National Statistics: Vocational and other qualifications quarterly: January to March 2021

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Background information for Vocational and Other Qualifications Quarterly: January to March 2021

Ref: Ofqual/21/6799/2HTML

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Pre-release access list for Vocational and Other Qualifications Quarterly: January to March 2021

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Details

Main trends for quarter 1 (January to March) 2021

1. Many assessments were cancelled, delayed or had revised assessment arrangements in 2020 and 2021 due to the measures put in place in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic (please see the background notes for more information). The trends seen in this quarter may have been affected as a result.

2. The number of certificates awarded in 2021 quarter 1 was just under 600,000 certificates, a decrease of 35% compared to 2020 quarter 1. Restrictions due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic may help explain some of this change. For example, there was a range of mitigations implemented across vocational and technical qualifications in 2020 and 2021, depending on their primary purpose and in some cases carried on as normal if they were unaffected by the pandemic. The decrease in overall certifications seen in this quarter compared to the same quarter last year may be affected by the measures taken particularly if there was no alternative but to delay assessment based on a qualification signalling occupational competence or function as a licence to practise. The impact of centre closures and staff furlough is also likely to have affected the ability of awarding organisations to certificate as many learners as they would normally. However, this decrease may also reflect an overall trend in the decline of the number of certificates awarded in vocational qualifications since 2015.

3. Except for Essential Digital Skills, quarter 1 2021 saw a decrease in the number of certificates awarded for all qualification types. The largest decrease was seen for Vocationally-Related Qualifications, which was down 82,900, or 25% from quarter 1 2020.

4. The largest decreases in the number of certificates issued in quarter 1 2021 were seen in Level 2 qualifications, (down 99,835, or 32% from quarter 1 2020), followed by Level 1 and Level 3 qualifications. The largest increases were seen in Level 7 qualifications (up 3,850 or 221% from quarter 1 2020), followed by Level 5 and Level 6 qualifications.

5. There were notable decreases in the number of certificates awarded in quarter 1 this year compared to quarter 1 last year in most sector subject areas, with the largest decreases seen for Preparation for Life and Work, Health, Public Services and Care, and Arts, Media and Publishing. However, increases in the number of certificates were seen in Education and Training, and History, Philosophy and Theology.

6. The qualification with the highest number of certificates in quarter 1 2021 was the TCL Entry Level Certificate in ESOL International Speaking and Listening (Entry 3), which had the second highest number of certificates in quarter 1 2020. This was followed by the QA Level 3 Award in Emergency First Aid at Work, which had the highest number of certificates in quarter 1 2020.

7. The awarding organisation with the highest number of certificates issued in this quarter was City and Guilds, followed by NCFE and Highfield Qualifications. Over the whole year, Pearson had the highest number of certificates issued, followed by City and Guilds and NCFE.

8. In quarter 1 2021, City and Guilds saw a 45% decrease in the number of certificates awarded (down 65,425) compared to quarter 1 2020. Highfield Qualifications and NCFE saw a 36% and 13% decrease in the number of certificates compared to quarter 1 2020 respectively.

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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