to online marking had happened. As both the 2025 and 2026 syllabuses outlined the maximum number of A2 sheets, we provided centres with Submission Approach 1 (where they were working on A2 sheets) and Submission Approach 2 (digital portfolio).

From 2027, we have removed the references to A2 sheets in the syllabus. You can continue to use the approaches 1 and/or 2 as appropriate, however, the maximum file types and sizes are as follows: