Post-16 funding approval moratorium and exemption approval criteria

How the moratorium affects our funded qualification offers and information about exemptions.

We use the following processes when we consider approving qualifications for funding, in all the offers covered by this manual. Some offers have extra requirements, and you may need to ask us to review some qualifications.

From 1 September 2020, we stopped considering new regulated qualifications at level 3 and below for funding approval, for students aged 16 and over (including 19 plus). We will continue to approve some new qualifications for funding where they meet exemption criteria.

We refer to this as a ‘moratorium’. The moratorium will not apply to certain new qualifications (referred to as ‘exemptions’ for the rest of this manual).

This section of the manual describes:

• the processes we use to approve qualifications for funding
• how the moratorium will work across our funded qualification offers
• which qualifications are exemptions from the moratorium
• how we will make decisions about exemptions
• what you need to do to tell us about an exemption, and when you need to do it

About the moratorium

We introduced this moratorium because it will:

• allow us to support the ongoing review of qualifications at level 3 and below and other qualifications reforms, such as introducing new essential digital skills qualifications and the rollout of T Levels
• avoid you spending time and resource on qualifications that we may not approve for funding, or approve for only a short time
• reassure providers which qualifications we will fund during the qualifications review
• allow certain qualifications (including those designed to respond to economic need and those which are updated versions of qualifications already approved for funding) to continue to be approved

The moratorium applies to the following funded qualification offers, for students aged 16 and over (including post-19):

• 16 to 19 study programmes
• advanced learner loans (loans), at level 3 only
• ESFA funded and non-ESFA funded AEB, at level 3 and below, including for statutory entitlements and ESFA funded AEB local flexibility offer (which also includes components of regulated qualifications)

The moratorium does not apply to:

• qualifications approved for students aged 14 to 16 – we will continue to review and approve qualifications for this offer termly
• new qualifications that are mandated for on-programme delivery for an apprenticeship – we will continue to fund these qualifications through apprenticeships

During the moratorium for level 3 and below qualifications approved post-16, we will:

• continue to update our funded offers when qualifications are no longer approved for funding, such as when a qualification passes its operational end date
• not consider a qualification you had withdrawn before 1 September 2020, and you extend its operational end date on or after 1 September 2020
• not consider a qualification at level 3 and below for another funded offer, if we have already approved it for one or more funded offers (except for the level 3 qualifications offer)
• not consider a qualification at level 3 and below for another age group in a funded offer, if we have already approved it for other age groups in one or more funded offers
• not review a qualification at level 3 and below where there is already sufficient similar provision in the funded offers for the funding year 2023 to 2024
• not review a qualification at level 3 and below that you add to your existing suites of qualifications that we have already approved for funding in the funding year 2023 to 2024
• not review a qualification that has the same or similar content as a qualification that has already had funding approval removed or will have funding approval removed
• only approve a qualification that may overlap with wave 1, wave 2, wave 3 or wave 4 T Levels rolled out during 2023 and 2024, for post-19 if it satisfies other moratorium exemption criteria

Qualifications unaffected by the moratorium

In the 2023 to 2024 funding year, we will continue to review and update qualifications every month with:

• qualifications we approve as exemptions at level 3 or below in the offers for 16 to 19, ESFA funded AEB (including local flexibility and the statutory entitlements), and advanced learner loans
• qualifications we approve for loans from level 4 to level 6
• qualifications we approve for 16 to 19 from level 4 to level 6
• qualifications approved for 14 to 16 from entry to level 3

Exemptions to the moratorium

During the moratorium, we want to make sure that:

• qualifications we approve for funding at level 3 and below continue to be relevant, up to date and comply with Ofqual’s regulations
• we can continue to approve qualifications for funding if they support government qualification reforms or have been developed in response to economic need

We will consider approving new qualifications for funding during the moratorium where they meet the exemption criteria, as well as our funding approval principles. This exemption criteria only applies to regulated qualifications at level 3 and below added to Ofqual’s Register of Regulated Qualifications on or after 1 September 2020.

As indicated above, qualifications approved during the moratorium will be approved for one funding year, before we review them for rolling over into the following funding year. Qualifications approved as exemptions during the moratorium remain in scope for the review of post-16 qualifications at level 3 and the review of post-16 study at level 2 and below.

We set out the types of criteria and the information we will require to consider an exemption in the Identifying qualifications to consider as a moratorium exemption section and in this section .

Separate to the criteria, we will consider updated ‘stepping stone’ qualifications in English and maths for funding approval, where they replace legacy ‘stepping stone’ qualifications.

Exemption type 1: qualifications which are outside the scope of the qualifications review or we automatically approve for funding

We will continue to approve certain types of qualifications for funding. These are qualifications which we currently automatically approve or which are confirmed as being outside the scope of the qualifications review:

• GCSEs
• A levels and AS levels
• technical qualifications (TQs) in T Levels and qualifications that are components of T Levels – we do not approve the TQ for standalone delivery outside of a T Level programme
• Access to Higher Education (HE) diplomas (regulated by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA))

Following the publication of the government’s response to the second stage consultation of the review of post 16 qualifications at level 3 we can confirm that the following types of qualifications are also exempt from the moratorium:

• International Baccalaureate Diploma
• core maths
• Extended Project Qualification and Higher Project Qualification
• Advanced Extension Awards
• performing arts graded examinations
• English and maths functional skills qualifications

Exemption type 2: qualifications that are being reformed

We will approve certain qualifications for funding that are already subject to reform or may be reformed during the moratorium, such as digital functional skills qualifications at entry level 3 and level 1.

Exemption type 3: qualifications in response to economic need

We will approve certain qualifications for funding where there is evidence they have been designed to respond to a particular economic need, which may be at national or regional level. There are 4 categories.

Category 1

Qualifications from level 1 to level 3 which have been designed to respond to an economic downturn (‘economic shock’) at regional level or across several regions, and where there is a significant impact (for example, a qualification designed to prepare for or to support entry into a new job role in a specific occupation following redundancy or where there are significant skills shortages), including qualifications linked to occupational regulation.

Category 2

Qualifications from level 2 to level 3 (and by exception at level 1) which have been designed to respond to a new or emerging skills priority (for example, delivering the transition to net zero and supporting green jobs) or a qualification designed to address a new skill need in a particular area, such as agriculture technology in a rural area).

Category 3

Qualifications from level 2 to 3 that support entry into specific job roles in sectors that are in government priorities, where there is not already sufficient provision in that job role, such as:

• accounting and finance
• agriculture
• building and construction
• business management
• childcare and early years
• digital
• engineering
• environmental conservation
• health and social care
• horticulture and forestry
• hospitality and catering
• digital and technology
• manufacturing
• mathematics and statistics
• medicine and dentistry
• public services
• science
• teaching and lecturing
• transportation operations
• warehousing and distribution
• green skills

Category 4

Qualifications at level 2 and level 3 which have been designed to respond to emerging or changed job roles in a specific occupation (for example, a qualification designed to support automation in an existing job role or greater specialisation in a job role or to support digital health care practice), including qualifications linked to occupational regulation

Approving exemption type 3

We will only approve qualifications for funding where there is evidence they have been specifically designed to respond to a particular and urgent economic need. The particular and urgent economic need may be at a national or regional level.

Moratorium exemption type 3 has 4 categories. The qualification only needs to meet the criteria of one category to be approved. We ask awarding organisations to ensure that applications under this moratorium exemption type address the criteria of the specific category selected.

We consider it is highly unlikely that any single qualification will meet the criteria of all 4 categories and so we request that awarding organisations focus their applications and evidence on the category and criteria that the qualification can meet. Selecting all 4 categories does not advance the case for approval.

When you are considering whether to apply for an exemption type 3, regardless of category applied for, an awarding organisation must show that the qualification submitted has been developed in direct response to a particular and urgent need that is impacting the economy at a national or regional level. You must be able to substantiate this with evidence.

Such qualifications should either enable the holder to be job-ready for a specific job role in an occupation that is urgently needed in direct response to the particular economic need articulated or equip those already in post within that specific occupation with new job-specific skills that are urgently needed in direct response to the particular economic need articulated.

We will not approve qualifications which deliver just information, are awareness-raising, where we consider in-house training is more appropriate or designed for roles that are additional responsibilities to a substantive job role. Funding such training is the responsibility of the organisation concerned.

Category 1 qualifications

Applications must show evidence that the qualification:

• is at level 1, level 2 and level 3
• is specifically designed to respond to a particular economic downturn (‘economic shock’) at regional level or across several regions, and the ‘economic shock’ must have had demonstrable significant economic impact on the region
• enables the holder to be job-ready for a specific job role in an occupation that is urgently needed in direct response to the particular ‘economic shock’ articulated - for example, a qualification designed to prepare for or to support entry into a new job role in a specific occupation following redundancy or where there are significant skills shortages
• can include qualifications linked to occupational regulation

Category 2 qualifications

Applications must show evidence that the qualification:

• is at level 2 and level 3
• is by exception at level 1 – awarding organisations must provide justification and evidence that the economic need articulated specifically requires workers skilled at level 1
• is specifically designed to respond to an urgent new or emerging skill priority
• enables the holder to deploy the skill at a job-ready level in an occupation that is urgently needed in direct response to the particular economic need articulated - for example, qualifications delivering entry to a specific job role that supports delivering the transition to net zero or a qualification designed to deliver a new skill need within a specific job role needed in a particular area, such as agriculture technology in a rural area

Category 3 qualifications

Applications must show evidence that the qualification:

• is at level 2 and level 3 only
• is specifically designed to support entry into specific job roles in sectors that are in government priorities, where there is not already sufficient provision in that sector,
• enables the holder to job-ready for a specific job role in an occupation that is urgently needed within in a government priority sector in response to the particular economic need articulated
• is part of the priority sectors are listed in category 3

Category 4 qualifications

Applications must show evidence that the qualification:

• is at level 2 and level 3 only
• is specifically designed to respond to emerging or changed job roles in a specific occupation
• equips those already in post within a specific occupation with new job-specific skills that are urgently needed in direct response to the particular economic need articulated - for example, a qualification designed to deliver automation skills in an existing job role or greater specialisation in a job role or to support digital health care practice
• can include qualifications linked to occupational regulation

We will not approve new qualifications as type 3 exemptions if they are similar to other qualifications that we have already approved for funding in any of the offers for 2023 to 2024, and those other qualifications already give a wide enough offer to students.

We will not approve for funding qualifications that the same or similar content as a qualification that has already had funding approval removed or will have funding approval removed.

This includes:

• qualifications with low or no publicly funded enrolments
• qualifications for 16 to 19 if the content of the new qualification overlaps with a T Level in Wave 1 or 2 or 3, or wave 4 T Levels rolled out during 2023 and 2024
• new basic digital skills qualifications in qualifications at entry to level 2 (in ICT for users or other SSAs) unless they are EDSQs

We will not accept exemptions in this category after 23 October 2023 (November funding approval cycle) for level 3 qualifications in the following SSAs:

• ICT user
• ICT practitioner
• child development and wellbeing
• teaching and lecturing
• direct learning support
• health and social care
• science
• medicine and dentistry
• nursing and subjects and vocations allied to medicine
• building and construction
• engineering

We will not accept exemptions in this category after 23 October 2023 (November funding approval cycle) for level 2 qualifications in the following SSAs:

• child development and wellbeing
• health and social care
• science
• medicine and dentistry
• nursing and subjects and vocations allied to medicine
• building and construction
• engineering

Exemption type 4: Qualifications that we have already approved for 2023 to 2024 but need updating

During the moratorium, you may need to update a qualification to make sure that it:

• still complies with Ofqual’s Conditions of Recognition
• continues to meet occupational standards
• continues to meet legislative requirements

If your update to an existing qualification means that you develop a new qualification with a new qualification number to replace the existing qualification, we will consider that new qualification for funding approval during the moratorium.

We will consider the new qualification if it:

• has the same or similar purpose to the existing qualification
• is at the same level as the existing qualification
• has a similar title to the existing qualification with only one or two words different
• is a ‘one-to-one’ replacement for the existing qualification
• has an operational start date in the 2023 to 2024 funding year

We will continue to fund students who have started the existing qualification on or before the last date for new starts, until they complete the qualification or reach the certification end date.

If we approve the new qualification for funding and the existing qualification is also part of the new funded offers, we will automatically add the new qualification in the new funded offer. We will apply a funding approval end date for the existing qualification 2 months after we publish details of the new qualification, unless:

• you have set an earlier operational end date in Ofqual’s register
• the new qualification has an operational start date that is more than 2 months in the future at the point we consider it for funding approval

We will not approve for funding qualifications that are similar in content to those that have had funding approval removed or we have announced will have funding approval removed, this includes:

• qualifications with low or no publicly funded enrolments.
• qualifications for 16 to 19 if the content of the new qualification overlaps with a T Level in waves 1, 2 or 3
• new basic digital skills qualifications in qualifications at entry to level 2 (in ICT for users or other SSAs) unless they are EDSQs

We will not accept exemptions in this category after 20 February 2024 (March 2024 funding approval cycle) for level 3 qualifications in the following SSAs:

• ICT user
• ICT practitioner
• child development and wellbeing
• teaching and lecturing
• direct learning support
• health and social care
• science
• medicine and dentistry
• nursing and subjects and vocations allied to medicine
• building and construction
• engineering

We will not accept exemptions in this category after 20 February 2024 (March 2024 funding approval cycle) for level 2 qualifications in the following SSAs:

• child development and wellbeing
• health and social care
• science
• medicine and dentistry
• nursing and subjects and vocations allied to medicine
• building and construction
• engineering