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Including all approved qualifications in school and college performance indicators

In August 2001, QCA was asked to assign figures to qualifications approved for 14 – 18 year olds in England and to relate these to each other so they could be counted in school and college performance indicators, which are based on attainment at 16 and at 18.

The work was divided into two phases. The first phase, for qualifications approved for pre-16 use, was completed and a report submitted to Ministers in October 2002. The second phase of this work, for remaining qualifications used 16-19, has also been completed, a report being submitted in April 2004. Both reports are available to download at the end of this document.

The aim was to design a manageable method for assigning figures to all qualifications approved for use by 14- to 19-year-olds.

The following sections describe the work:

How did the work come about and what previous work does it build on?
What were the outcomes of the work?

How did the work come about and what previous work does it build on?

Performance tables provide information to young people and their parents about student attainment at an individual institution. However, until now only GCSEs and GNVQs have been recognised in secondary school headline indicators before 16 and only A levels post 16.

In the White Paper Schools - achieving success (2001), Ministers indicated their wish that student attainment in the full range of qualifications (including vocational) be given appropriate recognition. In August of that year, the DfES invited QCA to assign performance figures to all qualifications approved for 14 to 19 year olds so that these could be included in institutional performance indicators. QCA's remit was confirmed with the launch of the 14-19: extending opportunities, raising standards consultation. 14-19 policy intentions are fully explored in the 14 -19: opportunity and excellence (January 2003), the government’s response to the Green Paper consultation.

What were the outcomes of the work?

The first phase of the work was the subject of a pilot study by the DfES in 2003/04. Outcomes of the pilot were published and the DfES implemented the inclusion of all approved qualifications in the secondary tables from autumn 2004. The DfES plans to pilot Phase Two of the work in 2005 with the intention of counting the wider range of post-16 qualifications in 2006.

Performance figures for qualifications are available via the QCA openQUALS system. The figures listed in the Phase One and Phase Two reports should not be considered up to date or final.

The performance tables have been renamed achievement and attainment tables.

QCA web links

NDAQ (National Database of Accredited Qualifications

Documents to download

Annex 1 - Figures for qualifications approved 16-18 (2.34MB)

Annex 2 - Capping methodology (277KB)

Annex 3 - Principles underlying discounting (132.4KB)

Annex 4 - Level 3 qualifications contributing to the Level 2 threshold (89.2KB)

Annex 5 - Assigning sizes to NVQs (134.1KB)

Annex 6 - IB comparability and inclusion in the performance tables (185.5KB)

FAQs about figures for the school and college performance indicators (94kb)