10.3 million certificates were awarded in England in GCSE, AS and A Level, vocational and other qualifications from October 2019 to September 2020, according to Ofqual’s latest annual qualifications market report.

This 12% decline on the previous year is driven mainly by some assessments, predominantly occupational qualifications, being cancelled or delayed in spring and summer 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Other trends emerging from the report include:

Qualifications

• 11,600 qualifications were certificated - a 5% decrease on the previous year
• GCSE certifications increased by 4% partly due to the rise in the number of 16 year-olds
• The top ten highest volume GCSE subjects accounted for 80% of all GCSE certificates - 1% more than the previous year
• A Level certifications decreased by less than 1% in line with a downward trend in the size of the cohort
• The top 10 highest volume A Level subjects accounted for 67% of all A Level certificates - the same as the previous year
• The number of certificates issued for vocational and other qualifications fell by 27%, mainly due to a drop in the award of occupational qualifications during the pandemic
• 582,000 technical and applied general qualification certificates were awarded – nearly 5% up on the previous year.

Awarding organisations

• The four awarding organisations with the largest market shares accounted for 72% of the market
• 20 awarding organisations awarded 91% of all certificates
• There were 161 Ofqual-recognised awarding organisations – one more than the previous year.