Vocational and other qualifications quarterly: July to September 2019
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 3 2019
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The number of certificates awarded in the third quarter of 2019 was just over 2.3 million certificates, a decrease of 2.3% compared to the third quarter of 2018.
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This fall in the number of certificates reflects a greater trend in the overall decline in certificates for vocational qualifications over time. This may be caused by a tightening in the availability of funding.
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The figures show a 96% decrease in the number of certificates awarded in QCF qualifications compared to Q3 2018. This is due to the term ‘QCF’ being removed from a large number of qualification titles (after the removal of regulatory arrangements).
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Functional Skills also saw a 16% decrease in certificates in the same timeframe, continuing the ongoing trend in the drop in the number of Functional Skills certifications in the past few quarters.
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This quarter saw an increase in the number of certificates awarded in the following qualification types: Other Vocational Qualifications (22%) and Other General Qualifications (13%).
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There was a 10% decrease in the number of certificates awarded in Level 1 qualifications and a 29% increase in the number of certificates awarded in Level 1/Level 2 qualifications.
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The sector subject areas with notable increases in the number of certificates awarded were Health, Public Services and Care, Arts, Media and Publishing and Leisure, Travel and Tourism. There were also notable decreases in the number of certificates in Preparation for Life and Work, Information and Communication Technology and Languages, Literature and Culture.
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The qualification with the highest number of certificates in Q3 2019 was Pearson BTEC Level 1/Level 2 Tech Award in Health and Social Care, which did not exist in its current form in Q3 2018. This was followed by QA Level 3 Award in Emergency First Aid at Work (RQF) and Pearson Edexcel Level 2 Certificate in Digital Applications.
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The awarding organisation with the highest number of certificates issued in this quarter (as well as for the past 12 months) was Pearson, followed by City & Guilds and NCFE.
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In Q3 2019, Pearson saw a 3% increase in the number certificates awarded compared to Q3 2018, with OCR and WJEC also seeing marked increases during this period. City and Guilds saw the largest decrease in the number of certificates from Q3 2018 (a decrease of 10%), while Cambridge International and NOCN saw decreases of 52% and 15% respectively.
Datasets
The dataset used to produce this release is available separately.
Statistics collection
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