Official Statistics

Background information for annual qualifications market report: academic year 2021 to 2022

Updated 19 October 2023

Applies to England

1. Purpose

This release provides information on the qualifications market in England for the academic year 2021 to 2022. For this report the 2021 to 2022 academic year is considered to be the start of October 2021 to the end of September 2022. It presents data on the number of qualifications available for award by Ofqual-recognised awarding organisations and certificates awarded for these qualifications. The data for previous years is also presented for comparison purposes.

2. Geographical coverage

This report presents data on the number of qualifications and certifications in England. Some statistics on certifications outside the UK for qualifications which are awarded in England are also reported.

3. External drivers

3.1 Coronavirus

Figures reported in this release are likely to be affected by changes in public health restrictions and other interventions put in place in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic since 2020.

In the academic years 2019 to 2020 and 2020 to 2021, many exams and assessments across GCSE, AS and A level, and vocational and technical qualifications were cancelled or adapted in response to the pandemic. Further detail on the arrangements during these academic years can be found in the 2020 to 2021 academic year Annual Qualifications Market Report Background notes.

Exams and other formal assessments took place again in the academic year 2021 to 2022. Across GCSE, AS and A level qualifications, adaptations were put in place for the return of exams and formal assessments. Awarding organisations delivering vocational and other qualifications were permitted to continue to make adaptations to help mitigate the impact of the pandemic on students and their learning, where needed, to ensure that results were fair, consistent and allowed students to progress.

3.2 Interests of users of qualifications

A range of factors influence the development and take-up of qualifications. There is a complex and dynamic relationship between those providing qualifications (awarding organisations), purchasers who teach or otherwise deliver the qualifications (schools, colleges and training providers), students, and ‘end users’ (employers and further and higher education providers). Government reforms of qualifications, performance measures, public funding policies and other requirements all have a significant impact on many of these relationships.

Users of qualifications respond to incentives, many of which come into play because of government policy changes.

Awarding organisations respond to market demand for their qualifications, market opportunities, and incentives to develop and deliver new qualifications to meet government policy requirements and to meet changing skills requirements.

In deciding which qualifications to offer, in addition to student needs and institutional priorities, schools and colleges are influenced by accountability measures and funding considerations. Decisions are often balanced against practical delivery considerations such as availability of teachers and student demand. Schools and colleges may be informed, advised and influenced by organisations in their networks, which can lead to changes to their choice of which qualifications to offer.

Employers are users and purchasers of many vocational and other qualifications and, therefore, have influence over market demand for qualifications, including which qualifications lead to securing and sustaining employment in their sectors. Employer demand for certain types or specific qualifications can influence which qualifications learners choose to take. Demand by employers is influenced by a range of factors including policy changes, licence to practise requirements, sector development and other wider economic changes.

Students may opt to study qualifications that will best help them progress in work or in higher or further education, according to their interests. Sometimes these relationships are very direct, such as many licence to practise schemes which depend on gaining a regulated qualification.

3.3 Change impacting upon the market in England – GCSE, AS and A level qualifications

GCSE, AS and A level reform

GCSEs, AS and A levels have undergone major reform in England which is likely to have impacted upon the qualifications market. Reformed GCSEs, AS and A levels started to be phased in for first teaching from 2015. The first results for the reformed AS levels were issued in 2016 and the first results for the reformed GCSEs and A levels were issued in 2017. All GCSEs, AS and A levels awarded from summer 2020 onwards are reformed qualifications.

AS decoupling

Changes to the structure of qualifications following the reforms have impacted upon the number of qualifications available and certificates awarded. AS qualification grades no longer contribute to A level grades and the decoupling of these qualifications has resulted in fewer candidates taking reformed AS qualifications. These structural changes have resulted in a reduction in the number of AS certificates awarded in England following the reform.

Accountability reform

Changes to performance measures may have had an impact on the uptake of some qualifications.

From summer 2017, Level 1/Level 2 certificates such as International GCSEs were not included in government performance tables. The removal of Level 1/Level 2 certificates from performance tables has encouraged some centres to move back to GCSE qualifications in these subjects.

As part of changes to the secondary accountability system announced in 2013, Progress 8 and Attainment 8 became the key measures of performance for all state-funded secondary schools and those colleges that offer key stage 4 education in England from 2016. They replaced the 5+ A* to C including English and mathematics headline measure and expected progress measures.

Progress 8 was introduced in 2016 and aims to capture the progress a pupil makes from the end of primary school to the end of secondary school. For English language and English literature, providing that both subjects are taken, the best score from these subjects is double weighted. The way that Progress 8 is calculated has encouraged uptake in the reformed English literature GCSE.

Progress 8 and Attainment 8 measures, as well as the government’s separate measure of students entering English Baccalaureate (EBacc) subjects, may also further encourage centres to focus on the delivery of EBacc subjects. This most likely explains the decrease in certificates awarded in non-EBacc subjects, as the calculation includes only a maximum of 3 non-EBacc GCSEs.

Please note, performance measures were suspended for the academic years 2019 to 2020 and 2020 to 2021, as part of steps taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Performance measures for key stage 4 and post-16 qualifications returned for the academic year 2021 to 2022 with some adjustments.

3.4 Change impacting upon the market in England – vocational and other qualifications

Performance tables

It is possible that the effect of changes to performance tables, first introduced for reporting in the 2017 to 2018 academic year continue to be seen. Information on the changed requirements can be found in the technical guidance for awarding organisations.

For Applied General and Tech Level qualifications, demand for the reformed qualifications in 2017 to 2018 did not match that of the pre-existing qualifications. For the last 2 years there has been a trend of increasing demand for the reformed qualifications and reducing demand for the pre-existing qualifications. It is expected that this trend will continue as public funding is withdrawn for pre-existing qualifications.

Qualification type

Regulated qualifications are classified into different qualification types. The qualification type classification is selected by the awarding organisation offering the qualifications. Qualification types provide information which complements that provided by the sector subject area characterisation. Qualification type categorisation 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.

Qualifications are classified into 3 categories:
1) General.
2) Life and personal skills.
3) Vocational, technical and professional.

Table 1 gives a further breakdown of the structure of qualification types.

Table 1:

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	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 2020 to 2021 academic year Annual Qualifications Market Report background notes.

Funding changes for post 19-year-olds

The funding rules for an academic year for vocational qualifications aimed at students who are over 19 years of age may have had some effect on the number of certificates awarded in that academic year.

Functional Skills qualifications

From 1 September 2019 a reformed suite of English and maths Functional Skills qualifications (FSQs) have become available, which is likely to have impacted upon the FSQs market and certifications.

A temporary flexibility was introduced by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) in February 2020, changing how and when English and mathematics FSQs were required to be taken within Apprenticeships. This may have impacted upon the number of certificates awarded, particularly for the 2020 to 2021 academic year. Also, a move away from apprenticeship frameworks, which included FSQs in ICT, to apprenticeship standards which do not include FSQs in ICT, is also likely to have impact on certifications for those qualifications.

The number of students achieving GCSEs in English and mathematics by the age of 16 during the COVID-19 pandemic may also have affected FSQ entries and so certifications.

Introduction of T Levels

The introduction of T Levels would be expected to have an impact on the number of certificates awarded for Applied General and Technical qualifications. T Levels are being introduced in phases and are expected to replace most Tech Levels when fully implemented. The first T Levels in Construction, Digital, and Education and Early Years were introduced for first teaching from September 2020 (certificating in 2022) with T Levels in Health and Science being available from September 2021. T Levels in Business and Administration, Engineering and Manufacturing, and Legal, Finance and Accounting became available from September 2022. Further information on the rollout of T Levels can be found in the T Level action plan published by the Department for Education.

T Level Technical Qualifications

Ofqual regulates the Technical Qualification included in the T Level. There is not a certificate for the Technical Qualification itself. T Level certificates are issued by the Department for Education after collecting information from both awarding organisations and providers. This information is therefore not included in this report. For overall T Level outcomes, please see the T Level results published by the Department for Education.

Apprenticeships end-point assessments

The numbers of qualifications and certifications of apprenticeships end-point assessments (EPAs) are not included in this release. Ofqual collects data for the Annual Qualifications Market Report from awarding organisations. The awarding organisations that conduct EPAs do not issue certificates for the completion of EPAs. Instead, they request certificates on behalf of apprentices, which are issued by the Department for Education under Section A3 of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009.

4. Data source

Information on qualifications (covering title, type, awarding organisation, sector subject area and level) is taken from Ofqual’s Register of Regulated Qualifications, referred to as the Register in this release. The Register gives information on regulated qualifications and recognised awarding organisations in England. Data in this report was extracted from the Register on 3 October 2023.

Data on the number of certificates awarded are sent by awarding organisations to Ofqual.

The number of qualifications and certificates awarded in all specifications for GCSEs, AS and A levels taken in England is provided annually by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) on behalf of the regulated awarding organisations offering GCSEs, AS and A levels. GCSE certificates cover full course and short course. A level and AS level certificates include applied double award and applied single award for the years where these qualifications were available. The data reported here reflects those students who received certificates and therefore does not include those who were unclassified or were absent.

5. Limitations

Data are collected at the earliest point available, which is the first day after the end of the 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, although awarding organisations are expected to provide the correct data. Ofqual conducts a range of plausibility checks, which include comparing the data over time and searching for systematic issues. The figures reported in this release reflect the certificates issued by awarding organisations at the time of data collection.

6. 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.

7. Revisions

For vocational and other qualifications, once published, data 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. For GCSE, AS and A level certificates, final data has been collected for the latest academic year from JCQ and are not expected to be subject to revision.

8. Confidentiality and rounding

In accordance with Ofqual’s rounding policy, figures in the statistics and commentary for the number of certificates issued are rounded to the nearest 5 for ease of understanding. If the value is between 1 and 4, it is represented as ‘fewer than 5’. A 0 represents zero achievements. We use unrounded values to derive percentages. As a result of rounded figures, the percentages shown in charts or tables may not necessarily add up to 100. In the datasets published alongside this publication, the figures are rounded to the nearest 5 (values between 1 and 4 are represented as ‘fewer than 5’). A 0 represents zero achievements. This is to ensure the data does not reveal an individual student.

9. Status

These statistics are classified as official statistics.

10. Related publications

This statistical release presents annual data. There will be some overlap between the figures in this release and those in Ofqual’s Vocational and Other Qualifications Quarterly publications.

A number of other statistical releases and publications relate to this one, including: - Statistics: GCSEs (key stage 4) collection - Statistics: 16 to 19 attainment collection - Statistics: further education and skills

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

11. 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

12. 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.