Other approval principles: reviewing qualifications during 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 below, 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 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 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
Advanced Extension Awards
Performing Arts Graded Examinations

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 new digital 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. This will include:

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
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)
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 sector, 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

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

We will not approve new qualifications as exemptions in this category if they are similar to other qualifications that we have already approved for funding in any of the offers for 2022 to 2023, 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
new basic digital skills qualifications in qualifications at entry to level 2 (in ICT for users or other SSAs) unless they are EDSQs

Exemption type 4: Qualifications that we have already approved for 2020 to 2021 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

it 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 meets all these criteria:

it has the same or similar purpose to the existing qualification
it is at the same level as the existing qualification
it has a similar title to the existing qualification with only one or two words different
it is a ‘one-to-one’ replacement for the existing qualification
it has an operational start date in the 2022 to 2023 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 two 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 two 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 Wave 1 or 2
new basic digital skills qualifications in qualifications at entry to level 2 (in ICT for users or other SSAs) unless they are EDSQs
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