Guidance

Review of level 3 qualifications reform: final outcomes

Final list of post-16 level 3 qualifications that have had their funding approval extended or removed from 1 August 2025.

Applies to England

Documents

Details

Following the publication of the post-16 education and skills white paper and the post-16 level 3 and below pathways, the list of qualifications due to be defunded from 1 August 2026 and 1 August 2027 will be reviewed shortly.

As part of a review of post-16 qualification reforms, the Department for Education (DfE) considered all level 3 qualifications that were in scope to have funding approval removed from 1 August 2025.

This includes:

  • qualifications that overlap with T Levels in waves 1, 2, 3 or 4
  • level 3 qualifications that are in scope to have funding approval removed in cycle 1
  • qualifications which providers identified in their cycle 1 submissions as being replaced by a reformed qualification (even where the replacement qualifications were not approved for funding)

This workbook has 2 tabs:

  • Approval extended tab - lists qualifications that have had their funding approval extended and the length of extension
  • Approval not extended tab - lists the qualifications that have not had funding approval extended into 2025 to 2026 and the reason why

An equality impact assessment looking at the effect changes to post-16 qualifications at level 3 will have on specific protected groups of people, is also available.

Updates to this page

Published 12 December 2024
Last updated 24 October 2025 show all updates
  1. Updated to say that the list of qualifications due to be defunded from 1 August 2026 and 1 August 2027 will be reviewed shortly.

  2. We have finalised the list of outcomes of the review of post 16 reforms after completing the procedural review.

  3. First published.

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