Ofqual data includes information on each GCSE and A level qualification as provided by an awarding organisation and taken by pupils in England, regardless of their age. The backbone of the Ofqual data is the "summer awarding" data, that is the data collected for each qualification taken by pupils prior to grades being issued to centres and students in August each year. The Ofqual data will also include the grade awarded to pupils who asked for a review of marking and moderation. The qualifications dataset includes details on the qualifications taken (e.g. subject, awarding organisation, tier of entry), as well as granular data on pupils attainment (e.g. grades and marks). Information about pupils, such as gender and age, is also contained in this dataset. For 2020, given that exams were cancelled and alternative approaches to grading taken, each entry was used to determine the awarded grade. These alternative grading approaches will also be included in the qualifications dataset, along with the details of pupils' prior attainment: an indicator of Key Stage 2 attainment for GCSE pupils, indicators of GCSE attainment for A level students. In addition to the qualifications dataset, Ofqual data features two more data tables: a centres dataset with key information on the school or college attended (type and geographical location), a grade boundaries dataset which allows researchers to interpret the marks in the main qualifications dataset.

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