Vocational quarterly: guide to the data submission process
Updated 14 August 2023
Applies to England
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Introduction
In order to fulfil our regulatory and accreditation functions as set out in the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009, we require awarding organisations to provide exams data for regulated qualifications.
We collect the data on behalf of CCEA Regulation and share this data with them.
Updates to formats and guidance
This guidance document will be updated regularly. Any changes to procedure will be incorporated into the guidance document.
How to submit your data
Your data should be submitted to us in CSV format. Please refer to the separate guidance document you can find on our web page to help you submit your files to us. If you need to ask us about a data submission please do contact the Data Services team, but please do not send your data files via email to Data Services or to any other Ofqual email address, or via Contact the Regulator in the Portal.
Uploaded data
Once files have been successfully uploaded, the data will be validated against a set of validation rules. These are detailed in the sections below. If validation is successful, the data is automatically transferred into our systems and you will receive email confirmation. If the file is unsuccessful at any stage of validation you will receive an email with details of the validation failure. Please correct your file and resubmit it.
Amendments to data
Ofqual staff will not alter data once it has been submitted. If you find an error or omission after you’ve had a successful upload, please notify us by email. We need to reject the existing submission before you can upload a new file.
How your data will be used
This data will be used to undertake our regulatory activities and to produce Official Statistics to fulfil our responsibility as a government department. Official statistics provide information on major areas of administration such as economy, health, crime and education and are regulated in the UK by the UK Statistics Authority. The statistics released by Ofqual are used to raise awareness and understanding, and improve public confidence in regulated qualifications and assessments. Ofqual’s statistics can be accessed via the GOV.UK website.
If we do not receive your data
The return of your information to Ofqual is mandatory. Failure to supply data in a timely and accurate manner will be noted in the Official Statistics publications. Furthermore, this will also be in breach of Ofqual’s General Conditions of Recognition (Condition B4: Notice to provide information to Ofqual) and may lead to regulatory action.
What data is collected?
In order to fulfil our regulatory and accreditation functions we require awarding organisations to provide aggregate data on the number of full certificates awarded for regulated vocational qualifications (for instance, all qualifications except GCSEs, GCEs and Advanced Extension Awards) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Certification numbers are mandatory as part of this data collection. This is so that we can monitor trends in qualifications and also gain an understanding of the skills market at country level. This data is also used to inform our day-to-day regulatory activities.
The number of registrations per qualification is also requested. This is currently voluntary. This data is important to us as an indicator of participation and completion rates. Using this we can predict future trends and steer the direction in the vocational qualifications market.
When is the data collected?
Data is collected on a quarterly basis, in January, April, July and October. The collection window starts on the day following the quarter end to allow the gap between the end of the quarter and the publication date to be kept to a minimum.
How is the data collected?
Ofqual supplies to each awarding organisation a spreadsheet listing the organisation’s available qualifications during the relevant calendar period.
Three rows per qualification will be provided, one for each month within the quarter.
Awarding organisations can submit their data by filling in and returning the spreadsheet provided.
Alternatively, awarding organisations may create and populate the spreadsheet themselves if more appropriate. If doing so, the spreadsheet must match the specifications below and qualification data must match that in the register.
Completion guidelines
- Registrations and certifications should be reported per month, per qualification.
- Certificates should be reported according to the date the certificate was issued - please refer to the Data definitions section for further details
- Data should be added to the empty cells in the registration and certification columns
- All cells must be filled with a numerical value with no formatting otherwise the file will not be accepted - if you have no certifications or registrations to report, please add a ‘0’ (zero)
- If there are no certifications or registrations to report for a row, you may either enter all zeros for certifications and registrations or omit the row from your submission
- Certification data should be provided by country/region - for further details on how to define the location of the certificate, please refer to the Data definitions section
- Certification data at country level (England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Other UK and non-UK) is compulsory - Registration and regional certification data are not currently compulsory
- If you have issued certificates for qualifications not listed in the file, please add them
- No additional columns should be inserted
- No total figures at the end of columns should be included
- No leading or trailing blanks or spaces should be included
- Submissions must be made in CSV format
- The column headers must match those provided in the request file
File format
| Name | Description | Position | Validation Regular Expression | Description of Regular Expression | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awarding Body ID | Acronym of the awarding organisation | 1 | ^.{1,50}$ |
1 to 50 characters accepted | XYZ Exams | All existing values in the spreadsheet provided by Ofqual should not be altered |
| QAN | Qualification Number | 2 | ^.{8,10}$ |
8 to 10 characters accepted. Must be a valid qualification number | 601/2977/3 | All existing values in the spreadsheet provided by Ofqual should not be altered |
| Qualification Title | Title of qualification | 3 | ^.{1,255}$ |
1 to 255 characters accepted | XYZ Exams Level 1 Award In Dance | All existing values in the spreadsheet provided by Ofqual should not be altered |
| Level | Level of qualification | 4 | ^.{1,20}$ |
1 to 20 characters accepted | Level 1 | All existing values in the spreadsheet provided by Ofqual should not be altered |
| Type | Type of qualification | 5 | ^.{1,255}$ |
1 to 255 characters accepted | Functional Skills | All existing values in the spreadsheet provided by Ofqual should not be altered |
| Certification End Date | The date when certificates cease to be awarded for the qualification | 6 | ^(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])[\/](0[1-9]|1[012])[\/](20)\d\d$ |
A valid date (dd/mm/yyyy) | 31/12/2012 | All existing values in the spreadsheet provided by Ofqual should not be altered |
| Quarter | The calendar quarter for which data is being collected | 7 | ^(20)[2-9][1-9][.]([1-4])$ |
The quarter of the current data collection | 2012.1 | All existing values in the spreadsheet provided by Ofqual should not be altered |
| Month | The calendar month for which data is being reported | 8 | ^(January|February|March|April|May|June|July|August|September|October|November|December)$ |
The calendar month, in full (not abbreviated) | January | All existing values in the spreadsheet provided by Ofqual should not be altered |
| Registrations Total | Number of registrations received in the month | 9 | ^\d{1,8}$ |
Number between 0 and 99999999 | 50 | Enter number of registrations or 0 (zero) if none to report |
| Certificates Totals | Number of certificates awarded in the month | 10 | ^\d{1,8}$ |
Number between 0 and 99999999. Must be the sum of the certificates in the country breakdown (columns K – O) | 50 | Enter number of certifications or 0 (zero) if none to report |
| England Certificates | Number of certificates awarded in England for the month | 11 | ^\d{1,8}$ |
Number between 0 and 99999999. Must be the sum of the certificates in the region breakdown (columns P – X) unless the sum is zero. | 50 | Enter number of certifications or 0 (zero) if none to report |
| Wales Certificates | Number of certificates awarded in Wales for the month | 12 | ^\d{1,8}$ |
Number between 0 and 99999999 | 50 | Enter number of certifications or 0 (zero) if none to report |
| Northern Ireland Certificates | Number of certificates awarded in Northern Ireland for the month | 13 | ^\d{1,8}$ |
Number between 0 and 99999999 | 50 | Enter number of certifications or 0 (zero) if none to report |
| Other Uk Certificates | Number of certificates awarded in other UK regions for the month. This includes: Scotland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands | 14 | ^\d{1,8}$ |
Number between 0 and 99999999 | 50 | Enter number of certifications or 0 (zero) if none to report |
| Non-Uk Certificates | Number of certificates awarded in non-UK regions (including BFPO) for the month | 15 | ^\d{1,8}$ |
Number between 0 and 99999999 | 50 | Enter number of certifications or 0 (zero) if none to report |
| England (North East) Certificates | Number of certificates awarded in England (NE region) for the month | 16 | ^\d{1,8}$ |
Number between 0 and 99999999 | 50 | Enter number of certifications or 0 (zero) if none to report |
| England (North West) Certificates | Number of certificates awarded in England (NW region) for the month | 17 | ^\d{1,8}$ |
Number between 0 and 99999999 | 50 | Enter number of certifications or 0 (zero) if none to report |
| England (Yorkshire and the Humber) Certificates | Number of certificates awarded in England (Yorkshire and Humberside region) for the month | 18 | ^\d{1,8}$ |
Number between 0 and 99999999 | 50 | Enter number of certifications or 0 (zero) if none to report |
| England (West Midlands) Certificates | Number of certificates awarded in England (WM region) for the month | 19 | ^\d{1,8}$ |
Number between 0 and 99999999 | 50 | Enter number of certifications or 0 (zero) if none to report |
| England (East Midlands) Certificates | Number of certificates awarded in England (EM region) for the month | 20 | ^\d{1,8}$ |
Number between 0 and 99999999 | 50 | Enter number of certifications or 0 (zero) if none to report |
| England (Eastern Region) Certificates | Number of certificates awarded in England (Eastern region) for the month | 21 | ^\d{1,8}$ |
Number between 0 and 99999999 | 50 | Enter number of certifications or 0 (zero) if none to report |
| England (South West) Certificates | Number of certificates awarded in England (SW region) for the month | 22 | ^\d{1,8}$ |
Number between 0 and 99999999 | 50 | Enter number of certifications or 0 (zero) if none to report |
| England (South East) Certificates | Number of certificates awarded in England (SE region) for the month | 23 | ^\d{1,8}$ |
Number between 0 and 99999999 | 50 | Enter number of certifications or 0 (zero) if none to report |
| England (London) Certificates | Number of certificates awarded in England (London region) for the month | 24 | ^\d{1,8}$ |
Number between 0 and 99999999 | 50 | Enter number of certifications or 0 (zero) if none to report |
| Status | Current status of qualification | 25 | ^.{1,255}$ |
Between 1 and 255 characters | Available to learners | Values should not be altered |
Data definitions
Certifications
A certificate should represent a candidate completing a qualification, and be reported according to the certification date. If your processes allow for the physical certificates to be issued multiple times for each candidate (for example, if an administrative error is made) then you should count the candidate’s completion of the qualification only once.
Certificate numbers should only represent certificates issued during the requested period. Any certificates in dispute or under review should only be included in the period during which they are finally issued. This should ensure minimal change to the reported figures.
Registrations
Registration numbers should represent the total number of candidates registered for the qualification during the period. The point of registration is when a candidate indicates an intention to gain the qualification. For modular qualifications this may be the point where a candidate requests the qualification, having completed the component units.
Quarters
Quarter 1 covers January to March, Quarter 2: April to June, Quarter 3: July to September and Quarter 4 covers October to December.
Location
The location of the certificate should be calculated based on the where the learner/candidate is located for the majority of their assessment.
In many cases, learners will be registered at a centre and will take their assessments at that centre. In this case, that centre address should be used to determine the location of the learner.
In cases where the registration centre is in a different location from the assessment centre/site, it is the assessment centre location that should be used to determine the location of the learner. For example, if a learner is registered at a centre in England for administrative purposes but attends a location in Wales for all or the majority of the assessment the learner should be treated as located in Wales.
In instances where a distance learner is registered directly with an awarding organisation (for example, there is no centre), the address held for that learner should be treated as the assessment location.
Geographical regions
English geographical regions are determined by the location of the assessment/examination centre, according to Region (formerly Government Office Region).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) provides guidance and datasets to define Region, including a description of the English Geographic Structure and lists of administrative geographies.
The administrative geographies are also available as a dataset and as regional maps to describe the areas in each of the Regions and the postcode directory allows Region to be derived from postcode.
Please note that for the purposes of this and other Ofqual data collections the Isle of Man and Channel Islands should be included in the ‘Other UK’ country category. Whilst these islands are not part of the UK for administrative purposes they are grouped as such for our reporting in line with the approach taken by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) and other education organisations.
Contacts
For all queries relating to the data collection process, amendments to data previously provided, or for general guidance. please contact:
Data services
Ofqual
2nd floor, 1 Friargate
Station Square
Coventry
CV1 2GN