Official Statistics

Background information for entries and late entries for GCSE, AS and A level: 2023 to 2024 academic year

Published 7 November 2024

Applies to England

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/entries-and-late-entries-for-gcse-as-and-a-level-2023-to-2024-academic-year/background-information-for-entries-and-late-entries-for-gcse-as-and-a-level-2023-to-2024-academic-year

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Purpose

This statistical release presents statistics on the number of entries, late entries and certifications for GCSE, AS and A level for the November 2023 series and June 2024 series, and historical data going back to the 2019 to 2020 academic year.

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), a membership organisation comprising 8 providers of qualifications in the UK, including those awarding GCSE, AS and A level, publishes on behalf of the awarding organisations deadlines by which entries should be made. If an entry is made after the deadline, it is classed as late and may be subject to an additional charge.

Geographical coverage

This report presents data on entries, late entries and certifications for GCSE, AS and A level in England.

Description

Four awarding organisations offered GCSE, AS and A level qualifications in England during the time period covered in this release:

  • AQA Education (AQA)
  • Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations (OCR)
  • Pearson Education Ltd. (Pearson)
  • WJEC-CBAC Ltd. (WJEC/Eduqas)

Schools, colleges and other exam centres are responsible for submitting entries to awarding organisations for GCSE, AS and A level on behalf of their students. In this statistical release, entries are counted separately for each component that makes up a qualification. An entry, therefore, is counted as a student being entered for an individual assessment, whereas certifications refer to the overall qualification. In summer 2020 and summer 2021, although entries continued to be made at the component level, students received centre assessed grades (or calculated grades if higher) or teacher assessed grades, respectively, at qualification level.

External influences

There are various factors which might have influenced the entries for GCSE, AS and A level in recent years:

Coronavirus (Covid-19)

In the academic years 2020 and 2021 summer exams did not take place due to the pandemic. An exceptional autumn exam series was put in place for these academic years.

Exams and other formal assessments took place in the 2021 to 2022 academic year and adaptations were put in place for GCSE, AS and A level qualifications.

These arrangements might have affected entry figures. Further detail on the arrangements during these academic years can be found in the Annual Qualifications Market Report Background notes for the 2020 to 2021 academic year and the Annual Qualifications Market Report Background notes for the 2021 to 2022 academic year.

Exams and formal assessments continued to go ahead in the 2022 to 2023 academic year, with some additional support. More information on this can be found in our student guide for 2023.

In summer 2024 grading continued as normal following the return to pre-pandemic standards in summer 2023. Students were provided with support materials in the form of formulae and revised equations sheets for GCSE mathematics, physics and combined science exams in 2024 only.

Data source

Awarding organisations send data on entries and late entries as well as on the certificates they award in GCSEs, AS and A levels to Ofqual for each exam series.

Limitations

There is potential for error in the information provided by awarding organisations, therefore Ofqual cannot guarantee that the information received is correct. Ofqual compares the data over time and checks for systematic issues. Summary data are sent back to awarding organisations for checking and confirmation.

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

Once published, data is not usually subject to revision, although subsequent releases may be revised to insert late data or to correct an error.

Confidentiality and rounding

To ensure confidentiality of the published accompanying data, figures have been rounded to the nearest 5. If the value is less than 5, it is represented as “fewer than 5” and 0 represents zero entries or certificates.

As a result of rounded figures, the percentages (calculated on actual figures) shown in any tables may not necessarily 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.

A number of other statistical releases 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)

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