Grading and Admissions Data for England (GRADE) framework
A data sharing framework for linked administrative data on education, assessment and university admissions.
- From:
- Ofqual
- Published
- 29 April 2022
- Last updated
- 8 January 2025 — See all updates
Applies to England
Documents


Grading and Admissions Data for England (GRADE) framework
Ref: Ofqual/22/6923
PDF, 649 KB, 29 pages
This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.
Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a
version of this document in a more accessible format, please email publications@ofqual.gov.uk.
Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.
Details
The GRADE (Grading and Admissions Data for England) data sharing project is a joint open data initiative by Ofqual, Ofsted, the Department for Education (DfE) and UCAS. Its main objective is to provide accredited external researchers with access to data to conduct independent research on the educational, assessment and admission systems in England, and to facilitate internal analysis.
Updates to this page
Published 29 April 2022
Last updated 8 January 2025
+ show all updates
-
Added the HTML page 'Grading and Admissions Data for England (GRADE) user guide'.
-
First published.
Update history
2026-07-31 08:52
Updated user guide to reflect the third release of the GRADE data set with added years 2023 to 2024
2025-07-21 10:01
Added information for the new lookup table of pseudonymised unique school reference numbers in the DfE dataset.
2025-01-24 11:03
Added PDF file for Grading and Admissions Data for England (GRADE) user guide and removed GRADE framework files, which are superseded by the user guide.
2025-01-08 09:30
Added the HTML page ‘Grading and Admissions Data for England (GRADE) user guide’.
2022-04-29 11:00
First published.

Grading and Admissions Data for England (GRADE) framework
Ref: Ofqual/22/6923
PDF, 649 KB, 29 pages
This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.
Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a
version of this document in a more accessible format, please email publications@ofqual.gov.uk.
Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.
Ref: Ofqual/22/6923
This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.
Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a
version of this document in a more accessible format, please email publications@ofqual.gov.uk.
Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.
Details
The GRADE (Grading and Admissions Data for England) data sharing project is a joint open data initiative by Ofqual, Ofsted, the Department for Education (DfE) and UCAS. Its main objective is to provide accredited external researchers with access to data to conduct independent research on the educational, assessment and admission systems in England, and to facilitate internal analysis.
Updates to this page
Published 29 April 2022
Last updated 8 January 2025
+ show all updates
-
Added the HTML page 'Grading and Admissions Data for England (GRADE) user guide'.
-
First published.
Details
The GRADE (Grading and Admissions Data for England) data sharing project is a joint open data initiative by Ofqual, Ofsted, the Department for Education (DfE) and UCAS. Its main objective is to provide accredited external researchers with access to data to conduct independent research on the educational, assessment and admission systems in England, and to facilitate internal analysis.
Updates to this page
Published 29 April 2022Last updated 8 January 2025 + show all updates
-
Added the HTML page 'Grading and Admissions Data for England (GRADE) user guide'.
-
First published.
Update history
2026-07-31 08:52
Updated user guide to reflect the third release of the GRADE data set with added years 2023 to 2024
2025-07-21 10:01
Added information for the new lookup table of pseudonymised unique school reference numbers in the DfE dataset.
2025-01-24 11:03
Added PDF file for Grading and Admissions Data for England (GRADE) user guide and removed GRADE framework files, which are superseded by the user guide.
2025-01-08 09:30
Added the HTML page ‘Grading and Admissions Data for England (GRADE) user guide’.
2022-04-29 11:00
First published.