GovWire

Context

In quarter 4 2022 (October to December) there were no COVID-19 restrictions in place in England. Adaptations to vocational and other qualifications continued to be permitted, in line with our regulatory arrangements (further information is provided in the background notes). The trends seen in this quarter may have been affected as a result.

Main trends for quarter 4 (October to December) 2022

• This is an increase of 2% from quarter 4 2021 (782,000 certificates).

• This is an increase of 7% relative to the number of certificates issued between January 2021 and December 2021 (4.6 million certificates).
• Despite this increase, the number of certificates issued in January 2022 to December 2022 is still below pre-pandemic levels, with 800,000 fewer certificates issued than between January 2019 and December 2019 (5.7 million certificates).

Qualification type

• Occupational Qualifications saw the largest increase compared to quarter 4 2021 (from 112,090 certificates in quarter 4 2021 to 131,385 certificates in quarter 4 2022, an increase of 17%).
• Other Life Skills Qualifications showed the largest decrease compared to quarter 4 2021(from 45,980 certificates in quarter 4 2021 to 36,785 certificates in quarter 4 2022, a decrease of 20%).

Qualification level

• Most qualification levels saw an increase in the numbers of certificates issued compared to quarter 4 2021.
• The largest decreases in numbers were seen in Level 5 qualifications (from 13,620 certificates in quarter 4 2021 to 11,815 certificates in quarter 4 2022, a decrease of 13%) and Level 6 qualifications (from 3,330 certificates in quarter 4 2021 to 2,745 certificates in quarter 4 2022, a decrease of 18%).
• The largest increase in numbers was seen for Level 2 qualifications (from 261,560 certificates in quarter 4 2021 to 268,070 certificates in quarter 4 2022, an increase of 2%).

Sector subject area

• Most subject sector areas saw increases in number of certificates awarded in quarter 4 2022 compared to quarter 4 2021.
• Retail and Commercial Enterprise saw the largest decrease in number of certificates compared to quarter 4 2021 (from 52,440 certificates in quarter 4 2021 to 47,665 certificates in quarter 4 2022, a decrease of 9%).
• The largest increase in the number of certificates was seen in Health, Public Services and Care saw the largest increase in number of certificates compared to quarter 4 2021 (from 260,930 certificates in quarter 4 2021 to 274,400 certificates in quarter 4 2022, an increase of 5%).

Qualifications with the most certificates

• The two qualifications with the highest number of certificates awarded in quarter 4 2022 were the Qualsafe Level 3 Award in Emergency First Aid at Work (RQF) and FAA Level 3 Award in Emergency First Aid at Work.
• These qualifications were also the most awarded qualifications in quarter 4 2021.
• In quarter 4 2022, Highfield Level 3 Award in Emergency First Aid at Work (RQF) had the third highest number of certificates.

Awarding organisations with the most certificates

• The awarding organisation with the highest number of certificates issued in this quarter was City and Guilds, followed by Highfield, then Qualsafe.
• City and Guilds saw a 4.9% increase in the number of certificates compared to quarter 4 2021 (from 86,780 certificates in quarter 4 2021 to 91,020 certificates in quarter 4 2022).
• Highfield and Qualsafe saw increases of 11% (from 67,355 certificates in quarter 4 2021 to 74,670 certificates in quarter 4 2022) and 6.0% (from 58,605 certificates in quarter 4 2021 to 62,125 certificates in quarter 4 2022), respectively.
• The awarding organisation with the highest number of certificates issued between January 2022 and December 2022 was Pearson, followed by City and Guilds, then NCFE.
• These 3 awarding organisations had also issued the highest number of certificates in January 2021 to December 2021, in the same order.

Datasets

The dataset used to produce this re

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