Common funding approval criteria
Criteria that all qualifications need to meet to be approved for funding.
This section explains the common funding approval criteria which will be used to approve all technical and non-technical qualifications for funding.
Non-technical qualifications include:
- alternative academic qualifications
- technical progression qualifications
- academic progression qualifications
- T Level foundation qualifications
We will require confirmation from Ofqual that the qualification submitted is within your scope of recognition, to begin reviewing it for funding approval.
If the qualification is not within your scope of recognition, we will not consider it for funding approval.
Before submitting a qualification for funding approval, you should:
- check your scope of recognition
- if necessary, apply to Ofqual to extend your scope of recognition
For both technical and non-technical qualifications at levels 2 and 3, you must ensure Ofqual recognises you to offer qualifications at that level and in the associated sector subject area (SSA).
Where a T Level foundation qualification is related to more than one SSA because of its content, your scope of recognition must include all relevant SSAs. The qualification type funding approval criteria for these qualifications - criterion 2 provides a list of relevant SSAs for T Level foundation qualifications.
Once your scope of recognition is confirmed, we will use the information you provide in your submission to undertake our funding approval review.
What you need to do
When you submit your qualification, you need to confirm it is within your scope of recognition. We will then confirm with Ofqual that the qualification you are submitting is within your scope of recognition.
You need to add the relevant information about your qualification onto Ofqual’s register of regulated qualifications. The how to get funding approval section of the manual explains how and when you need to do this.
You must complete all the necessary information on Ofqual’s register by these dates, so we can complete our review and confirm an outcome for your qualification.
Before we confirm a funding approval outcome for your qualification in cycle 1, it must be flagged on Ofqual’s register of regulated qualifications as both:
- available to be taught to students in England from 1 August 2025
- available for funding in England from 1 August 2025
To confirm a funding approval outcome for your qualification in cycle 2, it must be flagged on the register as both:
- available to be taught to students in England from 1 August 2026
- available for funding in England from 1 August 2026
We approve qualifications for funding on a national scale in England across a range of providers. The qualification must not be restricted to being delivered either:
- by only one provider of education and training
- to employees of only one employer
What you need to do
When you submit your qualification, we will ask you to:
- confirm that your qualification meets this criterion
- submit a qualification specification
The qualification must be suitable for the age groups you have indicated in your submission. Before we confirm a funding approval outcome, we will check the age ranges you have entered in Ofqual’s register of regulated qualifications.
This information will be used alongside the submission form you have provided.
Non-technical qualifications
For the 16 to 19 offer, we will approve alternative academic qualifications, progression qualifications (technical and academic) and T Level foundation qualifications for funding where they meet the qualification-type funding approval criteria for that qualification.
For adults, these qualifications will need to meet:
- qualification-type funding approval criteria for technical and academic progression qualifications and T Level foundation qualifications
- the offer-specific funding approval criteria for one or more of the adult offers
We will update this manual shortly to confirm the specific funding approval criteria that will be applied for each of the adult offers. This will:
- take account of the outcomes of the funding and accountability reforms
- build on the current criteria used to approve qualifications for the adult offers
Technical qualifications
For technical qualifications, we will use information from IfATE about which age groups they have approved the technical qualification for, to determine for which age groups the qualification is suitable.
For the 16 to 19 offer, technical qualifications will only be approved for funding where all of the following is met:
- the qualification at level 3 does not overlap with T Levels
- you have confirmed that the qualification is relevant for 16- to 19-year-olds
- IfATE approves the technical qualification for 16- to 19-year-olds
Some qualifications which are part of the 16 to 19 offer may only be approved for students aged 18 and above. This may be because there are health and safety or legal requirements that mean the qualification is only appropriate for students aged 18 and over. We may get advice from IfATE about the appropriateness of the qualification for those age groups.
What you need to do
When you submit your qualification, we will ask you to:
- confirm for what ages you would like us to consider the qualification for funding approval
- submit a qualification specification
Level 3 alternative academic and technical qualifications will be reviewed for one or more of the following offers:
- 16 to 19 offer
- level 3 legal entitlement
- free courses for jobs
- advanced learner loans
Level 2 technical qualifications will be reviewed for one or more of the following offers:
- 16 to 19 offer
- level 2 legal entitlement
- Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) funded local flexibility offer
What you need to do
When you submit your qualification, we will ask you to confirm the level of the qualification.
The qualification must have an appropriate SSA classification, based on its content. The SSA must also be included in your scope of recognition from Ofqual.
The way you classify a qualification’s content should be reasonable. This will be checked as part of the approvals process.
Where the qualification is technical, we expect there to be a proportionate match between the qualification’s content, SSA classification and the occupational standard.
The qualification type funding approval criteria for T Level foundation qualifications - criterion 2 provides a list of relevant SSAs for T Level foundation qualifications.
What you need to do
When you submit your qualification, we will ask you to:
- confirm the SSA at tier 2
- submit a qualification specification
Existing qualifications that have already had funding approval removed, or that subsequently have funding approval removed as they overlap with T Levels in waves 3 and 4, will not be approved for funding in 2025 to 2026 or 2026 to 2027.
This includes existing qualifications that have had funding approval removed for:
- 16 to 19, as they overlap with T Levels, at level 3
- post-16 offers due to low or no publicly funded enrolments
- post-16 offers because they were a pre-existing performance table qualification
If you submit a new qualification for the post-16 offers we will see if it is similar to an existing qualification that has had funding approval removed because of low or no publicly funded enrolments.
If your new qualification is similar to the existing qualification, we will expect to see either:
- significant changes made to the new qualification
- specific reasons why the new qualification is now likely to have enough demand - for example, based on wider funding eligibility
The new qualification you submit will also need to meet common funding approval criteria 7.
What you need to do
When you submit your qualification, we will ask you to:
- confirm if the qualification replaces an existing qualification
- submit a qualification specification for the new qualification
The new qualification that you have submitted must have evidence of at least 100 publicly funded enrolments each funding year. These publicly funded enrolments must be funded through 16 to 19 study programmes, adult education budget or advanced learner loans.
You can demonstrate enrolments on your new qualification in 2 ways:
- publicly funded enrolments in the last funding year on the existing qualification
- estimated publicly funded enrolments for your new qualification
Where the qualification replaces an existing qualification, you can use information about publicly funded enrolments for the existing qualification to demonstrate that the new qualification will have at least 100 publicly funded enrolments.
If your T Level foundation qualification replaces an existing qualification, you need to provide estimates of enrolments and supporting evidence as if this was a new qualification.
Where either the:
- qualification is new and there is no previous evidence of delivery
- existing qualification has fewer than 100 publicly funded enrolments in the last funding year
you will need to provide evidence that, once the qualification is established, it is expected to have at least 100 publicly funded enrolments.
We recognise that there may be circumstances where a qualification has fewer than 100 enrolments each year. This could be because the qualification supports progression into a highly specialist area, or into an occupation where there is seasonal demand.
In these cases, you must provide:
- an outline of the expected level of demand
- supporting evidence that explains why demand is below 100 enrolments
What you need to do
You need to provide different evidence depending on how you are showing demand for your new qualification.
You also need to provide extra evidence if demand is below 100 enrolments.
Using existing qualifications to show demand
If you are using your existing qualification to provide evidence of the publicly funded enrolments on your new qualification, you must ensure that in the last funding year, the existing qualification had at least 100 publicly funded enrolments.
These must be funded through one or more of the following funding streams:
- 16 to 19 study programmes
- adult education budget
- advanced learner loans
When you submit your qualification, you must confirm:
- the qualification number and qualification title of the existing qualification
- if the existing qualification is being replaced by more than one new qualification
- for each funding year what the estimated publicly funded enrolments are on the new qualification, based on the publicly funded enrolments on the existing qualification
For existing qualifications that already have at least 100 publicly funded enrolments we will not ask you to submit any further evidence. We will use the independent learning record and school census data from the last funding year to confirm this.
For existing qualifications that have fewer than 100 publicly funded enrolments you will need to provide the additional evidence listed below for new qualifications.
Estimating enrolments for new qualifications
For new qualifications you must:
- confirm what the estimated publicly funded enrolments are on the new qualification for each funding year
- explain how you have estimated your publicly funded enrolments
- submit letters from institutions that show the qualification will have at least 100 publicly funded enrolments and which funding year and funding stream those enrolments relate to
Letters from institutions must:
- be on letter headed paper
- be signed by a named person who has the authority to sign on behalf of that institution
- clearly show the qualification that it relates to (qualification title) – a letter can contain more than one qualification
- clearly state the estimated publicly funded enrolments, for each qualification
- clearly state what funding year and funding stream (16 to 19 study programmes, adult education budget or advanced learner loans) the estimated enrolments relate to, for each qualification
- include estimated publicly funded enrolments which are funded through 16 to 19 study programmes, adult education budget or advanced learner loans
- be from an institution that has a current ESFA funding agreement or a contract with the MCA or GLA, and delivers provision in England
- show demand of at least 100 enrolments in a funding year, this demand can be across multiple institutions
We will not accept letters where they refer to publicly funded enrolments:
- in traineeships or apprenticeships
- which are funded by other government departments
You can see which institutions are funded by the ESFA using the allocations spreadsheets:
- 19+ allocations sheet shows funding values for institutions that have a contract to deliver the adult education budget or advanced learner loans
- 16 to 19 allocations sheet shows institutions which receive core programme funding
Where an institution is a subcontractor to one of the main institutions on the allocations spreadsheet, also include a letter from the main institution confirming that.
Where an institution is contracted by the mayoral combined authority (MCA) or Greater London Authority (GLA), also include a letter from the MCA or GLA confirming that.
To support you, we have provided guidance for FE providers on estimating publicly funded enrolments.
If demand is below 100 enrolments
Where the demand cannot reach at least 100 enrolments in a funding year, as well as the above evidence, you will need to provide:
- rationale with supporting evidence, explaining why demand is below 100 enrolments
- information about what the expected level of demand will be