11.7 million certificates were awarded in England in GCSE, AS, A Level, vocational and other qualifications in 2018-19, according to Ofqual’s latest annual qualifications market report.  This represents a decline of 1% compared to the previous year.  Other trends emerging from the report include:

Certificates

• The number of overall certificates for A Level qualifications decreased by 2% compared to the previous year. 
• AS certificates continued to decline following the de-coupling from the A Level – down 59%. 
• The number of overall certificates for GCSE qualifications increased slightly by just over 1%, driven by a rise in certificates in EBacc subjects. 
• The number of certificates in vocational qualifications decreased slightly by 1%. 
• 555,000 Technical and Applied General qualification certificates were awarded.

• 19,400 regulated qualifications were available in the academic year 2018-19 - a 7% decrease on the previous year. 
• The top 10 highest volume GCSE subjects accounted for 79% of all GCSE certificates. 
• The top 10 highest volume A Level subjects accounted for 67% of all A Level certificates.
  

• There were 2 more Awarding Organisations in 2018-19 compared to the previous year bringing the total to 160. 
• The 20 Awarding Organisations reporting the highest volume of certificates awarded over 88% of all certificates.