Free courses for jobs offer: approval criteria

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

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 a limited number of 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 2025 to 2026 through the DfE 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 2025 to 2026 through the DFE funded ASF (level 2 legal entitlement or local flexibility offer)
  • be at least 180 guided learning hours (GLH) in size
  • be in the  sector subject area
  • be primarily designed to allow learners to:
    • enter a specific skilled construction job role directly, as a skilled worker, not a general labourer
    • work at a higher level within their existing skilled construction 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 adult skills fund (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
  • Strategic Authorities (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 Advanced Learner Loans 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 DfE 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 2025 for outcomes communicated in December 2025
  • 30 April 2026 for outcomes communicated in July 2026
  • 30 September 2026 for outcomes communicated in December 2026

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.