Vocational and other qualifications quarterly: January to March 2020
Statistics on vocational and other qualifications (excluding GCSEs, AS levels and A levels).
Applies to England
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Details
Main trends for quarter 1 2020
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The number of certificates awarded in 2020 quarter 1 was just over 896,000 certificates, a decrease of 15% compared to 2019 quarter 1. This reflects an overall trend in the decline of vocational qualifications over time.
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This quarter saw an increase in the number of certificates awarded for Other General Qualifications (21%).
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There were decreases in the number of certificates awarded for most qualification levels: the largest changes were for Level 2 and Level 3 qualifications with a 14% and 17% decrease in certificates respectively.
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There were notable decreases in the number of certificates awarded in several sector subject areas, with the biggest decreases seen for Preparation for Life and Work, Construction, Planning, and the Built Environment and Health, Public Services and Care.
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The qualification with the highest number of certificates in Q1 2020 was the QA Level 3 Award in Emergency First Aid at Work (RQF), which also had the highest number of certificates in Q1 2019. This was followed by the TCL Entry Level Certificate in ESOL International Speaking and Listening (Entry 3) (GESE Grade 5) (B1.1), which had the third highest number of certificates in Q1 2019.
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The awarding organisation with the highest number of certificates issued in this quarter was City and Guilds, followed by Highfield Qualifications and NCFE. Over the whole year, Pearson had the highest number of certificates issued, followed by City and Guilds and NCFE.
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In Q1 2020, City and Guilds saw an 18% decrease in the number of certificates awarded compared to Q1 2019, but remained the awarding organisation with the highest number of certificates issued in Q1 this year. Highfield Qualifications and NCFE also saw decreases of 8% and 10% respectively, compared to Q1 2019.
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On 18 March 2020, the Secretary of State for Education announced that exams in schools and colleges due to take place in summer 2020 would be cancelled in order to help fight the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). On 9 April we received a direction from the Secretary of State which set out how the Government expects vocational and technical qualifications, and general qualifications other than GCSE, AS and A levels, to be assessed and awarded in the coming weeks and months. This direction said that learners who are taking vocational and technical qualifications that are used for progression to and through employment, as well as further or higher education, should receive results where possible this summer, in order to allow them to progress to the next stage of their lives. For qualifications principally used for progression purposes, awarding organisations should issue calculated results to learners, where it is possible to do so, whilst ensuring that those awards are sufficiently valid and reliable. Where this is not possible, awarding organisations should adapt assessments or delivery models so that learners can sit assessments and complete their qualifications. Where qualifications directly signal occupational competence or function as a licence to practise, adaptation of the assessment or delivery model is the starting point. In cases where it would not be safe or meet employers’ requirements to calculate results or adapt assessments or delivery models, there may be no option but for learners to wait until assessments can take place as normal again.
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As these measures began to be implemented in late March, certification numbers during this quarter may have been affected. However, we are unable to tell precisely what the effect has been on the number of certificates awarded.
Summer 2020 Qualification Explainer tool
To find out what is happening with qualifications this summer, please see our interactive tool available at Ofqual Analytics.
Datasets
The dataset used to produce this release is available separately.
Statistics collection
All our published vocational and other qualifications publications are available at a single collection page.
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