The transition from Key Stage 4 (KS4) to post-16 education marks a shift from a broad programme of study (around 8-10 subjects) to a narrower programme (usually 1-4 subjects). Within the constraints of course availability and entry criteria, students must make important choices. Students' post-16 pathways matter because different subjects as well…

Core maths (CM) qualifications were introduced into the post-16 curriculum in England in 2014, with first assessments in 2016. They are a suite of qualifications aimed at students who achieve a grade 4 (originally a grade C) or higher at GCSE Maths but do not go on to take AS or A level Maths. This group comprised around 40% of all students in…

This Statistics Report is the first in a new series produced by the Research Division at Cambridge University Press and Assessment, using publicly available school performance data from the Department for Education (DfE). This report is focused on the uptake of General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) (and IGCSE/International GCSE)…

This Statistics Report is the second in a new series produced by the Research Division at Cambridge University Press and Assessment, using publicly available school performance data from the Department for Education (DfE). This report is focused on the uptake of General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) subjects in England in 2019. The…

This report looks at the provision of GCSE subjects in England in 2021. Provision in a GCSE subject is defined as the number or percentage of schools with at least one student taking the subject. This may not cover all of the actual 'provision' since schools might offer to provide a subject, but none of their students wants to study it. This…

This report is focused on the uptake of A level subjects in England in 2022. Uptake in an A level subject is defined as the number or percentage of students at the end of Key Stage 5 (who have entered for at least one AS or A level) taking the subject. This report was produced using publicly available data from the Department for Education's (DfE)…

This report looks at the provision of A level subjects in England in 2022. Provision in a subject is defined as the number or percentage of schools with at least one student taking the subject. This report was produced using publicly available data from the Department for Education's (DfE) "Find and compare schools in England" service.…

This report looks at the provision of GCSE subjects in England in 2022. This report was produced using publicly available data from the Department for Education's (DfE) "Find and compare schools in England" service. The dataset consisted of Key Stage 4 (KS4) results in all subjects provided by each school in England. Other school…

This Statistics Report is the third in a new series produced by the Research Division at Cambridge University Press and Assessment, using publicly available school performance data from the Department for Education (DfE). The aim of the new series is to provide a continuation of the Statistics Reports that were previously produced using National…

This Statistics Report is the fourth in a new series produced by the Research Division at Cambridge University Press and Assessment, using publicly available school performance data from the Department for Education (DfE). The aim of the new series is to provide a continuation of the Statistics Reports that were previously produced using National…

This year has seen exams take place again for the first time since 2019, a move back towards the pre-pandemic norm for schools and colleges across the country. But the cohort of young people taking exams this year have faced years of disruption to their educations, which has continued even when they've been back in the classroom. Mitigations for…

This research, conducted in 2017, examines the amount of time students spend on building their skills and employability in pre-16 and post-16 education. It covers: (1) qualification hours; (2) non qualification hours; (3) homework and self-study; (4) activities outside of education; and (5) a typical week. Qualification hours are defined as the…

This report investigates the progression of students from General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) to A level; that is, the proportion of students who go on to take an A level in the same (or related) subject. Progression rates are presented by GCSE grade, and student gender. In addition, the report looks at the relationship between GCSE…

This research will investigate the impact of awarding centre assessment grades (CAGs) on the education system. The focus will be on the progression to post-16 study of the students who sat General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) and/or other Level 1/2 qualifications in June 2020. The uptake of qualifications/subjects taken during the…

This report looks at the uptake of General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) (and IGCSE/International GCSE) subjects in England in 2017. The data for these analyses was taken from the National Pupil Database (NPD). This is a database held by the Department for Education, consisting of results for all students in all subjects in schools and…