Overview of qualification funding approval process

This shows the step-by-step process that awarding organisations must follow to get funding approval in England for a qualification.

  1. If you’re an awarding organisation, add the qualification to Ofqual’s register of regulated qualifications for Ofqual to regulate it and provide a unique qualification number. If you’re an access validating agency, submit the qualification to the Quality Assurance Agency for the Quality Assurance Agency to regulate it and provide a unique qualification number.

  2. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) adds the qualification to Find a learning aim without funding validity, which can take up to 2 weeks.

  3. Department for Education (DfE) downloads data about regulated qualifications from Ofqual and the Quality Assurance Agency on the second to last Tuesday of the month before the funding approval cycle month. It can take up to 5 weeks for data to appear in the download after regulation.

  4. If the qualification is affected by the moratorium, go to step 5. If the qualification is not affected by the moratorium, go to step 6.

  5. If the qualification meets the moratorium exemption criteria, go to step 6. If the qualification does not meet the exemption criteria, go to step 7.

  6. If the qualification meets the approval criteria, go to step 8. If the qualification does not meet the approval criteria, go to step 7.

  7. DfE does not approve the qualification for funding. DfE writes to the awarding organisation, mayoral combined authority, or Greater London Authority to explain the reasons.

  8. DfE updates the list of qualifications approved for funding. ESFA updates the qualification’s funding validity in Find a learning aim.