An update on the removal of funding approval for qualifications with low or no enrolments

The Secretary of State announced a review of post-16 qualification reforms to assess how best to improve the quality of the overall qualifications landscape, support the growth of T Levels, and ensure that all young people and adults have high-quality options that meet their needs.

As part of this review, we are reviewing the level 3 qualifications that are currently in scope to have funding approval removed at post-16, from 1 August 2025. This includes 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

As part of the first phase of the review, we will continue to remove funding approval from these qualifications, if they have low or no publicly funded enrolments. This will only apply to qualifications due to have funding approval removed for 16-to-19-year-olds and adults and which meet the low and no enrolment definition. This means a low and no enrolment threshold will not apply to qualifications on the wave 3 (except in the engineering and manufacturing route) and 4 T Level overlap lists.

If a qualification meets the criteria for low and no enrolments, it will continue to have funding removed. The funding status of the remainder of the qualifications due to have funding approval removed from 1 August 2025 will remain under review.

What this means for you

At the bottom of this page, you will find 3 downloadable files. These are:

1. A copy of the guidance document sent to awarding organisations on 7 October, advising them of how to notify us if they believe funding approval should not be withdrawn.
2. A copy of the notification form for use by awarding organisations
3. The list of qualifications which have low or no publicly funded enrolments.

We are asking Awarding Organisations to notify us by 5:00pm on 1 November 2024 if they believe funding approval should not be withdrawn from one or more of their qualifications.

We would advise providers to review the list of qualifications, and contact their awarding organisation, if they believe a qualification meets the criteria set out in the guidance. If a qualification meets this criterion it could be in scope of the application of further criteria in the review of post 16 qualifications reforms.