11.8 million certificates were issued across 10,190 active qualifications in England in the 2024 to 2025 academic year. Four awarding organisations account for around two-thirds of them, and the largest single one — AQA, at 34.0% — issues more than one certificate in every three.

Those are Ofqual’s figures from its Annual Qualifications Market Report, drawn from the Register of Regulated Qualifications as extracted on 10 February 2026. This page sets out who awards what, and — importantly — how this release differs from the quarterly bulletin that reports a different number for what sounds like the same thing.

The headline figures

The split is the thing worth sitting with. General qualifications — GCSEs, AS and A levels — account for 6.5 million certificates, and everything else accounts for 5.3 million. The vocational and technical side of English education is very nearly the same size as the academic side by volume, and it is spread across thousands of qualifications rather than a few dozen.

Who awards them

Two things follow for a student. First, whoever your awarding organisation is, the assessment rules that govern you come from them rather than from your college — the tier structure is set out in our guide to who regulates and awards UK qualifications. Second, the concentration is uneven by qualification type: the organisations that dominate GCSEs and A levels are not necessarily the ones dominating vocational provision, so an overall market share is a blunt instrument for working out who is likely to own your particular qualification.

Note that these shares are across all qualification types in scope of the release. Pearson’s 20.1% overall, for instance, spans both general qualifications and its large vocational portfolio including BTECs and BTEC Higher Nationals.

Why this report says 5.3 million and the quarterly bulletin says 5.2 million

This is the kind of discrepancy that gets miscited constantly, so it is worth being precise. Ofqual publishes vocational certificate figures through two different releases with different reporting windows:

These do not contradict each other. They are twelve-month totals over two different twelve-month periods, offset by a quarter, and the direction of travel differs because the quarters at each end differ. Our vocational qualification statistics page covers the quarterly series in detail.

The practical rule: quote the window, not just the year. “5.2 million in 2025” and “5.3 million in 2024-25” are both correct and refer to different things. Writing either without the period is how a citation becomes wrong without anyone editing it.

Both releases share one scope exclusion worth carrying: neither counts apprenticeship end-point assessments, Apprenticeship Assessment Qualifications or T Level Technical Qualifications. So neither is a measure of technical education as a whole.

10,190 active qualifications — what that number means

An “active” qualification is one that is available and had certificates issued during the year. That definition matters: the Register of Regulated Qualifications contains many more entries than 10,190, including qualifications that exist but awarded nobody anything that year.

For a student, the useful consequence is that a qualification being on the Register does not tell you it is currently being taught, recruited to, or valued. If you are choosing a course, ask how many people completed that specific qualification recently, not whether it is regulated.

It also puts the scale of choice in perspective. Ten thousand active qualifications is far more than any careers adviser can hold in mind, which is why course choice is best driven by the level and the destination rather than by browsing. Our guides to RQF and FHEQ levels and to the Level 3 routes are the more useful starting points.

How to cite these figures

1. Name the release and the window. “Ofqual, Annual Qualifications Market Report, academic year 2024 to 2025” — the window is doing real work here.
2. Say when the Register was extracted if you quote qualification counts: 10 February 2026 for this release. The Register is continually updated, so the count is a snapshot.
3. Do not present market share as quality. It measures volume of certificates, nothing else.
4. Give the exclusions if your claim concerns technical education, because EPAs and T Level TQs are outside both releases.

Frequently asked questions

How many certificates are issued in England each year?

11.8 million across GCSE, AS, A level, vocational and other qualifications in the 2024 to 2025 academic year, up 0.2% on the previous year.

Which awarding organisation is the largest?

AQA, with 34.0% of certificates issued across all qualification types in scope of the release, followed by Pearson at 20.1%, Cambridge OCR at 6.3% and WJEC at 4.8%.

How many regulated qualifications are there?

10,190 were active in 2024 to 2025 — meaning available with certificates issued. The Register of Regulated Qualifications contains more entries than that, including qualifications that awarded nothing during the year.

Why do two Ofqual reports give different vocational figures?

Different reporting windows. The market report covers the academic year October 2024 to September 2025 (5.3 million, up 0.5%); the quarterly bulletin covers the calendar year January to December 2025 (5.2 million, down 0.4%). Both are correct for their period.

Are vocational qualifications as common as GCSEs and A levels?

Close, by certificate volume. General qualifications accounted for 6.5 million certificates and vocational and other qualifications for 5.3 million in the same academic year.

Do these figures include apprenticeships and T Levels?

No. Apprenticeship end-point assessments, Apprenticeship Assessment Qualifications and T Level Technical Qualifications are excluded from the counts in both releases.

Does a big market share mean a better qualification?

No. Market share measures how many certificates an organisation issued and says nothing about the quality, difficulty or standing of any particular qualification.