Qualification-type funding approval criteria: alternative academic qualifications
Funding approval criteria that alternative academic qualifications need to meet alongside the common approval and offer-specific criteria.
This section explains the funding approval criteria which will be used for small alternative academic qualifications.
For information on technical qualifications, see qualification-type funding approval criteria: technical qualifications.
The following qualifications will not need to meet qualification-type funding approval criteria:
- AS and A levels
- Access to higher education diplomas
- advanced extension awards
- core maths qualifications
- extended project qualifications
- International Baccalaureate diploma
- performing arts graded examination at level 3
- technical qualifications in T Levels
In the spring 2025 funding approval submission round, we will accept small AAQs for funding approval from 1 August 2026 for:
- applied science
- medical science
- human biology
- early years
- health and social care
- information technology
- computing
- subjects which support progression to degrees in healthcare professions allied to medicine, dentistry, and nursing
- building and construction
- child development and well-being
- direct learning support
- teaching and lecturing
We will use your submission form and other evidence such as the draft qualification specification to test this criterion.
The size of a qualification must relate to:
- its purpose
- the level of study
- the skills and knowledge the learner will develop
The size characteristic relates to its value in terms of hours of guided learning. Ofqual has published guidance on activities that contribute to guided learning hours.
Small alternative academic qualifications
Small AAQs must be between 150 and 420 guided learning hours.
Awarding organisations (AOs) will need to demonstrate that the AAQ has a clear and direct link to higher education. This includes:
- a clear purpose statement, with an explicit explanation of how the qualification supports progress directly into higher education
- a minimum of 6 letters of support for the qualification from higher education institutions registered with the Office for Students (OfS)
If the AAQ replaces an existing qualification or has very similar content to an existing qualification, we will review progression from the existing qualification using data including the jobs and skills dashboards.
Awarding organisations can submit their own data on progression from the existing qualification. If they do, they must ensure both the sources and key findings from the data are clear. It will not be enough to provide a raw data set without detailing the source and providing a written overview of the data.
What you need to do
You need to provide a purpose statement and evidence of support from higher education providers.
Purpose statement
The purpose statement should set out the aims, objectives and intended purpose of each qualification to help learners make informed decisions about which qualifications to take. It should refer to Ofqual’s qualification level conditions in relation to the general purposes of AAQs.
For AAQs, this should set out that the purpose is to support progression to higher education. We will consider whether qualifications are delivering against their stated purpose as part of monitoring the balance of mix and provision.
The purpose statement for each qualification must be published on your website, alongside or as part of the qualification specification. The statement must be:
- meaningful and relevant to students and parents or carers
- written in plain English
You can use our template for writing a purpose statement (MS Word, 69KB). It is not mandatory to use the template, but we recommend using it to ensure you address all the minimum requirements.
If awarding organisations submit qualifications of different sizes in the same subject (also called nesting), they will need to meet the qualification-type criteria for AAQs. These include:
- meeting Ofqual qualification level conditions for AAQs
- having a clear purpose and delivering meaningful outcomes as a standalone qualification - for example, each qualification will need to support entry to higher education to be approved as an AAQ
Where providers are delivering nested qualifications, we expect them to make sure students choose the right qualification based on the student’s ability and what they want to achieve. We do not expect students to repeat learning that they have already completed.
This will be relevant, for example, to digital related qualifications of 180 GLH and 360 GLH.
Evidence of support from higher education providers
We require a minimum of 6 and no more than 10 letters of support from higher education providers for each AAQ submitted for funding approval.
At least 3 of the letters must be from a higher education provider in England, and each provider must be registered with the Office for Students.
If a provider is failing to meet the Office for Students’ conditions of registration or any subsequent conditions imposed, that letter of support will be discounted in the review. The conditions of registration are on the spreadsheet version of the OfS register.
Each letter of support must confirm that the provider recognises the specific qualification as fulfilling entry requirements to higher education courses it delivers in related subjects. Small AAQs would do this by meeting entry requirements when taken alongside A levels.
We will not accept letters of support which simply confirm that the qualification will be accepted as meeting broad entry requirements, such as UCAS points. We recognise that not all subjects or higher education providers require students to have studied a related subject or specific qualification at level 3, but each qualification approved as an AAQ must be necessary (as set out in section 4 below). Simply meeting broad entry requirements would not count as being necessary.
We are looking for:
- evidence that higher education providers have been involved in the development of the qualification
- confirmation from providers that the qualification will be beneficial for students moving into a related higher education course
This should help substantiate the claims made in the purpose statement.
We have provided a set of questions to address in letters of support from higher education providers (PDF, 96KB). These should form the basis of the content of each letter of support. We will expect providers to specifically address these as a minimum.
Letters must be signed by someone employed by the higher education provider, who:
- is close to the higher education course being cited
- is familiar with admissions policy and practice
- has the seniority needed to speak on behalf of the relevant department
- has the authority to sign such a letter on behalf of the provider
This could be someone in a head of department role for example, but you should decide in conjunction with the higher education provider.
Each letter must also:
- give the full title (or working title) and awarding organisation for each qualification, as opposed to a generic qualification type or suite of qualifications
- confirm the name, job title and organisation of the person providing the letter of support
- be dated - for new or redeveloped qualifications, the date should be no more than 6 months before the date of the submission
- be on headed paper
- be written in plain English and be meaningful and relevant to students and parents or carers
We will accept letters you have prepared for the previous intended submission window in 2024 (known as cycle 2).
A single letter of support can cover multiple qualifications from a single awarding organisation where they are in a single subject, such as AAQs in performing arts. In this case, the higher education provider must make specific reference to each of the qualifications when answering the questions.
Letters of support must not cover different subject areas, such as multiple small academic qualifications in applied science and engineering.
In seeking letters of support, awarding organisations should be clear with providers that their letter:
- will be made publicly available
- must remain available unless they are informed that the provider no longer recognises that qualification
Letters of support must be:
- publicly available on the awarding organisation’s website
- clearly signposted and accessible to users
If they become aware that a higher education provider no longer recognises the qualification, the awarding organisation must remove the letter of support from the website.
For small AAQs, awarding organisations must demonstrate the value the qualification adds to A-level study as part of a mixed study programme, so it can be considered for 16 to 19 funding approval.
The guide to post-16 qualifications at level 3 and below in England sets out our expectations for small AAQs in study programmes for 16 to 19 year olds. Awarding organisations should consider this as part of their submission.
What you need to do
You need to provide a statement explaining why the qualification is necessary.
Statement for small AAQs
For small AAQs, awarding organisations must demonstrate how the qualification adds value to a study programme for learners.
This includes how it supports progression to higher education when taken as part of a mixed study programme.
The submission should include a description of coherent study programmes for the qualification, which would support entry into different higher education courses, outlining logical combinations with A levels.
In cycle 1, for example, a small AAQ in engineering, when taken alongside A levels in science and maths, could provide a complementary balance of core STEM subjects suitable for a student aiming to study an engineering degree.
Alternatively, a small AAQ in health and social care could complement A levels in biology and psychology, for progression onto a health and social care degree course.
Awarding organisations must also outline how and why the learning and assessment approach enhances students’ opportunities for progression to higher education courses in aligned subject areas.
For small AAQs in areas where there are A levels, awarding organisations must also explain how the qualification is different to the A level, in terms of the approach taken to learning and assessment.
The previous rules of combination requiring AAQs to be studied alongside A levels are no longer in effect. However, we expect AAQs to be designed to be part of mixed programmes that include A levels. They may also be combined with other qualifications such as Technical Occupational Entry qualifications as determined by the provider. We do not expect awarding organisations to design suites of AAQs that form a 3 AAQ study programme.
AAQs must meet Ofqual’s:
As part of the funding approval process for AAQs, Ofqual will review qualification materials that have been submitted and will feed back the outcome of their review to DfE.
We will consider Ofqual’s feedback when deciding whether a qualification should be approved for funding. We may decide not to approve a qualification for funding if we believe that issues raised by Ofqual have not been sufficiently addressed.
What you need to do
You need to provide:
- a qualification specification
- an assessment strategy
- sample assessment materials
Qualification specification
This needs to include the qualification content and assessment structure, in line with Ofqual’s qualification level conditions and general conditions of recognition.
Assessment strategy
Ofqual’s regulations for level 3 AAQs require awarding organisations to establish an assessment strategy, follow it and keep it under review.
The requirements related to assessment strategies include, for example, that:
- key aspects of the qualification, including the content and assessment structure, must be designed to be consistent with the qualification purpose
- awarding organisations must justify how the key structural aspects of the assessment have been designed to be:
- consistent with the purposes of the qualification
- appropriate in relation to the content
- conducive to the development of robust standard setting and standards maintenance processes
- awarding organisations must fully justify their approach to content coverage in the context of the purpose of the qualification
Refer to the qualification level conditions for the full list of requirements for assessment strategies.
Demonstrate synoptic assessment methods for your qualifications
We anticipate that synoptic assessment methods will be used in a qualification as appropriate to the:
- subject area
- content that is being targeted
- assessment methodology
This is based on the purpose of these qualifications and in line with what we have approved in the past.
Sample assessment materials
These need to include mark schemes and a specification content coverage record, where applicable, for each assessment within the qualification.
These can be either:
- previously live assessments, modified where necessary to demonstrate a revised approach as appropriate
- newly developed samples
In the title of the qualification, you must make clear the:
- awarding organisation’s name
- type of qualification - in this case, alternative academic qualification
- level of the qualification
- subject, using a short and accurate description of the content
- size of the qualification using the terms specified below based on the total guided learning hours (GLH) of the qualification
You must refer to the level of the qualification. For alternative academic qualifications, this is level 3.
You must clearly mark all new alternative academic qualifications, to describe the content accurately. Use the term ‘alternative academic qualifications’ after the level at the front of the qualification title.
AAQs must be titled to make clear the size of the qualification. Small AAQs must be called ‘certificate’ and large AAQs must be called ‘diploma’. Within these, there are 2 sizes of qualification which should be differentiated by adding the term ‘extended’, as follows.
Small AAQs:
- qualifications of between 150 and up to 300 GLH must be called a certificate
- qualifications over 300 and up to 420 GLH must be called an extended certificate
You must use these terms regardless of whether you have one, or more than one size of AAQ approved in the same subject.
You must also ensure that any misleading or legacy elements of titles are removed.
You can also include your own qualification branding, for example BTEC.
The format of your title
The format of your title must be set out as follows.
Certificate – small AAQs:
- [Awarding organisation] Level 3 Alternative Academic Qualification [Branding] in Applied Science (Certificate)
- [Awarding organisation] Level 3 Alternative Academic Qualification [Branding] in Applied Science (Extended Certificate)
At least 60% of the contribution to the overall qualification grade for an AAQ must relate to content that is mandatory.
We expect the majority of AAQs to exceed these minimum requirements.
Where a qualification has more than one pathway, meaning a defined combination through which different parts of the content can be studied, the mandatory content requirement applies equally to each of these pathways.
All learners following the same pathway must take the same mandatory content, but the mandatory content may differ between pathways.
Awarding organisations should ensure pathways are clear and understandable to:
- students
- employers
- further education providers
- higher education providers