11.5 million certificates were awarded in England in GCSE, AS and A Level, vocational and other qualifications in 2017-18, according to Ofqual’s latest annual qualifications market report. This represents a fall of 8% compared to the previous year, continuing the trend seen over several years, with AS Levels having the biggest percentage drop.

Other trends emerging from the report include:

Certificates

• For GCSE, AS and A Levels, a quarter of all certificates were awarded against just four qualifications.
• 5.8 million certificates were awarded in vocational and other qualifications, a drop of 4% compared to the previous year. 7% of these were in technical qualifications.

Qualifications

• 20,800 regulated qualifications were available in the academic year 2017-18, an 8% decrease on the previous year.
• The largest increase by qualification type was seen in vocationally-related qualifications.
• The top ten highest volume GCSE subjects accounted for 75% of all GCSE certificates.
• The top ten highest volume A Level subjects accounted for 64% of all A Level certificates.

Awarding organisations

• There were three fewer awarding organisations in 2017-18 compared to the previous year bringing the total to 158.
• The top five awarding organisations by number of certificates issued, accounted for 69% of all certificates.