Official Statistics

Background information for annual qualifications market report: academic year 2022 to 2023

Published 26 March 2024

Applies to England

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-qualifications-market-report-academic-year-2022-to-2023/background-information-for-annual-qualifications-market-report-academic-year-2022-to-2023

Purpose

This release provides information on the qualifications market in England for the academic year 2022 to 2023. For this report, the 2022 to 2023 academic year is considered to be the start of October 2022 to the end of September 2023. It presents data on the number of qualifications available for award by Ofqual-recognised awarding organisations and certificates awarded for these qualifications. Data for previous years is also presented for comparison purposes.

Geographical coverage

This report presents data on the number of qualifications and certifications in England. This release also includes some statistics on certifications awarded outside of the UK for qualifications that are also awarded to learners in England.

External influences

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

The figures reported in this release cover the period from the 2018 to 2019 academic year through to the 2022 to 2023 academic year. These figures were, therefore, likely affected by changes in public health restrictions and other interventions put in place in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic since 2020. Many exams and assessments across GCSE, AS and A level, and vocational and technical qualifications were cancelled or adapted for the academic year 2019 to 2020 and the academic year 2020 to 2021.

Exams and other formal assessments took place again in the academic year 2021 to 2022. Across GCSE, AS and A level qualifications, adaptations were put in place for the return of exams and formal assessments. Awarding organisations delivering vocational and other qualifications were permitted to continue to make adaptations to help mitigate the impact of the pandemic on students and their learning, where needed, to ensure that results were fair, consistent and allowed students to progress. In the academic year 2022 to 2023, AS, A level, and most GCSE exams and formal assessments returned to pre-pandemic arrangements with some adaptations in place. For VTQs, adaptations to exams and other formal assessments that were put in place to help mitigate the impact of the pandemic, were no longer permitted.   

Interests of users of qualifications

A range of factors influence the development and take-up of qualifications. There is a complex and dynamic relationship between those providing qualifications (awarding organisations), purchasers who teach or otherwise deliver the qualifications (schools, colleges and training providers), students, and ‘end users’ (employers and further and higher education providers). Government reforms of qualifications, performance measures, public funding policies and other requirements all significantly impact on many of these relationships.

Users of qualifications respond to incentives, many of which come into play because of government policy changes.

Awarding organisations respond to market demand for their qualifications, market opportunities, and incentives to develop and deliver new qualifications to meet government policy requirements and to meet changing skills requirements.

In deciding which qualifications to offer, in addition to student needs and institutional priorities, schools and colleges are influenced by accountability measures and funding. Decisions are often balanced against practical delivery considerations such as teacher availability and student demand. Schools and colleges may be informed, advised and influenced by organisations in their networks, which can influence their choice of which qualifications to offer.

Employers are users and purchasers of many vocational and other qualifications and, therefore, have influence over market demand for qualifications, including which qualifications lead to securing and sustaining employment in their sectors. Employer demand for certain types or specific qualifications can influence which qualifications learners choose to take. A range of factors influences employer demand, including policy changes, licence to practise requirements, sector development and other wider economic changes.

Students may opt to study qualifications that will best help them progress in work or in higher or further education, according to their interests. Sometimes these relationships are very direct, such as many licence to practise schemes which depend on gaining a regulated qualification.

Change influencing the market in England - GCSE, AS and A level qualifications

AS decoupling following qualification reform

Changes to the structure of AS and A level qualifications following major qualification reform to GCSE, AS and A level qualifications in England may have affected the number of qualifications available and the number of certificates awarded in the years following the reform. Grades for AS qualifications no longer contribute towards A level grades. The decoupling of these qualifications has resulted in fewer entries for reformed AS qualifications and in fewer AS certificates awarded in England. Please note, all GCSEs, AS and A levels awarded from summer 2020 onwards are reformed qualifications.

Accountability reform

Changes to performance measures may have influenced the uptake of some qualifications. As part of changes to the secondary accountability system announced in 2013, Progress 8 and Attainment 8 became the key measures of performance for all state-funded secondary schools and colleges offering key stage 4 education in England from 2016. They replaced the 5+ A* to C including English and mathematics headline measure and expected progress measures.

Progress 8 was introduced in 2016 and aims to capture the progress a pupil makes from the end of primary school to the end of secondary school. For English language and English literature, providing that both subjects are taken, the best score from these subjects is double weighted. The way that Progress 8 is calculated has encouraged uptake in the reformed English literature GCSE.

Progress 8 and Attainment 8 measures, as well as the government’s separate measure of students entering English Baccalaureate (EBacc) subjects, may also further encourage providers to focus on the delivery of EBacc subjects. This most likely explains the decrease in certificates awarded in non-EBacc subjects, as the calculation includes only a maximum of 3 non-EBacc GCSEs.

Please note, performance measures were suspended for the academic years 2019 to 2020 and 2020 to 2021, as part of steps taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Performance measures for key stage 4 and post-16 qualifications returned for the academic year 2021 to 2022, with some adjustments.

Change influencing the market in England - vocational and other qualifications

Performance tables

The effect of changes to performance tables, first introduced for reporting in the 2017 to 2018 academic year, continues to be seen. Information on the changed requirements can be found in the technical guidance for awarding organisations.

For Tech Levels and Applied General qualifications, demand for the reformed qualifications in 2017 to 2018 did not match that of the pre-existing qualifications. For the past 3 years, there has been a trend of increasing demand for reformed qualifications and reduced demand for pre-existing qualifications. It is expected that this trend will begin to stabilize following the complete withdrawal of public funding for pre-existing qualifications.

Funding changes for post 19-year-olds

The funding rules for an academic year for vocational qualifications aimed at students who are over 19 years of age may affect the number of certificates awarded in that academic year. For example, the Adult Education Budget (AEB) Devolution and National Skills Fund are recent initiatives that both have the potential to influence the qualifications market, including the number type of certifications awarded in vocational, and technical qualifications.

Functional Skills qualifications

From 1 September 2019, a reformed suite of English and mathematics Functional Skills qualifications (FSQs) has become available, which has likely affected the FSQs market and the number of certifications.

A temporary flexibility was introduced by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) in February 2020, changing how and when English and mathematics FSQs were required to be taken within Apprenticeships. T Level students are also no longer required to achieve either a grade 4 in English and maths GCSE or level 2 in functional skills to pass their programme. This may have impacted upon the number of certificates awarded, particularly for the 2020 to 2021 academic year. Also, a move away from apprenticeship frameworks, which included FSQs in ICT, to apprenticeship standards which do not include FSQs in ICT, is also likely to affect certifications for those qualifications.

Changes in funding policies, as well as the introduction of new Digital Functional Skills Qualifications, which were designed to replace existing Functional Skills ICT qualifications by July 2023 (first certificates issued in October 2023), may contribute to continuing declines in traditional ICT Functional Skills certificates.

The number of students achieving GCSEs in English and mathematics by the age of 16 during the COVID-19 pandemic may also have affected FSQ entries and certifications.

Introduction of T Levels

The introduction of T Levels is expected to affect the number of certificates awarded for Applied General and Technical qualifications. T Levels are being introduced in phases and are predicted to replace most Tech Levels when fully implemented. The first T Levels in Construction, Digital, and Education and Early Years were available for teaching from September 2020 (certifying in 2022). Health and Science T Levels were rolled-out in September 2021, followed by Business and Administration, Engineering and Manufacturing, and Legal, Finance, and Accounting in September 2022. Agriculture, Environmental, and Animal Care T Levels were introduced in September 2023. For more details on T Levels roll-out, please see the Department for Education‘s T Level action plan.

Change influencing international exports by awarding organisations in England

Many awarding organisations offering general, vocational and other qualifications that are regulated by Ofqual also operate internationally. The international appeal of Ofqual-regulated qualifications is shaped by a combination of domestic policies, international agreements, and the evolving needs of global education and labour markets. Changes in any of these areas can influence the demand for, and recognition of, Ofqual-regulated qualifications outside the UK.

Qualification type

Regulated qualifications are classified into different qualification types to describe the nature of qualification. Qualification types provide information which complements that provided by the sector subject area classification and can give an indication of a number of features, such as the type of assessment, the qualification level and guided learning hours.

Qualification types are classified into 3 broad categories:

1)  general

2)  life and personal skills

3)  vocational, technical and professional.

Some qualification types are ‘regulatory types‘ which means they are subject to the General Conditions of Recognition as well as specific additional regulatory requirements or other restrictions (such as subject or qualification level conditions). Other qualification types are subject only to the General Conditions of Recognition. Qualification type category is selected by the awarding organisation offering the qualification for the purposes of transparency on Ofqual‘s Register.

Table 1 gives a further breakdown of the structure of qualification types. As noted in Table 1, not all qualification types listed are reported in this release.

Table 1. Breakdown of the structure of qualification types

Broad qualification type Specific qualification type Status Reported in this release
General Advanced Extension Award Regulatory type Yes
General GCE A level Regulatory type Yes
General GCE AS level Regulatory type Yes
General GCSE (9 to 1) Regulatory type Yes
General GCSE (A* to G) Retired type Yes
General Project Regulatory type Yes
General Other General Qualification Other qualification type Yes
General Free Standing Mathematics Qualification Retired type No
General Principal learning Retired type No
Life and Personal Skills English for Speakers of Other Languages Regulatory type Yes
Life and Personal Skills Functional Skills Regulatory type Yes
Life and Personal Skills Digital Functional Skills Qualifications Regulatory type Yes
Life and Personal Skills Essential Skills (Northern Ireland) Regulatory type No
Life and Personal Skills Essential Digital Skills Regulatory type Yes
Life and Personal Skills Other Life Skills Other qualification type Yes
Life and Personal Skills Key Skills Retired type Yes
Life and Personal Skills Basic Skills Retired type Yes
Vocational, Technical and Professional Technical Qualification Regulatory type No
Vocational, Technical and Professional End-Point Assessment Regulatory type No
Vocational, Technical and Professional Occupational Qualification Other qualification type Yes
Vocational, Technical and Professional Vocationally-Related Qualification Other qualification type Yes
Vocational, Technical and Professional Performing Arts Graded Examinations Other qualification type Yes
Vocational, Technical and Professional Other Vocational Other qualification type Yes
Vocational, Technical and Professional General National Vocational Qualification Retired type No
Vocational, Technical and Professional Vocational Certificate of Education Retired type No
Vocational, Technical and Professional National Vocational Qualification Retired type No

Please note, Ofqual revised the list of qualification types in consultation with awarding organisations in 2018. Qualification types listed as retired type in Table 1 may still be reported on, where awarding organisations have not finished migrating their qualification types yet. Further detail on the changes to qualification types can be found in the 2020 to 2021 academic year Annual Qualifications Market Report background notes.

Please also note that new Digital Functional Skills Qualifications (DFSQ) were introduced for first teaching in August 2023 (certifying from October 2023). These replace Functional Skills Qualifications in Information and Communication Technology. DFSQ are available at entry level and level 1.

Qualifications not covered in this release

T Level Technical Qualifications

Ofqual regulates the Technical Qualification that makes up part of an overall T Level. There is not a certificate for the Technical Qualification itself. The Department for Education issues T Level certificates after collecting information from both awarding organisations and providers. Since there is no standalone certificate for the Technical Qualification, it is not included in this report. For overall T Level outcomes, please refer to the T Level results published by the Department for Education.

Apprenticeships end-point assessments

The number of qualifications and certifications for apprenticeships end-point assessments (EPAs) are not included in this release. For the Annual Qualifications Market Report, Ofqual receives data from awarding organisations. The awarding organisations that conduct EPAs do not issue certificates for the completion of EPAs. Instead, they request certificates on behalf of apprentices, which are issued by the Department for Education under Section A3 of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009. We report on volumes and outcomes of apprenticeship EPAs regulated by Ofqual in a separate statistical publication. For information on the overall apprenticeships market, please see DfE‘s report on apprenticeships and traineeships.

Data source

Information on regulated qualifications (covering title, type, availability, awarding organisation, sector subject area and level) and recognised awarding organisations in England is taken from Ofqual‘s Register of Regulated Qualifications, referred to as the Register in this release. This information is correct at the point in time in which the Register was extracted (21 February 2024).

For the June 2023 exam series, certification data for GCSEs, AS and A levels was collected in the summer and contains provisional information on certificates awarded to students in England. For all other exam series prior to June 2023, data on the number of qualifications and certificates for GCSEs, AS and A levels taken in England was provided by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), on behalf of the regulated awarding organisations offering GCSEs, AS and A levels.

GCSE certificates cover full course and short course. A level and AS level certificates include applied double award and applied single award for the years where these qualifications were available. The data reported here are for students who were awarded certificates and therefore does not include those who were unclassified or were absent.

For vocational and other qualifications, the data covers information on regulated qualifications and recognised awarding organisations in England from Ofqual’s Register of Regulated Qualifications. Data on the number of certificates issued are sent quarterly by awarding organisations to Ofqual. Please note, in 2023, there was an increased emphasis across the vocational and technical qualification system to ensure that students received results in sufficient time to inform decisions about future progression. As a result, in 2023 the number of certificates issued in each quarter falling within the 2022 to 2023 academic year, may follow a different pattern than in previous years.

Please note, in this release ‘vocational and other qualifications’ include all regulated qualifications other than GCSEs, AS and A level, apprenticeship end-point assessments (EPAs) and T Level Technical Qualifications.

Limitations

Data is collected at the earliest point available, which is the first day after the end of the reporting period. This reduces the time between the activity and reporting on the activity.

The main source of potential error is in the information provided by awarding organisations. Ofqual cannot guarantee the number of certificates submitted is correct, although awarding organisations are expected to provide the correct data. Ofqual conducts a range of plausibility checks, which include comparing the data over time, searching for systematic issues. The figures reported in this release reflect the certificates issued by awarding organisations at the time of data collection.

Quality assurance

Quality assurance procedures are carried out as explained in the Quality Assurance Framework for Statistical Publications published by Ofqual to ensure the accuracy of the data and to challenge or question it, where necessary. Publication may be deferred if the statistics are not considered fit for purpose.

Revisions

For vocational and other qualifications, once published, data are not usually subject to revision, although subsequent releases may be revised to insert late data or to correct an error. Qualifications may also be re-categorised to a different type, level, sector subject area or awarding organisation. In some cases, data may be amended to reflect the new categorisation. For GCSE, AS and A level certificates, final data has been collected for the latest academic year from JCQ and are not expected to be subject to revision.

Confidentiality and rounding

In accordance with Ofqual’s rounding policy, figures shown in the report and accompanying data tables are rounded to the nearest 5. Values below 5 (1 to 4) are reported as ‘fewer than 5’ and ‘0’ represents zero achievements.

We use unrounded values to work out percentages. Percentages have been rounded to whole numbers in the report and to one decimal place in the accompanying data tables. Because of rounded figures, the percentages shown in charts or tables may not add up to 100.

Status

These statistics are classified as official statistics.

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

You are welcome to contact us directly at [email protected] with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing [email protected] or via the OSR website.

This statistical release presents annual data. There will be some overlap between the figures in this release and those in Ofqual’s Vocational and Other Qualifications Quarterly publications.

A number of other statistical releases and publications relate to this one, including:

For any related publications for qualifications offered in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland please contact the respective regulators – Qualifications Wales, CCEA and the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA).

Feedback

We welcome your feedback on our publications. Should you have any comments on this statistical release and how to improve it to meet your needs, please contact us at [email protected].

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