Accredited official statistics

Vocational and other qualifications quarterly: July to September 2020

Statistics on vocational and other qualifications (excluding GCSEs, AS levels and A levels).

• From: Ofqual
• Published: 19 November 2020

Applies to England

Documents

Vocational and Other Qualifications Quarterly: July to September 2020

Ref: Ofqual/20/6711

MS Excel Spreadsheet, 377 KB

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Trends in detail for Vocational and Other Qualifications Quarterly: July to September 2020

Ref: Ofqual/20/6711/1

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Background information for Vocational and Other Qualifications Quarterly: July to September2020

Ref: Ofqual/20/6711/2

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Pre-release access list for Vocational and Other Qualifications Quarterly: July to September 2020

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Details

Main trends for July to September (quarter 3) 2020

1. Many assessments were cancelled or delayed in summer 2020 due to the measures put in place in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The trends seen in this quarter may have been affected as a result.

2. The number of certificates awarded in 2020 quarter 3 was just over 1,989,000 certificates, a decrease of 14% compared to 2019 quarter 3. Restrictions due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic may help explain some of this change.

3. Quarter 3 2020 saw an increase in the number of certificates awarded for Functional Skills qualifications (22%) and Other General Qualifications (3%). Most qualification types, however, saw a decrease this quarter compared to 2019 quarter 3.

4. There were decreases in the number of certificates awarded for most qualification levels: the largest changes were for Level 2 and Level 1 qualifications with a 27% and 36% decrease in certificates respectively. However, Level 1/2 qualifications increased by 59%.

5. There were notable decreases in the number of certificates awarded in quarter 3 this year compared to quarter 3 last year in most sector subject areas, with the largest decreases seen for arts, media and publishing, preparation for life and work, and health, public services and care.

More contextual information is available in the accompanying ‘Trends in detail for Vocational and Other Qualifications Quarterly: July to September 2020’.

Summer and autumn 2020 qualification explainer tool

For information on qualifications this summer and autumn, please see our interactive tool available at Ofqual Analytics.

Datasets

The dataset used to produce this release is available separately.

Statistics collection

All our published vocational and other qualifications publications are available at a single collection page.

User 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.

Published 19 November 2020