Research and analysis

Data specifications for GRADE data sharing

Specifications of the data sets for the Grading and Admissions Data for England (GRADE) project.

• From: Ofqual
• Published: 14 October 2021
• Last updated: 31 July 2026 — See all updates

Applies to England

Documents

ONS SRS Metadata Catalogue: GRading and Admissions Data England-Ofqual-DfE-UCAS

https://ons.metadata.works/browser/dataset/361/0

Details

GRADE (Grading and Admissions Data for England) is a joint open data initiative by Ofqual, the Department for Education, and UCAS. The main aim is to make data available for independent research that serves the public good.

GRADE makes available a data set of linked micro-data from Ofqual, DfE and UCAS covering the period between 2017 to 2024. The GRADE data set includes detailed information on students’ progression from school to universities and colleges. It includes information on students’ qualifications, prior schooling, socio-economic background and their university and college applications and admissions.

The GRADE data set includes 3 main sources of data:

• Ofqual – Summer awarding data routinely submitted by awarding organisations covering students of all ages taking GCSEs or A levels in the summer exam series in schools and colleges in England
• Department for Education – extracts of the National Pupil Database (NPD) covering school-aged learners in England, with data on GCSEs and A levels linked to students’ socio-economic characteristics
• UCAS – university application process data covering English 18-year-olds cohorts for the UCAS application cycles

The GRADE data set is shared by the Office for National Statistics under the Digital Economy Act 2017 and can be accessed under the Research Accreditation Framework via the Secure Research Service (SRS).

For more information, see the GRADE user guide.

Published 14 October 2021

Last updated 31 July 2026 — Show all updates

1. 31 July 2026

   Updated data specifications to reflect the third release of the GRADE data set with added years 2023 to 2024

2. 23 July 2025

   GRADE DfE data specification updated to add specifications for npd_urn_lookup and to add information on pseudonymised "missing" URNP values

3. 8 January 2025

   Updated the 'GRADE UCAS data specification' HTML attachment. Updated the 'GRADE Ofqual data specification' file attachment. Updated the 'GRADE DfE data specification' file attachment.

4. 14 October 2021

   First published.