The Qualification and Achievement Rate reports (QARs) in PICSWeb are based on the calculations defined in the official QAR Specifications Published by the ESFA each year. The calculations are complex and differ between the various reports, but the general principles are the same.

The QAR Reports are split into five report types:

• Apprenticeships (Programmes)

• Apprenticeships (Component Aims)

• Traineeships (Programmes)

• Traineeships (Component Aims)

• Education and Training

Within each report, the rates can be analysed by one of two measures: Overall and Timely Achievement. These are detailed below.

Although the ESFA reports refer to counting “learners” or “leavers”, all QAR figures are based on learning aims, whether programme aims (for Apprenticeships and Traineeship programme reports) or individual component aims (Apprenticeship or Traineeship component reports, and Education & Training).

Within each measure, learning aims are assigned to an academic year cohort. The year in which a learner aim is counted varies between Overall and Timely reports, so the same learning aim can be counted in different years between them.

Open

Overall Achievement

This shows the achievement rate for ended aims, i.e. where the ILR Actual End date is set, and shows the percentage of aims that were achieved vs the total number of aims in a given year.

For Apprenticeships and Traineeship Programme reports only the programme aims are reported, but for the remaining reports component aims are reported individually.

Deciding if the Aim is Included in the Overall Achievement Rate

The QAR includes all aims from the latest reporting year and the previous 4 years. This includes:

• Any aim with an Aim Actual End date in the latest report year and before the Report End date.

• Any aim with an Aim Actual End date in the four years previous to the latest report year.

For instance, a QAR report run with a date of 31/07/2021 will include all aims with an Actual End date on or after 01/08/2016.

Some aims are excluded from the Overall Achievement Rates calculations. There are many reasons why an aim would be excluded - see Achievement Rate Exclusions for a full list. The primary reasons are listed here:

• Aim has no end date

• Hybrid End Date / Overall Year (see below) is after the end if the QAR report year

• Apprenticeship Standard at EPA (Outcome = 8)

• Learner is on a planned break (and is not an Overdue Planned Break)

• Learner has transferred to a different programme within the same provider

• Learner has transferred to a different provider (enforced by the ESFA)

• The aim ended before the qualifying start period

Determining the Overall Year

To calculate the cohort of aims to include for a given year, all ended aims (i.e with an actual end date) for the relevant report type are assigned an Overall Year.

The ESFA consider several dates to identify the Overall Year as below:

Once the relevant dates are identified, the latest of these is used to calculate the Overall Year, known as the Hybrid End Date. The academic year in which this date falls is the Overall Year.

Identifying Achievement

For all reports, any aim is deemed to be an Overall Achiever if the Outcome is set to 1: Achieved.

Traineeship Programme aims must also have a positive Destination & Progression record to be identified as achieved, based on employment or education outcomes. See Traineeship Programme Achievement Rates for more detail.

Calculating the Achievement Rate

Once the Overall Year and Overall Achiever fields have been calculated for all aims, and excluded aims removed, it is possible to determine the Achievement Rate for the year.

First, identify all aims with the Overall Year set to the required year. This is the cohort.
Then the achievement rate percentage can be calculated as:

Timely Achievement

Timely achievement rates show the percentage of aims that were achieved when expected, i.e. on or before the Aim Planned End date, or within 90 days after it.

They include all aims which have already ended, plus those that are still in learning but are past their Planned End date by more than 90 days (and therefore can never be a successful timely achiever, unless the data is backdated).

Deciding if the Aim is Included in the Timely Achievement Rate

The QAR includes all aims from the latest reporting year and the previous 4 years. This includes:

• Any aim with an Aim Actual End date in the latest report year and before the Report End date.

• Any aim with an Aim Actual End date in the four years previous to the latest report year.

• Any aim with a blank Aim Actual End date and an Aim Start date before the Report End date. The Aim Planned End date plus 90 days must be before the Report Date.

For instance, a QAR report run with a date of 31/07/2021 will include all aims with an Actual End date on or after 01/08/2016, and all non-ended aims with a start date on or before 31/07/2021.

Some aims are excluded from the Timely Achievement Rates calculations. There are many reasons why an aim would be excluded - see Achievement Rate Exclusions for a full list. The primary reasons are listed here:

• Expected End date / Timely Year (see below) is after the end if the QAR report year

• Learner is on a planned break (and is not an Overdue Planned Break) and the planned break started before the expected end date plus 90 days.

• Learner has transferred to a different programme within the same provider and the transfer was before the expected end date plus 90 days.

• Learner has transferred to a different provider (enforced by the ESFA) and the transfer was before the expected end date plus 90 days.

• The aim ended before the qualifying start period

Determining the Timely Year

The Timely report is simpler than the Overall report as only the Aim Expected End date is used to identify the year cohort. The academic year in which this date falls is the Timely Year.

Calculating Timely Achievement

For all reports, any aim is deemed to be a Timely Achiever if the Outcome is set to 1: Achieved, and the Aim Actual End date is on or before the Aim Planned End date, or no more than 90 days after it.

Calculating the Timely Achievement Rate

Once the Timely Year and Timely Achiever fields have been calculated for all aims, and excluded aims removed, it is possible to determine the Timely Achievement Rate for the year.

First, take all aims with the Timely Year set to the required year. This is the cohort.
Then the achievement rate percentage can be calculated as: