Official Statistics

Background information for Entries for AS and A level: autumn 2020 exam series

Published 1 October 2020

Applies to England

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/entries-for-as-and-a-level-autumn-2020-exam-series/background-information-for-entries-for-as-and-a-level-autumn-2020-exam-series

Purpose

This release provides information on the number of entries for AS and A levels (in the report and in the data tables) for the autumn 2020 exam series. The autumn series is part of the exceptional arrangements for awarding qualifications in 2020 put in place following the cancellation of the summer exam series in order to help limit the spread of coronavirus. Following consultation, Ofqual set out the reasons and arrangements for this exceptional exam series.

Entries data are collected at a point when they should be reasonably complete, although final entry numbers may be slightly different from these. These figures are therefore provisional and represent entry information received by awarding organisations by 11 September 2020. Due to the unprecedented nature of the autumn exam series, there is no prior dataset that provides a direct comparison.

Geographical coverage

The report presents data on the number of entries in England for the autumn 2020 exam series.

Four exam boards offer GCSE and AS/A level qualifications in England:

  • AQA Education (AQA)
  • Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations (OCR)
  • Pearson Education Ltd. (Pearson)
  • WJEC-CBAC Ltd. (WJEC/Eduqas)

Description

This release provides information on the number of entries broken down by subject and age of students based on school year groups. The figures given in the tables are from combined reformed and non-reformed qualifications, although this year almost all entries are for reformed qualifications.

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) assigns a code to every qualification according to a category defined by JCQ which groups qualifications in subject groups. JCQ groupings are used in this release to filter and sort the data in the data tables. Only subject groups with entries in the autumn 2020 exam series are shown in the data tables.

Entries are also broken down by the candidates’ affiliation, generally the type of centre they attend. Private candidates pursue independent courses of study assessed at approved examination centres (eg part-time students, distance learners or individuals who are privately tutored). Some centres may also classify year 14 students who left the centre at the end of the 2019/20 academic year as private or external for the autumn series despite previously being internal candidates at the same centre. Private candidates are included with ‘Other’ in the centre type breakdown although their assessment may take place in one of the other categories listed.

Data source

Awarding organisations submit data to Ofqual for GCSEs, AS and A levels they award. Any provider that does not return a complete set of data within the collection period is contacted to make sure the data is as complete as possible.

Data have been collected at an appropriate point when entries are reasonably complete, in this case, by 11 September 2020. Ofqual agreed these dates with the awarding organisations as a point when the majority of entries would have been submitted.

Total entries for the summer 2020 exam series are provided for reference. The figures used are those published by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ; available here).

Limitations

There is potential for error in the information provided by awarding organisations and Ofqual cannot guarantee that the information received is correct. Ofqual quality assures data as far as possible, performing a number of checks on the data eg checks for systematic issues. Summary data are sent back to exam boards for checking and confirmation. However, it is still possible that some errors may remain undetected.

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.

Published data

The data underlying these statistics are published alongside this statistical release at 9.30am on the day of release.

Revisions

Once published, data on the number of provisional entries are not usually subject to revision, although subsequent releases may be revised to insert late data or to correct an error. In some cases, data may be amended to reflect any new categorisation of subjects.

Confidentiality and rounding

To ensure confidentiality of the accompanying data, all figures for the number of entries are rounded. In the accompanying data tables and commentary, the figures are rounded to the nearest 5. If the value is less than 5 (1 to 4), it is represented as 0~ and 0 represents zero values.

Total values of rows or columns are calculated using unrounded figures; the sum of rounded figures may differ from the total reported.

Status

These statistics are classified as Official Statistics.

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).

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.

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