Vocational and other qualifications quarterly: October to December 2019
Statistics on vocational and other qualifications (excluding GCSEs, AS levels and A levels).
Applies to England
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Main trends for quarter 4 2019
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The number of certificates awarded in 2019 quarter 4 was just over 900,000 certificates, a decrease of 7.7% compared to 2018 quarter 4. This reflects a greater trend in the overall decline of vocational qualifications over time.
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The figures show a 98% decrease in the number of certificates awarded in QCF qualifications compared to Q4 2018. This is due to the term ‘QCF’ being removed from a large number of qualification titles (after the removal of regulatory arrangements).
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Functional Skills also saw a 32% decrease in certificates in the same timeframe, continuing the ongoing trend in the drop in the number of Functional Skills certifications over the past few quarters. This may be in anticipation of legacy qualifications being formally withdrawn after 31 August 2020.
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This quarter saw an increase in the number of certificates awarded for Other Vocational Qualifications (8%), Performing Arts Graded Examinations (4%) and Other General Qualifications (3%). The number of End-Point Assessment certificates awarded increased from 30 certificates in Q4 2018 to 1,010 certificates in Q4 2019.
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There were notable decreases in the number of certificates awarded in several sector subject areas, with the biggest decreases seen for Preparation for Life and Work, Construction, Planning and the Built Environment, and Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies.
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The qualification with the highest number of certificates in Q4 2019 was the QA Level 3 Award in Emergency First Aid at Work (RQF), which also had the most certificates in Q4 2018. This was followed by the TCL Entry Level Certificate in ESOL International Speaking and Listening (Entry 3) (GESE Grade 5) (B1.1), which did not exist in its current form in Q4 2018.
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The awarding organisation with the highest number of certificates issued in this quarter was City and Guilds, followed by Highfield Qualifications and Pearson. Over the whole year, Pearson had the highest number of certificates issued, followed by City and Guilds and NCFE.
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In Q4 2019, City and Guilds saw a 16% decrease in the number certificates awarded compared to Q4 2018, but remained the awarding organisation with the highest number of certificates issued in Q4 this year. Highfield Qualifications and Pearson also saw decreases of 6% and 23% respectively, compared to Q4 2018.
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.
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