Research and analysis

Qualifications Price Statistics 2023

Published 18 July 2023

Applies to England

Foreword

Ofqual is the expert, independent qualifications regulator for England, regulating on behalf of students of all ages and apprentices.

This Qualifications Price Statistics (QPS) report – previously called the Qualifications Price Index (QPI) aims to support competition in the market by highlighting annual price changes across the sector. Additionally, awarding organisations are required to publish and maintain up-to-date qualification fee information so it is easily accessible to potential purchasers. This supports price transparency in the sector for the benefit of purchasers and potential purchasers.

Ofqual published its first qualifications price index in 2019. The qualifications price index 2020 and 2021 were published with supplementary analysis that captured the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the costs and savings awarding organisations experienced.

This report uses qualification fee information collected from awarding organisations through an annual data request conducted over the last 3 years. This represents a change to the previously used sampling methodology which strengthens the accuracy of the statistics presented through the report. The improvement to the methodology, however, also means that the figures provided in the present release are not directly comparable with the figures provided in prior releases.

A range of statistics setting out year-on-year changes in qualification prices are presented in this report. Given the change in comparability with prior statistics and the impact of pandemic assessment arrangements on certificate volumes, these statistics do not include an inflation index in the current release. Further, to prevent misinterpretation of average price statistics, only the average price for the most recent collection is reported. This is discussed in more detail in the methodological changes section.

The new dataset is built from snapshots of fees taken in January 2021, January 2022 and February 2023. For conciseness, the period January 2021 to February 2023 is referred to as the ‘reporting period’ for this release. The key headlines in this release are therefore on annual inflation within that period and average prices as of February 2023. A limited update using the historical sample can be found in an annex.

Consistent with prior releases, price statistics are split between General Qualifications, and Vocational and Technical Qualifications (excluding apprenticeship end-point assessments). Apprenticeship end-point assessments are not included due to the way in which certifications of end-point assessments are reported, as detailed further in the background information for the annual qualifications market report.

How can Qualifications Price Statistics be used by schools, colleges and training providers?

We anticipate that there are a variety of practical uses for these price statistics. Schools, colleges and training providers could consider one or more of the below.

• Comparing your qualification costs against the average prices and inflation rates shown here. It is important to note that the statistics in this release tend to cover broad sectors and sub-sectors, but it may start a conversation around the fees you pay for the qualifications you purchase.
• Benchmarking q ualification price inflation to inform your budgeting processes.
• Researching the costs of expanding your qualification offer to different sub-sectors.

Key findings

• Average qualification price rises were below general consumer price inflation between 2021 and 2022 as well as 2022 and 2023.
• In February 2023, the average price of a General Qualification (GQ) (GCSEs, AS and A levels) was £57.28 and the average price of a Vocational and Technical Qualification (VTQ) was £64.82.
  • GQs consist of GCSEs, AS and A levels.
  • VTQs consist of all qualifications other than GQs and apprenticeship end-point assessments. Example of VTQs include, but are not limited to, T Level Technical Qualifications, BTECs, Cambridge Nationals and Performing Arts Graded Examinations.
• GQ prices rose by 2.6% between 2021 and 2022 and 6.5% between 2022 and 2023.
  • A levels had the highest price rises in both periods – 2.7% between 2021 and 2022 and 6.7% between 2022 and 2023.
• VTQ prices rose by 1.2% between 2021 and 2022 and 4.7% between 2022 and 2023.
  • The sector subject area Agriculture, Horticulture and Animal Care had the highest rise between 2021 and 2022 (4.6%) while Education and Training had the highest rise between 2022 and 2023 (7.5%).
  • Level 1/Level 2 VTQs experienced the highest price rises between 2021 and 2022 (2.3%) while entry level VTQs had the highest rises between 2022 and 2023 (6.1%).

Qualification prices over the reporting period

Overall

Figure 1: Certificates awarded in 2021 to 2022 academic year – all

Between the 2021 and 2022 fee snapshots, GQ prices rose by 2.6% while VTQ prices rose by 1.2%. Between the 2022 and 2023 fee snapshots, GQ prices again rose by more than VTQ prices, 6.5% compared to 4.7%.

Inflation has been generally high across the entire economy between 2022 and 2023 as detailed in the context section of this report. It is therefore not unexpected that qualification price inflation is also elevated during the same period. Despite this, both qualification sectors experienced inflation below consumer inflation rates over the same periods (4.9% in the 12 months to January 2022, 9.2% in the 12 months to February 2023).

Although not directly comparable with figures in prior QPI releases, these results are consistent with the historical trend of inflation being stronger in GQ than VTQ. It is important, however, to note that VTQ prices are more spread out than GQ prices, as will be examined later in the report.

General Qualifications

Figure 2: Certificates awarded in 2021 to 2022 academic year – GQ

Inflation in the GQ sector during the reporting period was relatively uniform across the 3 qualification types, with the slight exception of AS levels between 2022 and 2023. Between 2021 and 2022, average prices for each of the qualification types rose by between 2.6% (GCSEs) and 2.7% (A levels). Between 2022 and 2023, GCSEs and A level prices rose by very similar percentages – 6.5% and 6.7% respectively – however, AS levels experienced a relatively smaller price rise of 5.5% over the period.

The weighted average prices for each qualification type as reported in February 2023 are £48.02 for GCSEs, £64.98 for AS levels and £114.99 for A levels. The scale of qualifications sold, as indicated by certificates awarded, are quite different for each of the qualification types. Over 5 million certificates were awarded for GCSEs in the academic year 2021/22, almost 7 times the number of certificates awarded for A levels (around 768,000). Following GCSE and A level reform, AS certificates remain much lower (around 55,000) than the other GQ qualification types.

Vocational and Technical Qualifications

VTQs by Sector Subject Area (SSA)

Figure 3: Certificates awarded in 2021 to 2022 academic year – VTQ

There is a wide range of price levels and movement in the VTQ sector. Even at a relatively broad aggregation of tier 1 SSAs, average prices range from £33.27 (Preparation for Life and Work) through to £168.41 (Business, Administration and Law).

While there are many factors that contribute to the price differences, one is the composition of qualification levels within each SSA. For example, entry level qualifications accounted for around half of certificates awarded within the Preparation for Life and Work SSA compared to less than 2% of the certificates awarded within the Business, Administration and Law SSA in 2021 to 2022. The variation between levels is set out in more detail below.

Inflation is also variable between SSAs for each period. Education and Training provides the lowest inflation figure between 2021 and 2022 (a fall in prices of 2.6%) and the highest inflation figure between 2022 and 2023 (a rise in prices of 7.5%). The highest inflation between 2021 and 2022 was in Agriculture, Horticulture and Animal Care (4.6%) and the lowest inflation between 2022 and 2023 was in Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies (2.6%).

Negative average inflation rates have been reported in previous QPI releases at the tier 1 SSA level. They tend to be associated with SSAs that have fewer qualifications and lower certificate volumes, meaning that movements in a small number of qualifications have a larger impact on an SSA’s rates.

The general pattern of price movements is relatively consistent across SSAs even if the extent of those movements is quite different. Generally average prices either increased by a small percentage or fell between 2021 and 2022 before experiencing a robust rise between 2022 and 2023.

VTQs by qualification level

Figure 4: Certificates awarded in 2021 to 2022 academic year – qualification level

Due to the relatively small number of qualifications and certificates issued for level 4 and above VTQs, qualification levels 4 to 8 have been grouped into a single category.

While the grouping of level 4 and above qualifications exaggerates the rise in average prices between the categories presented here, it is generally the case that higher qualification levels are associated with higher fees.

Average inflation over the reporting period follows the broad patterns observed in the wider economy as well as in the GQ sector: low price rises between 2021 and 2022 with markedly higher rates between 2022 and 2023.

Inflation was generally greater for lower-level qualifications between 2021 and 2022, ranging from 2.3% for level 1/level 2 VTQs to 0.4% for level 4+. On the other hand, there was no clear association between levels and inflation between 2022 and 2023, with the lowest inflation rate coming from level 1 VTQs (3.6%) and highest rate coming from entry level VTQs (6.1%).

Context

In setting qualification prices, awarding organisations may refer to a wide variety of factors including education policy, general economic conditions and more. To support interpretation of the price statistics within this report, contextualising information on broad economic conditions and developments within the regulated qualifications sector are laid out.

Qualification sector developments

The Background information for the Annual Qualifications Market Report provides a detailed description of developments in the regulated qualification market broken down by both General Qualifications (GQs) (GCSEs, AS and A levels) and Vocational and Technical Qualifications (VTQs). VTQs consist of all qualifications other than GQs and apprenticeship end-point assessments. Example of VTQs include, but are not limited to, T Level Technical Qualifications, BTECs, Cambridge Nationals and Performing Arts Graded Examinations.

Of note are the temporary assessment arrangements put in place in response to the pandemic, and their subsequent withdrawal as large-scale formal examinations returned during the latter half of the reporting period.

There were 4 main structural changes to qualification funding over the reporting period:

• the defunding of most existing ICT and digital skills qualifications amid the introduction and funding of Essential Digital Skills qualifications and Digital Functional Skills qualifications as part of the government’s statutory digital entitlement
• the start of the transition towards the reformed post-16 qualifications landscape; qualifications at level 3 and below with either no or low levels of publicly funded enrolments have had their public funding eligibility permanently removed
• the introduction of skills bootcamps
• the devolution of the Adult Education Budget to Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority

The devolution of the Adult Education Budget is likely to have a diffuse impact on average prices. The devolution will allow adult education funding to be more responsive to local labour demand and supply conditions. The price statistics presented in this release are aggregated for all of England and not broken down by region, which means that any changes in the composition of demand at a regional level is unlikely to be reflected in the aggregate statistics.

The broader economic context

Broader economic conditions shape the market by influencing cost pressures on both awarding organisations and qualification purchasers. Inflation impacts both sides of the market through making it more expensive to develop and deliver qualifications and potentially reducing demand in some areas.

Inflation rose from very low levels at the start of the reporting period to unusually high levels at the end of the reporting period. The annual rate of the Consumer Price Index including owner occupier’s housing costs (CPIH) was 2.5% between 2021 and 2022 and 7.9% between 2022 and 2023, with inflation being less than 1% in early 2021 and picking up towards the end of 2021.

The CPIH reflects the prices paid by consumers for a basket of representative goods. While it includes some general educational items, such as fees for universities, private school and evening classes, it does not include qualifications directly. Higher prices for consumers can, however, be indicative of cost pressures facing producers, such as energy prices, that are being passed onto consumers. As noted by the Bank of England, higher consumer prices could feed into higher wage bills for employers (including awarding organisations) as employees react to the reduction in their spending power, further pushing up prices in the long term.

For qualifications paid for privately, e ither by individuals or employers, the rise in other costs may increase the potential that they are not perceived to offer relative value for money, or purchasers may choose to defer taking those qualifications until prices settle. This is not necessarily the case for qualifications eligible for funding, meaning that the sensitivity of demand to inflation differs depending on not only the qualification itself, but also how the qualification and course is paid for.

While the CPIH implies cost pressures for awarding organisations, it is possible to get a more direct view using the Service Producer Price Inflation (SPPI). While the CPIH looks at prices that consumers pay for goods and services, the SPPI presents the prices paid by all service users: businesses, government and consumers. The SPPI annual inflation rate went from 1.2% at the start of 2021 to a peak of 6.2% in the third quarter of 2022. The SPPI is similar to the CPIH in that it includes general education services but not qualifications specifically, meaning that the figures give a general picture of the likely magnitude of cost pressures on awarding organisations.

Taken together, the SPPI and CPIH suggest that awarding organisations have likely been under increasing cost pressures from the general economic environment over the reporting period. It is possible, however, that the figures shown in this report do not show the full impact of inflation in the reporting period on qualification prices. It takes time for higher prices of utilities and materials to feed into both general goods and services and then back into producer costs.

While inflation raises costs directly, it has also led to a further source of increased costs by causing the Bank of England to raise interest rates. The official Bank rate, which greatly influences the cost of borrowing for awarding organisations, rose from 0.1% to 4% over the reporting period. This means that awarding organisations may face higher costs of servicing debt taken out during the pandemic. Awarding organisations will also find it more expensive to take out a new loan at the end of the reporting period than at the start of it.

With CPIH inflation reaching a peak around the end of the reporting period and current forecasts anticipating inflation remaining elevated until the end of 2024, external economic pressures on both awarding organisations and qualification purchasers will likely remain tight over the medium term.

Methodological changes to the QPS

The QPI released in prior years was based on awarding organisations’ Standard Qualification Fees (SQFs) for a sample of qualifications that was representative of qualifications purchased in the sector. SQFs are defined in Condition F of Ofqual’s General Conditions of Recognition and must include all mandatory fees that must be paid in respect of a single learner progressing from registration for the qualification through to certification.

Since 2021 Ofqual has collected SQFs every year for all regulated qualifications that are available to new learners in England. This broader dataset enables more accurate price statistics to be calculated and means that the QPS can present price statistics for more sub-sectors such as VTQs by level.

The methodology used to calculate both the average weighted inflation figures and weighted average fees has not changed. The processing methodology is detailed in an annex to this release. There has been some treatment of the raw dataset to correct for probable errors in the data collection which would provide a misleading view of qualification prices.

The current release provides statistics based on the same sample of qualifications used in the QPI 2021 in the annex. These statistics are presented to support the transition to the broader dataset. The QPS 2024 will no longer include price statistics based on a sampling methodology.

While the broader dataset allows for the production of more detailed price statistics, it does mean that the statistics presented in the current and future releases are not directly comparable to the statistics presented in prior years due to the difference in the scope of the data used. To avoid unsuitable comparisons a new index for qualification prices needs to be created instead of continuing the prior index.

The QPS 2024 will include the first index values under the broader dataset using price data collected in 2023 and certificates data from the 2021 to 20/22 academic year as a base year. This is because of the impact of the pandemic on certificate volumes which are used for inflation figures and make 2019 to 2020 and 2020 to 2021 less suitable for being a base year.

Annex

Sample-based price statistics

The sample-based price statistics applies the same sample of qualifications as used in the QPI 2021. They are provided as a measure to support the transition to the price statistics based on the broader dataset used in the main analysis. The qualifications sampled for GQs cover over 90% of total certificates issued in the GQ sector. The qualifications sampled for VTQs cover approximately a quarter of certificates issued in the VTQ sector.

Overall

Table 1: Certificates awarded in 2021 to 2022 academic year – all

	Certificates – academic year 2021/22	Inflation between 2021 and 2022	Inflation between 2022 and 2023
GQ	6,067,955	2.6%	6.5%
VTQ	4,943,260	1.5%	4.9%

General Qualifications

Table 2: Certificates awarded in 2021 to 2022 academic year – GQ

	Certificates – academic year 2021/22	Inflation between 2021 and 2022	Inflation between 2022 and 2023
GCSEs	5,244,790	2.6%	6.5%
AS levels	55,290	2.7%	5.5%
A levels	767,875	2.7%	6.7%

VTQs by SSA

Table 3: Certificates awarded in 2021 to 2022 academic year – VTQs by SSA

	Certificates – academic year 2021/22	Inflation between 2021 and 2022	Inflation between 2022 and 2023
Health, Public Services and Care	1,270,215	0.2%	4.4%
Preparation for Life and Work	936,245	1.6%	6.6%
Arts, Media and Publishing	687,080	3.8%	3.1%
Business, Administration and Law	335,095	2.0%	6.0%
Construction, Planning and the Built Environment	307,855	-1.5%	4.6%
Leisure, Travel and Tourism	299,815	2.0%	5.9%
Retail and Commercial Enterprise	297,790	1.5%	2.1%
Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies	252,640	0.0%	1.5%
Information and Communication Technology	133,550	2.0%	7.1%
Education and Training	74,150	0.0%	3.7%
Agriculture, Horticulture and Animal Care	95,840	3.9%	6.1%
Languages and Academic Subjects	252,995	2.1%	4.8%

Price analysis methodology

The QPS presents price statistics that use certificate volumes as a weighting measure. This means that the prices reported reflect purchasing habits in the regulated qualifications sector, with more popular qualifications receiving a greater influence over the final figure. The result are statistics that more closely align with the typical price paid by active qualification purchasers – predominantly schools, colleges and training providers.

Prices are presented in nominal terms, not adjusted for broader inflation.

Inflation is calculated using a Laspeyres-type method, which keeps the pattern of demand constant to weight the price changes over a given period. This means that the inflation figures differ from inflation implied by a simple calculation between weighted average prices for 2 years – because the implied inflation figure would be incorporating shifting demand in addition to price changes. For this reason, weighted average prices are only presented for the most recent data collected.

Technical notes

Author

Hisham Alhassan Senior Economist, Ofqual