§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average cost of(a) an A-level, (b) an Advanced GNVQ and (c) a NVQ level 3 or equivalent vocational qualification are; and how many people achieved each of these qualifications in 2003. [174370]
84W
§ Mr. Miliband[holding answer 25 May 2004]: The cost of examination entry is set by the independent awarding bodies. The typical cost of entry and the number of people achieving (a) A-levels (b) Advanced GNVQs and (c) NVQ level 3 or equivalent in England in 2003 are as follows:
Qualification Typical cost of entry1 (£) Number of candidates achieving qualification 2 (a) GCE A-level 66.00 244,426 (b) VCE AS-level 42.00 10,622 VCE A-level 79.00 27,870 VCE Double Award 150.00 34,349 As part of the Curriculum 2000 reforms the Advanced GNVQ was replaced by the Vocational Certificate of Education (VCE) group of qualifications.
Using the most recent data available the number of level 3 NVQs (National Vocational Qualifications) and VRQs (Vocationally Related Qualifications) achieved in 2002/03 are shown in the following table.
Qualification Typical cost of entity 1 (£) Number of qualifications achieved3 (c) NVQ Level 3 110.00 85,196 VRQ Level 3 — 45,076 1 Typical cost of entry is based on entry through Edexcel. These figures have been taken from information provided on the Edexcel website. 2 Information on candidates attempting GCE A levels and VCE qualifications is taken from information collated for the 2003 Performance Tables. 3 Information on achievements for level 3 NVQs and VRQs is taken from the 2002 03 National Information System for Vocational Qualifications (NISVQ). Note: For VRQs the cost is not shown as this would be dependent upon the exact qualification.