Introduction to Qualification Achievement Rates (QARs)
A comprehensive set of QAR resources to offer information and support for training providers.
Applies to England
Resources for further education colleges and other training organisations to:
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understand what qualification achievement rates (QARs) are and their purpose
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access current QAR guidance
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access QAR dashboards and data extracts
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resolve QAR queries
The purpose of QARs
Qualification achievement rates (QARs) give one measure of how well further education (FE) colleges and other training organisations perform each year.
QARs use Individualised Learner Record (ILR) data to calculate what proportion of learning was successfully completed and the result is shown as a percentage figure.
QAR uses include:
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national statistics
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monitoring activities such as performance management by organisations including the Department for Education, Strategic Authorities (including formerly named Mayoral Combined Authorities) and Ofsted
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accountability measures such as the apprenticeships accountability framework
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self assessment (training organisations analysing their own performance)
QARs are produced for:
- 19+ education and training
- 16 to 19 programmes
- Advanced Learner Loans
- tailored learning
- apprenticeships
Qualification achievement rates guidance
The QAR guidance sets out:
- the policy for QARs
- the technical specifications that define precisely how they are calculated
- what data is included or excluded
- what in-year data is shared
- how training organisations can identify and resolve data issues
Guidance on QAR for 2025 to 2026 is available.
Previous QAR guidance:
Checking QAR data in-year
Although all of the achievement data will not yet have been recorded in the ILR, training organisations get early sight of their data to identify and resolve potential data issues prior to the final ILR collection (R14). This closes in mid-October each year.
It is important that training organisations use this in-year QAR to review their data for errors as it cannot be changed after the R14 ILR collection. Summary QAR data and a detailed data extract are created each year in:
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July, using the training organisation’s R10 ILR data
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September, using the training organisation’s R12 ILR data
In-year data is not published externally, it is only intended for use by training organisations.
Provisional QAR data
Training organisations can view their provisional QAR data following the submission of their R14 ILR each year. This gives them a final chance to check that the QAR methodology has been applied correctly. In previous years the provisional QAR was released in January but from the 2024 to 2025 reporting period this will be released in November. The final QAR data is published in the national achievement rate tables in the first quarter of each year.
Possible errors with the way the methodology has been applied should be reported through the customer help portal.
How to access QAR data
Training organisations access their QAR data through View your education data (VYED). To register for VYED, training organisations need to have a DfE Sign-in (DSI).
For access, users must have the QAR sub service added to their DSI account.
QARs are published annually in national achievement rates tables (NARTs), which enable training organisations to benchmark their performance. They are available on the explore education statistics platform in the statistical releases:
Get help with QARs
The in-year data release guidance contains all the information needed to understand how QARs are calculated.
Training organisations can contact DfE through the Customer Help Portal using the “data and MI” option if they have queries relating to QARs or to access help articles and discuss data-related queries with other providers.
If a query relates to specific learners, training organisations should download, complete and submit the data query form for the relevant academic year.
Updates to this page
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Added links to the 2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026 qualification achievement rates pages.
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Updated for the release of qualification achievement rates for 2024 to 2025.
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Added link to 'Qualification achievement rates 2023 to 2024' under the Qualification achievement rates guidance heading.
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Content related to minimum standards has been removed.
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Updated section to include 2022 to 2023 Qualification achievement rates guidance
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First published.