Withdrawal of funding approval from qualifications with low and no publicly funded enrolments
The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) have recently issued further information regarding their Review of Post-16 qualifications at Level 3 and below in England consultation, on the Withdrawal of funding approval from qualifications with low and no publicly funded enrolments. This response to the first part of their consultation includes an initial list of qualifications that they are intending to remove funding from August 2021, that have no or low publicly funded enrolments over 3 years (2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18).
They have also provided guidance for Awarding Organisations to request to retain approval for funding for a qualification.
Ascentis, along with all other Awarding Organisations, conduct reviews of their qualifications with low or no usage throughout the lifespan of the qualification as an ongoing regulatory requirement. We would also like to clarify that the qualifications identified on this list will not have their funding withdrawn until August 2021.
We are currently reviewing the qualifications that are listed for Ascentis, to identify which qualifications we will request to retain approval for funding following the criteria provided by the ESFA. We will be asking to retain funding for a qualification where there is evidence to show that there is an increased demand or a significant adverse impact. We are also working to identify suitable alternatives for any qualifications that may be withdrawn to support our centres.
We will submit our notification forms to request to retain funding by 27th March 2020, the deadline for all Awarding Organisations.
We will be in touch with our centres who use these qualifications in the coming weeks. However, if you have any concerns or questions about any of the qualifications identified for Ascentis on this list, or this review in general, please get in touch by email [email protected].
