National statistics

Background information for vocational and other qualifications quarterly: April to June 2023

Published 28 September 2023

Applies to England

1. Purpose

This release presents information on the number of certificates issued for regulated vocational and other qualifications from April to June 2023 (quarter 2, 2023) in England.

Data tables accompanying this release show the number of certificates issued broken down by awarding organisation, sector subject area, qualification type, and level of qualification.

Comparisons in this release are mainly made with data from the same quarter of the previous year and the 12-month period up to the end of the same quarter of the previous year, as well as pre-pandemic data from 2019. This is because of seasonal changes in the number of certificates issued over the year, as well as impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and potential behavioural changes after the pandemic.

This release does not include GCSEs, AS and A levels, Advanced Extension Awards, apprenticeship end-point assessments (EPAs), Extended Project Qualifications (EPQ), T Level Technical Qualifications (TQs), and Principal learning qualifications. The number of certificates issued for most of these qualifications can be found on the website of the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ). Reporting arrangements for EPAs and T Levels are different:

• The awarding organisations that conduct EPAs do not issue certificates. Instead, certificates are requested from the Department for Education on behalf of apprentices, and are issued under Section A3 of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009.
• Ofqual regulates the Technical Qualification included in the T Level programme. There is not a certificate for the Technical Qualification itself. T Level certificates are issued by the Department for Education and are therefore not included in this report. For overall T Level outcomes, please see the T Level results published by the Department for Education.

2. Geographical coverage

The data covers regulated qualifications in England.

3. Description

Ofqual regulates qualifications and assessments in England. This bulletin includes data on vocational and other qualifications awarded in England.

3.1 Qualification type

Regulated qualifications are classified into different qualification types. Qualification types are classified into 3 broad categories:

1. General.
2. Life and personal skills.
3. Vocational, technical and professional.

Some qualification types are ‘regulatory types’ which means they are subject to the General Conditions of Recognition as well as specific additional regulatory requirements or other restrictions (such as subject or qualification level conditions). Other qualification types are subject only to the General Conditions of Recognition. Qualification type category is selected by the awarding organisation for the purposes of transparency on Ofqual’s Register.

Qualification types provide information which complements that provided by the sector subject area classification. Qualification type can give an indication of a number of features, such as the nature of the qualification, the type of assessment, the qualification level and guided learning hours.

Table 1 gives a further breakdown of the structure of qualification types. As noted above, not all qualification types listed here are reported in this release.

Table 1: Qualification type structure

Broad qualification type	Specific qualification type	Status
General	Advanced Extension Award	Regulatory type
General	GCE A level	Regulatory type
General	GCE AS level	Regulatory type
General	GCSE (9 to 1)	Regulatory type
General	GCSE (A* to G)	Regulatory type
General	Project	Regulatory type
General	Other General Qualification	Other qualification type
General	Free Standing Mathematics Qualification	Retired type
General	Principal learning	Retired type
Life and Personal Skills	English for Speakers of Other Languages	Regulatory type
Life and Personal Skills	Functional Skills	Regulatory type
Life and Personal Skills	Essential Skills (Northern Ireland)	Regulatory type
Life and Personal Skills	Essential Digital Skills	Regulatory type
Life and Personal Skills	Other Life Skills	Other qualification type
Life and Personal Skills	Key Skills	Retired type
Life and Personal Skills	Basic Skills	Retired type
Vocational, Technical and Professional	Technical Qualification	Regulatory type
Vocational, Technical and Professional	End-point assessment	Regulatory type
Vocational, Technical and Professional	Occupational Qualification	Other qualification type
Vocational, Technical and Professional	Vocationally-Related Qualification	Other qualification type
Vocational, Technical and Professional	Performing Arts Graded Examinations	Other qualification type
Vocational, Technical and Professional	Other Vocational	Other qualification type
Vocational, Technical and Professional	General National Vocational Qualification	Retired type
Vocational, Technical and Professional	Vocational Certificate of Education	Retired type
Vocational, Technical and Professional	National Vocational Qualification	Retired type

Please note, Ofqual revised the list of qualification types in consultation with awarding organisations in 2018. Qualification types not listed in Table 1 may still be reported on, where awarding organisations have not yet finished migrating their qualification types. Further detail on the changes to qualification types can be found in the background notes for Vocational and Other Qualifications Quarterly: July to September 2022.

4. Context

Alternative arrangements for many assessments were in place in the 2020 to 2021 academic year in response to continuing disruption due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The 2021 to 2022 academic year saw the return of exams and other formal assessments, with some adaptations. For the academic year 2022 to 2023, awarding organisations were no longer permitted to award results using alternative evidence such as Teacher Assessed Grades (TAGs). Students who completed some of their exams or formal assessments in previous years, and who completed the remainder of their qualification this academic year have been allowed to carry forward any results they have achieved so far. This applies whether the result was awarded using an adapted assessment or through use of alternative sources of evidence, such as those used to derive TAGs. Hence, figures in this report are likely to reflect these measures and arrangements.

In 2023, there was an increased emphasis across the vocational and technical qualification system to ensure that students received results in sufficient time to inform decisions about future progression. As a result, in 2023 the number of certificates issued in each quarter may follow a different pattern than in previous years.

5. Data source

Information on qualifications (covering title, type, awarding organisation, sector subject area and level) is taken from Ofqual’s Register of Regulated Qualifications, which gives information on regulated qualifications and recognised awarding organisations in England (and Northern Ireland). Data on the number of certificates awarded are sent by awarding organisations to Ofqual.

6. Limitations

Data are collected at the earliest point available, which is the first day of the next reporting period. This reduces the time between the activity and reporting on the activity.

The main source of potential error is in the information provided by awarding organisations. Ofqual cannot guarantee the number of certificates submitted is correct and there may be systematic bias when the information is sent, although awarding organisations are expected to provide the correct data. Ofqual compares the data over time and checks for systematic issues, giving awarding organisations the opportunity to double-check the numbers provided. The figures reported in this release reflect the certificates issued by awarding organisations at the time of data collection.

7. Quality assurance

Quality assurance procedures are carried out as explained in the Quality Assurance Framework for Statistical Publications published by Ofqual to ensure the accuracy of the data and to challenge or question it, where necessary. Publication may be deferred if the statistics are not considered fit for purpose.

8. Published data

The data underlying these statistics are published alongside this statistical release at 9:30am on the day of release, and can be explored visually via this interactive tool.

9. Revisions

Once published, data on the number of certificates issued for any qualification are not usually subject to revision, although subsequent releases may be revised to insert late data or to correct an error. Qualifications may also be re-categorised to a different type, level, sector subject area or awarding organisation. In some cases, data may be amended to reflect the new categorisation.

10. Confidentiality and rounding

In accordance with Ofqual’s rounding policy, figures less than 5 are reported as ‘fewer than 5’. A 0 represents zero achievements. This is to ensure the data does not identify an individual student.

In general, we use unrounded values to derive percentages. As a result of rounded figures, the percentages shown in charts and tables may not necessarily add up to 100.

11. Status

These statistics are classified as National Statistics, which are accredited official statistics (referred to as National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007).

These accredited official statistics have been independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics.

You are welcome to contact us directly at data.analytics@ofqual.gov.uk with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.

12. Related publications

• Vocational and other qualifications over time: this tool allows you to explore the number of certificates awarded in England for vocational and technical qualifications regulated by Ofqual from to 1 January 2012 onwards.
• Further education and skills: the quarterly Statistical First Release, published by the Department for Education, reports statistics about learner participation, outcomes and highest qualification held in the further education and skills sector.
• A level and other 16 to 18 results: statistics published by the Department for Education covering A level and other results for 16- to 18-year-olds.
• The Education and Skills Funding Agency’s Individualised Learner Record data and the Department for Education’s National Pupil Database (NPD) provide data on graded qualifications and data broken down by region. The latter also provides data on progression between award, certificate and diploma, and number of registrations.

For any related publications for qualifications offered in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland please contact the respective regulators – Qualifications Wales, CCEA Regulator and the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA).

13. Useful links

• Report and data tables accompanying this release
• Definitions of important terms used in this release
• Policies and procedures that Ofqual follows for production of statistical releases

14. Feedback

We welcome your feedback on our publications. Should you have any comments on this statistical release and how to improve it to meet your needs please contact us at data.analytics@ofqual.gov.uk.