Level 3 free courses for jobs offer: approval criteria

Criteria that qualifications in the level 3 free courses for jobs offer need to meet alongside the common funding approval criteria.

This was previously known as the Level 3 adult offer. Adults in England who are 19 and over and do not already have a level 3 qualification (equivalent to an advanced technical certificate or diploma, or A levels or higher) can undertake a qualification for free to improve job prospects and earn better wages. Adults in England are also eligible if they are earning under the National Living Wage annually or are unemployed, regardless of their prior qualification level.

Learn more about level 3 free courses for jobs.

We identified the sectors for this offer by:

This offer includes qualifications in the following sector subject areas:

  • accounting and finance
  • agriculture
  • building and construction
  • business management
  • child development and well-being
  • engineering
  • environmental conservation
  • health and social care
  • horticulture and forestry
  • hospitality and catering
  • ICT for users
  • ICT practitioners
  • manufacturing technologies
  • mathematics and statistics
  • medicine and dentistry
  • nursing and subjects and vocations allied to medicine
  • public services
  • science
  • teaching and lecturing
  • transportation operations and maintenance
  • warehousing and distribution

For us to include a qualification in this offer, it must:

  • be regulated by Ofqual
  • be already approved for funding in the funding year 2023 to 2024 through the ESFA funded adult education budget or advanced learner loans
  • be operationally available for all or part of the funding year 2022 to 2023
  • be at level 3
  • be at least 60 guided learning hours (GLH) in size
  • primarily support a student to enter a specific job role, or directly into employment (this includes qualifications that can be delivered in a workplace setting and support upskilling or specialisation)
  • be in one of the sector subject areas listed above
  • not be in scope to have funding approval removed as a result of the review of qualifications with no or low publicly funded enrolments
  • not mainly serve as an introduction to further training or study
  • not be an Access to Higher Education diploma, because this offer focusses on directly entering and progressing through employment, rather than progressing to higher education
  • not be a Technical Qualification in T Levels

Final decisions on adding qualification to the offer will factor in its overall affordability.

Read the list of qualifications approved for funding in the level 3 free courses for jobs.

Qualifications in this offer are still subject to the review of post-16 qualifications at level 3 and below in England.