Qualifications with removed funding approval
How we treat qualifications with removed funding approval. Why and when we have removed or will remove funding approval for groups of qualifications.
Common Approval Principle 11 states that we will not approve new qualifications that have the same or similar content to qualifications where funding approval has already been withdrawn, or we have announced it will be removed.
The government published the Post-16 education and skills white paper and the Post-16 level 3 and below pathways consultation setting the direction for further reforms to post-16 qualifications at level 3 and below.
DfE considered all level 3 qualifications that were in scope to have funding approval removed from 1 August 2025.
This included:
- qualifications that overlap with T Levels in waves 1, 2, 3 or 4
- level 3 qualifications that are in scope to have funding approval removed in cycle 1
- qualifications that providers identified in their cycle 1 submissions as being replaced by a reformed qualification (even where the replacement qualifications were not approved for funding)
Where qualifications have had funding retained, we have extended funding approval for these qualifications into 2025 to 2026 on the DfE List of qualifications approved for funding and Find a learning aim.
We will not approve funding for qualifications that have the same or similar content to those that are having their funding approval removed.
See Qualifications with removed funding approval for lists of other qualifications with removed funding approval.
We remove funding approval for new starts only.
If a student is already enrolled on an existing qualification before its funding approval end date, we continue to fund them. This will be until they have completed their qualification or until the qualification’s certification end date, whichever is earlier.
Where we remove funding approval for a qualification, that qualification cannot re-enter the publicly funded offer.
If you withdraw a qualification or change its operational end date to be earlier, we will set its funding approval end date to be the same as the revised operational end date.