# Understanding the harmonisation of LPS highest educational qualification variables
>Last modified: 23 Jan 2026
<div style="background-color: rgba(0, 178, 169, 0.3); padding: 5px; border-radius: 5px;"><strong>UK LLC has harmonised data on education for LPS participants and their parents (where available).</strong></div>  

## Introduction  

Qualifications have been standardised to the closest equivalent in the current education system in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. These summarised as <strong><a href="https://www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-levels-mean/list-of-qualification-levels" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ)</a></strong> levels. Qualifications awarded in Scotland have been harmonised to their equivalents in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.  

Where LPS asked participants a single question about their highest qualification, UK LLC uses this answer as the basis of the harmonised variable(s). Some LPS asked a multiple response question about all the qualifications participants had. In these case, UK LLC extracted the highest qualification from the list. 

> N.B. As qualifications have been asked about in different ways, and have changed over time, there is some overlap in the categories used to generate the harmonised variables.  

The qualifications included in each category used by UK LLC are summarised in below.   
<br>
**Highest educational qualification categories:**  
<details><summary>None</summary>  

None  
None attempted
</details>
<details><summary>Low or none</summary>  

None  
None attempted  
Primary (or equivalent)  
Some primary (not complete)  
NVQ1 level  
NVQ1/CSE other grade equivalent  
Vocational course, proficiency only  
Sub GCE or sub Burnham C  
CSES or equivalent   

</details>
<details><summary>NVQ1 equivalent</summary>  

NVQ1 level  
NVQ1/CSE other grade equivalent  
Vocational course, proficiency only  
Sub GCE or sub Burnham C  
</details>
<details><summary>NVQ2 equivalent</summary>  

NVQ2 level  
NVQ2/GCE O' level equivalent  
O' level  
GCE O' level or Burnham C  
GCE O' levels/CSE or equivalent  
Apprenticeship  
GCSE etc  
CSES or equivalent  
O' levels, GCSES or equivalent  
</details>
<details><summary>GCSE</summary>  

NVQ2 level  
NVQ2/GCE O' level equivalent  
O' level  
GCSE/O' level/Intermediate/Junior/Group certificate or equivalent  
GCE O' level or Burnham C  
GCE O' Levels/CSE or equivalent  
Apprenticeship  
GCSE etc  
O' levels, GCSES or equivalent  
</details>  

<details><summary>NVQ3 equivalent (A' level)</summary>  

NVQ3 level  
NVQ3/GCE A' level equivalent  
ONC/OND/BTEC, NVQ level 3, City and Guilds advanced craft or equivalent  
A' level  
A' level/Leaving certificate or equivalent  
AS levels or equivalent  
GCE A' Level or Burnham B  
Burnham A2  
</details>  
<details><summary>NVQ4 equivalent</summary>  

NVQ4 level  
Diploma/certificate  
Undergraduate Primary degree  
1st Degree or graduate equivalent  
Higher education below degree  
</details>
<details><summary>NVQ5 equivalent</summary>  

NVQ5 level  
Postgraduate/higher degree  
Masters  
Doctorate  
</details>
<details><summary>Other</summary>  

Foreign/overseas qualifications  
Other academic qualifications  
Other qualifications   
</details>
<br>
UK LLC has harmonised data about education into four categories for LPS participants and two categories for participants' parents. These are summarised in Tables 1 and 2. Harmonised education information is provided for each LPS at the most granular level available. 

**Table 1: summary of LPS participants' harmonised education variables**  

| llc_educ_1<br>8 categories | llc_educ_2<br>6 categories | llc_educ_3<br>6 categories | llc_educ_4<br>4 categories |
|:---|:---|:---|:---|
| None | None | Low or none | A' level or lower (inc. none) |
| NVQ1 equivalent | NVQ1/2 equivalent | GCSE | A' level or lower (inc. none) |  
| NVQ2 equivalent |NVQ1/2 equivalent | GCSE | A' level or lower (inc. none) |
| NVQ3 equivalent (A' level) | NVQ3 equivalent (A' level) | NVQ3 equivalent (A' level) | A' level or lower (inc. none) |
| NVQ4 equivalent | NVQ4/5 equivalent | NVQ4/5 equivalent | NVQ4/5 equivalent |
| NVQ5 equivalent | NVQ4/5 equivalent | NVQ4/5 equivalent | NVQ4/5 equivalent |
| Other | Other | Other | Other |
| NA<sup>1</sup> | NA | NA | NA |

**Table 2: summary of harmonised education variables for LPS participants parent(s)**  

|llc_educ_M1<sup>2</sup><br>3 categories | llc_educ_M2<br>3 categories |
|:---|:---|
| | A' level or lower (inc. none) |
| Below degree or equivalent (inc. none) | |
| | NVQ4/5 equivalent |
| Degree or higher || 
| NA<sup>1</sup> | NA |  

**Notes**  
<sup>1</sup> 'NA' refers to participants who returned the questionnaire but did not answe the relevant question(s). Participants not included in the data collection sweep are not included in the harmonised education dataset.  
<sup>2</sup> The '**M**' in the variable name refers to 'mother' and is used where LPS have specifically asked participants about their mother's qualifications. Fathers' qualifications are recorded in the variables suffixed **F1** and **F2**. Where educational information is recorded about either an unspecified parent, or a mother's partner, these are have the suffixes **P1** and **P2**.



 


>This [**spreadsheet**](../../../../images/lps_education_v1.xltm) summarises the categories of qualifications used by each LPS and how these have been harmonised by UK LLC.