GovWire

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)
• European Social Fund (ESF), at level 3 and below only

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 every month except where we have merged our two monthly review periods for January 2023 and February 2023
• 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• not consider a qualification you had withdrawn before 1 September 2020, and you extend its operational end date on or after 1 September 2020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 2022 to 2023
• 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 2022 to 2023
• 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 or wave 2 T Levels for post-19 if it satisfies other moratorium exemption criteria

In the 2022 to 2023 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), loans and ESF
• level 4 qualifications in the ESF offer (until 21 November 2022 see Annex A)
• 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

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 Ofquals 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 below, as well as our funding approval principles. This exemption criteria only applies to regulated qualifications at level 3 and below added to Ofquals 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 the section below.

Separate to the criteria below, 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 and/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 and/or which are confirmed as being outside the scope of the qualifications review:

• GCSEs
• A Levels and AS Levels
• Technical Qualificatio
  

  View the original news story