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Qualification funding approval manual

From:
Department for Education
Published:
12 December 2025
Updated:
12 December 2025 - See all updates

Free courses for jobs

Criteria and approvals that qualifications in the free courses for jobs offer need to meet.

Before you ask us to consider level 3 qualifications for the free courses for jobs offer, you must first gain funding approval for them in either: 

  • loans 

  • the level 3 statutory entitlement 

Before you ask us to consider level 2 qualifications for the free courses for jobs offer, you must first gain funding approval in either: 

  • the adult skills fund (ASF)  a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)  funded local flexibility offer 

  • the level 2 statutory entitlement

Strategic authorities (SAs) that have devolved adult education functions in England and areas or authorities that are on the local authority (LA) pathway to devolution pilot in England can also ask that we add a qualification to the national level 3 free courses for jobs offer. 

These authorities should check if a qualification has been approved in an appropriate offer on our list of qualifications approved for funding website before submitting their request. 

You can submit a request by completing the relevant form on the qualifications funding and approval service tool  QFAST before 5pm on: 

  • 29 April 2027 for outcomes communicated in July 2027 

  • 30 September 2027 for outcomes communicated in December 2027

Engineering and manufacturing qualifications expansion

For the 2026 to 2027 academic year, DWP have expanded the national list of qualifications approved for funding through the Free Courses for Jobs (FCFJ) offer to include additional level 2 engineering and manufacturing qualifications . 

This expansion includes: 

  • 49 reformed Level 2 engineering qualifications 

  • 23 reformed Level 2 manufacturing technologies qualifications. 

These qualifications were eligible for delivery from 1 August 2026.

Approval criteria

These qualifications must also meet the common funding approval criteria.

Adults in England who are 19 and over and do not already have a level 2 qualification in building and construction can undertake a level 2 qualification in building and construction for free to support the government’s drive to increase and improve construction skills. This also applies to level 2 qualifications in engineering or manufacturing technologies.

Adults in England are also eligible if they are earning under the earnings threshold annually, or are unemployed, regardless of their prior qualification level.

Learn more about free courses for jobs.

We identified the sectors for this offer by:

This offer includes qualifications in the following sector subject areas:

  • accounting and finance
  • agriculture
  • building and construction
  • business management
  • child development and well-being
  • engineering
  • environmental conservation
  • health and social care
  • horticulture and forestry
  • hospitality and catering
  • digital technology (users)
  • digital technology (practitioners)
  • manufacturing technologies
  • mathematics and statistics
  • medicine and dentistry
  • nursing and subjects and vocations allied to medicine
  • public services
  • science
  • teaching and lecturing
  • transportation operations and maintenance
  • warehousing and distribution

For us to include a level 3 qualification in this offer, it must:

  • already be approved for funding in the funding year 2026 to 2027 through the DWP funded adult skills fund (ASF) or advanced learner loans
  • be at least 60 guided learning hours (GLH) in size
  • be in one of the sector subject areas listed above
  • primarily support a student to enter a specific job role, or directly into employment (this includes qualifications that can be delivered in a workplace setting and support upskilling or specialisation)
  • not be in scope to have funding approval removed as a result of the Review of level 3 qualifications reform or be on any of the lists of Qualifications with removed funding approval
  • not mainly serve as an introduction to further training or study
  • not be an Access to Higher Education diploma, because this offer focusses on directly entering and progressing through employment, rather than progressing to higher education
  • not be a technical qualification in T Levels

Level 2 qualifications

For us to include a level 2 qualification in this offer, it must:

  • already be approved for funding in the funding year 2026 to 2027 through the DWP funded ASF (level 2 legal entitlement or local flexibility offer)
  • be at least 180 GLH in size
  • be in the  sector subject area
  • be primarily designed to allow learners to:
    • enter a specific skilled construction or engineering and manufacturing job role directly, as a skilled worker, not a general labourer
    • work at a higher level within their existing skilled construction or engineering and manufacturing job role for which they are already qualified
  • not be on any of the lists of Qualifications with removed funding approval
  • not mainly serve as an introduction to further training or study by being primarily designed to:
    • introduce learners to knowledge, skills, theory, occupational roles and areas in the  sector.
    • support learners to decide if they wish to continue with further training or employment in the  sector
  • not be primarily designed to focus on health and safety

Final decisions on adding qualification to the offer will factor in its overall affordability.

Read the list of qualifications approved for funding in the free courses for jobs.

Qualifications in this offer are still subject to the review of post-16 qualifications at level 3 and below in England.

Adding qualifications to the free courses for jobs offer

For level 3 qualifications, you must already have funding approval for your qualifications in either loans or the level 3 statutory entitlement before you request them to be considered for the free courses for jobs offer (FCFJ).

For level 2 qualifications, you must already have funding approval for your qualifications in the ASF in either the level 2 legal entitlement or the local flexibility offer funded by DfE before you request them to be considered for FCFJ.

You can ask us to consider adding technical and vocational qualifications to the free courses for jobs where they meet its criteria. We have done this to:

  • make sure that the offer stays up to date and relevant to the economy’s needs
  • review qualifications that either an awarding organisation or an authority with devolved adult education functions believes should be included in the list

This facility will be an additional exemption to the moratorium on approving qualifications for funding.

We will also consider adding a qualification outside of the sector subject areas listed above.

We will only accept these requests from:

  • awarding organisations
  • SAs that have devolved adult education functions in England
  • areas and authorities that are on the LA pathway to devolution pilot in England

We will only approve a qualification where it meets all the other criteria and there is robust evidence of wage outcomes. We will also consider evidence such as:

  • robust evidence of shortages in valuable skills
  • being identified in a regional skills plan or other strategic skills-based strategies and plans
  • support from skills advisory panels, SAs, and areas and authorities included in the LA pathway to devolution pilot, or a local enterprise partnership

Where the primary aim of the qualification, as referenced in the qualification’s specification, is not to support a student to enter a specific job role or directly into employment but is in a sector subject area already included in the offer, we will consider robust evidence of employer need to support the application. For example, we would consider letters of recommendation from 3 or more employers, operating in the same sector as the qualification is in, indicating substantial demand, submitted via an awarding organisation, a DA or areas and authorities that are on the LA pathway to devolution pilot.

We will only consider this for technical, occupational, and vocational qualifications in sector subject areas already included in the offer and qualifications already approved for funding. We will use these employer recommendations alongside an assessment of whether the qualification’s content and assessment arrangements are sufficiently occupationally focussed, and whether it can support a student to prepare for a job role or progress through a job role in the occupational areas the qualification is in. 

Before proceeding to complete a form, please note that:

  • for level 3 qualifications, only qualifications that are already approved for funding in the level 3 statutory entitlement or ALL can be added to FCFJ

  • for level 2 building and construction qualifications, only qualifications that are already approved for funding in the ASF level 2 statutory entitlement or DWP funded local flexibility offer can be added to FCFJ

Please do not apply for any other qualifications to be added.

Awarding organisations, SAs and areas and authorities on the LA pathway to devolution pilot should check and ensure that the qualification for which you are requesting FCFJ is already approved in the appropriate offer.

You can check this by searching for the qualification on our website which lists the qualifications approved for funding. If a qualification is not already approved in one of these offers when you apply, it cannot be approved.

You should use one form for your organisation, which includes all the qualifications you notify to us.

Awarding organisations must complete a Free courses for jobs – awarding organisation (AO) form.

SAs and areas and authorities on the pathway to devolution must complete a Free courses for jobs – Strategic Authority (SA) form.

We review applications for the level 3 free courses for jobs offer in a different schedule to our termly funding approval process  You must email any completed forms to qualifications.approval@education.gov.uk before 5pm on:

  • 30 September 2026 for outcomes communicated in December 2026
  • 30 April 2027 for outcomes communicated in July 2027
  • 30 September 2027 for outcomes communicated in December 2027

If we decide not to approve a qualification for this offer, we will tell you why.

When we add a qualification to this offer, we will not back date its funding approval start date. The funding approval start date will be the date we add it to the offer.