Everything in this Explorer describes observed provision. That is a narrower idea than it sounds, and the difference matters.
If a school or college has exam entries in a subject, students were entered for it. That is strong evidence the subject was taught.
If it has no entries, that tells you much less. The subject may have been advertised, timetabled and taught without producing an entry in that particular year.
The DfE data set behind this Explorer records what students were entered for at the end of 16-18 study. It is an examinations record, not a prospectus. No public data set lists what every school and college in England advertises, so the Explorer measures the thing that is actually recorded and is careful never to claim more than that.
This is why you will see phrases like institutions with entries, observed provision and no entries recorded in 2025, and why you will not see “offered”, “dropped” or “unavailable”.
Observed provision is a reliable way to answer questions about where a subject is actually happening and at what scale. Across 2,626 institutions with A-level entries, it shows that Mathematics reaches 95.4% of them and German 24.1% — and that German’s median entry cohort is two students. Those are facts about entries, and they are solid.
Counting how many schools offer a subject. Judging whether a school is good at a subject. Inferring what students wanted to study. For each of those, entries are the wrong instrument, and the Explorer does not use them that way.
Last checked 17 August 2026. Observed provision is based on recorded exam entries. An institution with no recorded entries in a subject may still have offered it — see what subject provision means.