Annual qualifications market report: academic year 2014 to 2015
The report provides an overview of the qualifications market and provides a single reference point about participants in the market.
Applies to England, Northern Ireland and Wales
Documents
Details
Erratum
We had identified some inaccuracies in the ‘Annual Qualifications Market Report 2014 to 2015’ first published on 21 July 2016. The inaccuracies were due to amended data submitted by some exam boards (after the end of the academic year 2014 to 2015) not being incorporated into the report. The data related to qualifications other than GCSE, AS and A level. We have subsequently incorporated these figures and this published report contains the revised figures. We apologise for any inconvenience.
Main findings
- Just under 16 million certificates were awarded in the academic year 2014 to 2015; 4% fewer than in 2013 to 2014; the fall driven primarily by changes in school entry patterns and accountability frameworks.
- The number of awarding organisations recognised by Ofqual fell to 163; 3 fewer than a year earlier.
- The number of available qualifications decreased by 2% compared to 2013 to 2014 to just over 24,500, of which about 14,400 had an award made.
- 20 awarding organisations accounted for 90% of all certificates awarded during the academic year, with Pearson Education Ltd awarding nearly one-quarter (24%) of all certificates.
- More certificates were awarded in the science and maths sector subject area than any other in 2014 to 2015 (21% of all certificates awarded).
- For GCSE, AS and A level more certificates were awarded in the science and maths sector subject area (37%) than any other area in 2014 to 2015 while for qualifications other than GCSE, AS and A level, more certificates were awarded in the preparation for life and work sector subject area (30%) than in any other area.
Data
The data for GCSE, AS and A level qualifications can be found in the data file available on this page. The data for qualifications other than GCSE, AS and A levels can be found in our vocational qualifications dataset.
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Updates to this page
Last updated 9 August 2016 + show all updates
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Updated the report to contain revised data sent by some awarding organisations. The awarding organisations who provided revised data were: Cambridge International Examinations, City and Guilds of London Institute, OCR, SFJ Awards, The Institute of Leadership and Management and Trinity College London. In addition, data from Pearson Education Ltd has been reprocessed. The report has also been updated. The pages that have been updated (counting the cover page as page 1): 1, 3, 10-14, 26-32, 41-42, 46-48.
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Erratum notice published as some inaccuracies were found in the report. The corrected report to be published by 31 August 2016.
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Table 6 in the report updated with correct GCSE computing and GCSE ICT figures. No other change required.
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First published.