Resources for further education colleges and other training organisations to:

• understand what qualification achievement rates (QARs) are and their purpose

• access current QAR guidance

• access QAR dashboards and data extracts

• resolve QAR queries

The purpose of QARs

Qualification achievement rates (QARs) give one measure of how well further education (FE) colleges and other training organisations perform each year.

QARs use Individualised Learner Record (ILR) data to calculate what proportion of learning was successfully completed and the result is shown as a percentage figure.

QAR uses include:

• national statistics

• monitoring activities such as performance management by organisations including the Department for Education, Strategic Authorities (including formerlyformally named Mayoral Combined Authorities) and Ofsted

• accountabilityacountability measures such as the apprenticeships accountability framework

• self assessment (training organisations analysing their own performance)

QARs are produced for:

• 19+ education and training
• 16 to 19 programmes
• Advanced Learner Loans
• tailored learning 
• apprenticeships

Qualification achievement rates guidance

The QAR guidance sets out:

• out the policy for QARs
• , the technical specifications that define precisely how they are calculated
• and what data is included or excluded
excluded.  

QAR in-year data releases and data extract guidance give information on:

• what in-year data is shared
• how training organisations can identify and resolve data issues

GuidancePreviously onthis QARinformation forconsists 2025of towas 2026found isin available.3 separate publications:

Previous

• QAR guidance:
  business rules
  • technical specifications
  • QAR data

  Following user research in the 2023 to 2024 period the in-year QAR guidance can now be found in one place at: qualification achievement rates 2024 to 2025.

  Previous qualification achievement rate guidance:

  • 2023 to 2024

  • 2022 to 2023

  • 2021 to 2022

  • 2020 to 2021

  • 2019 to 2020

  Checking QAR data in-year

  Although all of the achievement data will not yet have been recorded in the ILR,individualised learner record, training organisations get early sight of their data to identify and resolve potential data issues prior to the final ILR collection (R14).(R14), Thiswhich closes in mid-October each year.

  The in-year data releases guidance gives examples of common data issues to check for, such as duplicate records, and explains how to resolve them.

  It is important that training organisations use this in-year QAR to review their datadata, for errors as it cannot be changed after the R14 ILR collection. Summary QAR data and a detailed data extract are created each year in:created:

  • July,in usingJuly each year using the training organisation’s R10 ILR data

  • September,in September each year using the training organisation’s R12 ILR data

  In-year data is not published externally, it is only intended for use by training organisations.

  Provisional QAR data

  Training organisations can view their provisional QAR data following the submission of their R14 ILR each year. This gives them a final chance to check that the QAR methodology has been applied correctly. In previous years the provisional QAR was released in January but from the 2024 to 2025 reporting period this will be released in November. The final QAR data is published in the national achievement rate tables in the first quarter of each year.

  Possible errors with the way the methodology has been applied should be reported through the customer help portal.

  How to access QAR data

  Training organisations access their QAR data through View your education data (VYED). To register for VYED, training organisations need to have a DfE Sign-in (DSI).

  For access, users must have the QAR sub service added to their DSI account.

  QARs are published annually in national achievement rates tables (NARTs), which enable training organisations to benchmark their performance. They are available on the explore education statistics platform in the statistical releases:at:

  • Apprenticeships NARTs 
  • FurtherEducation education and skillstraining NARTs

  Get help with QARs

  The in-year data release guidance contains all the information needed to understand how QARs are calculated.

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