Completion, Retention and Pass Rates in PICSWeb QAR Calculations

Owned by James Francis
Last updated: May 03, 2022 by Joe Robson (Unlicensed)
2 min read

In addition to the Achievement Rate, which is the percentage of aims which have achieved, the QAR reports also include the Retention Rate and the Pass Rate. These rates are only included for Overall reports.

In order to calculate the Retention and Pass rates, the number of Completers is identified. These are all aims with a Completion Status of 2 (Complete).

Retention and Pass rates are only included in the official ESFA specification for Education and Training reports. However all PICS QAR report types include these rates.

Retention Rate

The Retention Rate shows the percentage of aims which reached completion and did not withdraw early.

Once the cohort of aims is identified for the year as per the normal Overall Year calculation, the Retention Rate percentage is calculated as:

Number of Completed aims in cohort Total number of aims in cohort 100

Pass Rate

The Pass Rate the number of aims which were successful (achieved) as a percentage of those which were completed.

Once the cohort of aims is identified for the year as per the normal Overall Year calculation, the Pass Rate percentage is calculated as:

Number of Achieved aims in cohort Number of Completed aims in cohort 100

Viewing the Retention and Pass Rates in PICSWeb

The Retention and Pass rates are available in PICSWeb via the Interactive view of the QAR report. To display the data, select Achievement, Retention and Pass Rate in the Table Type menu.

Charts views are also available. These are:

  • Achievement, Retention and Pass Rate (shows rates for the latest QAR year)

  • Retention Rate (3 year)

  • Pass Rate (3 year)