Guide to the 2023 Level 1, Level 1/2 and Level 2 qualification results for VTQs in England
Covering Technical Awards and Technical Certificates approved for reporting in Department for Education (DfE) performance tables.
Celebrating student success
This summer students have received more than 390,300 certificates for 131 Technical Award and Technical Certificate qualifications used in DfE performance tables. 33,700 (8.6%) of these results were at the top grade available for that qualification.
Just over 378,300 Technical Award results were issued to students. Covering subjects such as construction and health and social care, these qualifications are typically taken alongside GCSEs and support progression to post-16 education. The number of students taking Technical Awards increased in the years leading up to the pandemic. This coincided with changes in the range of qualifications which were available to students at key stage 4 at the time. Accordingly, it is not meaningful to compare the pattern of results with previous years.
More than 12,000 Technical Certificate results were also issued to students. These are Level 2 qualifications that cover a range of subjects such as beauty therapy and accounting, taken by post-16 students. They equip students with specialist knowledge and skills, enabling entry to an apprenticeship, employment or progression to a higher level vocational or technical qualification. In some cases, they provide a ‘licence to practise’ or exemption from professional exams.
In the academic year 2021 to 2022, Ofqual allowed awarding organisations to adapt their assessments, so that students studying VTQs could get the support they needed as we emerged from the pandemic. These adaptations were designed to free up time to recover lost teaching and learning. For many students, results from those assessments will be used towards qualifications this year.
Ofqual will publish an equalities analysis, setting out the differences in results between students with different protected characteristics in the autumn. It is not possible to complete this analysis ahead of results being issued, because final data is only available very close to results day.
Dr Jo Saxton, Chief Regulator, said:
“Congratulations to all students receiving results today. They can be proud of all they have achieved. Their hard work has enabled them to receive results which will help them to move to the next stage of their lives, whether that is further education, apprenticeships or employment. These results are also testament to the dedication of everybody who has supported students throughout their course of study.”
2023 results
Today (24 August 2023) we are publishing:
Key points
- More than 390,300 certificates across 131 Level 1, Level 1/2 and Level 2 qualifications awarded since March 2023, 96.9% of which are Technical Awards. Just over 378,300 Technical Award results and more than 12,000 Technical Certificates were issued to students.
- 33,700 (8.6%) of grades issued across Technical Awards and Technical Certificates were at the top grade available for that qualification.
- The 3 subject/sector areas with the most certificates issued against them are:
- leisure, travel and tourism: 88,800
- arts, media and publishing: 87,900
- health, public services and care: 68,900