Pre-release policy for statistical publications
Updated 30 October 2025
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2025
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ofquals-statistics-policies-and-procedures/pre-release-policy-for-statistical-publications
To ensure that appropriate individuals are able to respond to questions arising from any of our official statistics publications, we may grant access to the documents up to 24 hours in advance of them being published on GOV.UK. When doing this, we follow the rules and principles set out in the Pre-release Access to Official Statistics Order 2008.
Only Ofqual’s Head of Profession for Statistics can grant pre-release access to our statistical publications. Individuals may request pre-release access from delegates given authority by the Head of Profession, who will check they meet the eligibility criteria for pre-release access, usually as either being:
- individuals with policy or operational responsibility for a subject matter covered by the statistical publication and who may need to respond to questions about the statistics (including advising others on the same), or take other appropriate action, when the publication is made public
- press officers who will be responsible for communicating with the media about the statistics in the publication, when the publication is made public
Individuals in receipt of 24-hour pre-release access usually include those from Ofqual, the Department for Education (DfE), and the awarding organisations for which the statistics have direct relevance. The list of people granted pre-release access to each publication is regularly reviewed.
Those directly involved in the production and quality assurance of the statistics are excluded from pre-release access restrictions. They can have access as and when needed prior to release, on the condition that they protect the confidentiality of the statistics prior to their release (and are asked to sign a declaration of this).
Pre-release terms and conditions and notification text
Before the Head of Profession grants 24-hour pre-release access, they must be satisfied the individual fully understands, and has agreed to, our pre-release terms and conditions.
We include our pre-release terms and conditions as a reminder with every pre-release access we issue.
The following text is amended as necessary and included in the covering message sent from delegates of the Head of Profession to the authorised individuals:
Please find attached a restricted version of [insert name of publication]. You can find all documents under the Files tab above. These documents are classed as [official statistics or accredited official statistics] and will be published on Ofqual’s website at 9.30am tomorrow, [insert date].
You are receiving privileged access to this release up to 24 hours in advance of publication, in accordance with the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice for Statistics and the Pre-release Access to Official Statistics Order 2008. Please note that these documents are view-only and are restricted to those named on this pre-release access list only. The files, their contents, and any indication of their contents must not be disclosed to any other individual before 9.30am tomorrow, [insert date].