Changes to funding approval principles and processes for 2024 to 2025
The changes we have made to our approval principles and process for the funding year 2024 to 2025.
Rollover: 2023 to 2024 offer into 2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026
Rollover is the process by which we continue the funded offer in a current funding year into the next funding year or subsequent funding years.
Our funded offers are:
- 14 to 16
- 16 to 19
- ESFA funded adult education budget local flex
- level 2 and level 3 statutory entitlement
- English and maths statutory entitlement
- digital statutory entitlement
- advanced learner loans
- Level 3 free courses for jobs
We have already rolled over into 2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026 eligible qualifications at:
- entry level
- level 1
- level 3
- level 4 to level 6 (but not Advanced Learner Loans offer)
We have already rolled over into 2024 to 2025 only:
- eligible level 2 qualifications in all funded offers
- eligible level 4 to level 6 qualifications in the Advanced Learner Loans offer only
These rollover approvals have already been published on our list of qualifications approved for funding. They updated on ESFA’s Find a learning aim by 31 July 2024.
Rollover: remaining 2024 to 2025 offer into 2025 to 2026
Level 2: eligible qualifications are currently approved in all offers until 31 July 2025 or until their operational end date, whichever is earlier.
The Department for Education (DfE) will shortly confirm which existing level 2 qualifications will continue to be approved for funding in 2025 to 2026. An existing qualification at level 2 will only have funding approval extended into 2025 to 2026 if it:
- is already approved for funding in 2024 to 2025 in one or more of the post 16 qualification offers
- is a level 1/2 or level 2 qualification
- is operational for delivery in 2025 to 2026, with either an operational end date on or after 1 August 2025 or no operational end date
- has not been identified by you as being replaced by a reformed level 2 qualification that has been approved for funding for first teach from 1 August 2025
DfE wrote to all awarding organisations in July 2024 regarding any action to take if you currently have a level 2 qualification that is approved for funding in 2024 to 2025. You needed to do this by 13 August 2024.
DfE took a download of the Ofqual Register on 14 August 2024. We are using this to confirm which existing level 2 qualifications will have their funding approval extended into 2025 to 2026.
DfE will confirm the 2025 to 2026 post-16 level 2 qualification offer in September 2024.
If you have any queries about this, email qualifications.approval@education.gov.uk.
Advanced Learner Loans
Eligible level 4 to level 6 qualifications are currently approved in loans until 31 July 2025 or until their operational end date, whichever is earlier.
Eligible and operational level 3 qualifications have already been rolled over in 2025 to 2026.
We will update this section of the manual if we need to.
Future Rollover: 2025 to 2026 offer into 2026 to 2027
We will update this section of the manual when DfE has completed a focused review of post-16 qualifications reform.
Future funding approval cycles
This information applies to qualifications outside the scope of the integrated approvals process for reformed qualifications, under the review of post-16 qualifications at level 3 and below.
We run funding approval processes on a termly basis in 2024 to 2025, as we did in 2023 to 2024.
Autumn: November 2024
The next funding approval cycle will be in November 2024. The deadline for receipt of funding approval applications for this cycle is 21 October 2024.
Qualifications approved for funding during this cycle will be approved until 31 July 2025 or 31 July 2026. This will depend on the date to which qualifications of a similar type at the same level and in the same offer have been approved, unless there is a reason to apply a shorter funding approval end date.
We will publish the outcomes of this process on our list of qualifications approved for funding website and will update on ESFA’s Find a Learning Aim before 30 November 2024.
In this funding approval cycle, we will not consider moratorium exemption type 3 and type 4 submissions for level 2 and level 3 qualifications in the sector subject areas (SSAs) announced in the 2023 to 2024 funding manual.
Spring: March 2025
We will run a further funding approval process in March 2025. The deadline for us to receive funding approval applications for this cycle is 18 February 2025.
We will approve qualifications for funding during this process until 31 July 2025 or 31 July 2026. This will depend on the date to which qualifications of a similar type at the same level and in the same offer have been approved, unless there is a reason to apply a shorter funding approval end date.
We will publish the outcomes of this process on our list of qualifications approved for funding website and will update on ESFA’s Find a learning aim before 30 March 2025.
In this funding approval process, we will not consider moratorium exemption type 3 and type 4 submissions for level 2 and level 3 qualifications in the SSAs announced in the 2023 to 2024 funding manual.
Summer: June 2025
We will run a further funding approval process in June 2025. The deadline for us to receive funding approval applications for this process is 19 May 2025.
Qualifications approved for funding during this process will be approved until 31 July 2026, unless there is a reason to apply a shorter funding approval end date.
We will publish the outcomes of this process on our list of qualifications approved for funding website and will update on ESFA’s Find a learning aim before 30 June 2025.
In this funding approval process, we will not consider moratorium exemption type 3 and type 4 submissions for level 2 and level 3 qualifications in the SSAs announced in the 2023 to 2024 funding manual.
Urgent funding approval
In exceptional circumstances, you may need urgent funding approval for the next academic year after our summer funding approval process deadline has passed.
You can write to us and ask for urgent funding approval.
We will consider this on a case-by-case basis. This facility will have a high bar. We will only grant it in genuinely exceptional circumstances. We expect these to be extremely rare.
How we will review qualifications explains more on our expectations and how to apply.
Resetting of operational end dates
For 2024 to 2025 we will continue to monitor if an awarding organisation sets a qualification’s operational end date within the 2024 to 2025 funding year for rollover and then subsequently sets it back to be 31 July 2024 or earlier. We will consider ending funding approval for that qualification in all offers on this newest operational end date. If we do this awarding organisations will have no further opportunity to extend funding approval for that qualification, and funding approval in the year 2024 to 2025 will be lost.
We will apply this principle to subsequent funding years.
Replacement qualifications
When we approve new qualifications that are replacements or updated versions of existing qualifications already approved in an offer covered by this guidance (including as moratorium type 4 exemptions), we will apply a funding approval end date for the existing qualification. This will be 2 months after we publish details of the new qualification, unless:
- you have set an earlier operational end date in Ofqual’s register for the existing qualification
- 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
Similar content to qualifications with removed funding approval
We will not approve a new qualification for funding in any offer if it has the same or similar content as either:
- a qualification that has already had funding approval removed
- a qualification that will have funding approval removed
This will continue to apply during the focused review, including to qualifications that were in scope to have funding approval removed, but have subsequently had their funding approval extended.
Changes in 2023 to 2024
Changes to the existing funding approval process began during 2023 to 2024. These reflected the fact that qualifications at certain levels and in certain SSAs were reviewed as part of the first cycle of the post-16 reforms in 2025 to 2026.
From 2023 to 2024, we did not accept moratorium exemption requests for type 3 and type 4 qualifications at level 2 and level 3 in the SSAs where qualifications were part of cycle 1 of the post-16 reforms.
This means we can no longer accept moratorium type 3 and type 4 exemption applications for level 3 qualifications in the following SSAs:
- ICT user
- ICT practitioner
- 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 can no longer accept moratorium type 3 and type 4 exemption requests 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
Changes in 2024 to 2025
The Department for Education is conducting a focused review of the post-16 qualification reforms at level 3 and below.
During the focused review, we will continue not to accept the same moratorium exemption requests as operated in 2023 to 2024.
We will also continue not to accept exemptions for new qualifications that:
- we have announced will have their funding approval removed
- are similar to those that have had their funding approval removed
This will still apply to qualifications that were in scope to have funding approval removed, but have subsequently had their funding approval extended.
We have again updated the criteria for moratorium exemption type 3 for new qualifications that are designed to respond to a particular economic need. This is to help awarding organisations to determine if their qualification can meet the criteria.
We will continue to approve only new qualifications in sectors which are a government priority, where they meet the updated criteria and where there is not already enough provision in that sector.
During the focused review we will consider T Levels to provide enough provision in sectors that they cover. We will consider them as part of the assessment of provision.
We will update this section of the manual after the focused review.
Qualifications Reform has the latest updates on post-16 qualifications reform at level 3 and below.
14 to 16 and 16 to 19
From 2023 to 2024, individual academies can no longer apply in exceptional circumstances to offer a course leading to a qualification that is not approved for funding in the 14 to 16 and the 16 to 19 offer. This was previously shown in Annex D of earlier funding approval manuals.
In 2024 to 2025 we will only approve level 4 and above qualifications in the 16 to 19 offer at ‘18 plus only’.
Advanced learner loans
The moratorium on non-HTQ level 4 to level 6 qualifications entering the Advanced Learner Loans offer will continue to operate until further notice.
Only level 4 to 5 HTQs and level 3 qualifications can be added to the loans offer.
We will only approve level 4 to 5 HTQs in loans after:
- they have been recognised as an HTQ
- they have been designated for loans-only or dual higher education student finance and loans funding
You can no longer apply for loans funding approval for qualifications below 150 guided learning hours (15 credits). This is because:
- level 3 qualifications were not included in this exemption
- HTQs are not expected to be smaller than 150 guided learning hours (15 credits)
We will update this part of the manual if we need to.
Level 3 free courses for jobs
Before you ask us to consider level 3 qualifications for the level 3 free courses for jobs offer, you must first gain funding approval for them in either:
- loans
- the level 3 statutory entitlement
Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority can also ask that we add a qualification to the national level 3 free courses for jobs offer.
These authorities should check if a qualification has been approved in either loans or the level 3 statutory entitlement on our list of qualifications approved for funding website before submitting their request.