In response to a recent request, we have collated the UK amateur radio exam stats, showing the number of new entrants to the hobby annually, and the percentage pass rates for the UK exam.
Number of new amateurs
This graph shows those passing an entrance-level exam since 1980. Data for 2002-2004 is a “best guess”, as only partial data could be found in the public domain. The increase in 2020 is related to the switch to online exams due to Covid.
Number of Passes per Year
This table and graph show the total number of people passing each of the 3 UK licence exams:
| Foundation | Intermediate | Full | |
| 2015 | 1475 | 632 | 300 |
| 2016 | 1438 | 661 | 290 |
| 2017 | 1310 | 592 | 250 |
| 2018 | 1366 | 696 | 292 |
| 2019 | 1384 | 684 | 348 |
| 2020 | 2774 | 759 | 258 |
Percentage pass rate
This table and graph show the percentage pass rate for all 3 UK licence exams:
| Foundation | Intermediate | Full | |
| 2015 | 84.9% | 92.5% | 62.1% |
| 2016 | 84.1% | 95.2% | 70.2% |
| 2017 | 81.5% | 91.6% | 68.6% |
| 2018 | 86.0% | 93.3% | 61.6% |
| 2019 | 83.0% | 91.0% | 54.0% |
| 2020 | 89.9% | 87.4% | 68.3% |
Progression Rate
Tracking progression from Foundation-to-Intermediate, and Intermediate-to-Full based only on yearly passes is not a true representation of actual progression (as students don’t always pass in the same year). This graph shows the exam passes at higher levels as a percentage of the previous level, based on data in the public domain – although the precise percentages aren’t known, this still remains a useful graph as an indication of the progression trend over time.
Data is sourced from published RSGB stats from various RSGB reports and publications. Data is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication.
