Q1. What is section 96?
Q2. Can maintained schools and colleges teach courses leading to qualifications that are not on the published section 96 list?
Q3. Can schools and colleges teach a course that is not on the published section 96 list if it does not lead to a qualification?
Q4. What are the current arrangements for section 96 approvals?
Q5. How will organisations and educational institutions know if a qualification has section 96 approval for a particular age group?
Q6. How often is the section 96 list updated?
Q7. How long does it take for a qualification to receive section 96 approval?
Q8. How long does an approval last?
Q9. Do all qualifications that have section 96 approval and are taught to pre-16 year olds count towards Key Stage 4 performance tables?
Q10. How will I know if a qualification has not been granted approval under Section 96?
Q11. Where can I find information on funding for section 96 qualifications?
Q12. Where can I find out more about a qualification?

Q1. What is section 96?
This is the section of the Learning and Skills Act 2000 that provides the Secretary of State with the power to approve qualifications for young people aged under 19 years. It enables courses that lead to qualifications to be taught in maintained schools, academies and maintained colleges, and for public funds to be used for these courses and qualifications.

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Q2. Can maintained schools and colleges teach courses leading to qualifications that are not on the published section 96 list?
No. It is illegal to offer, or propose to offer, such courses in maintained settings without this approval. Maintained schools and colleges can only provide courses that lead to a qualification if that qualification has been approved under section 96. In exceptional circumstances, under the terms of the model funding agreement, an individual academy may seek the specific written approval of the Secretary of State to offer a course leading to a qualification without section 96 approval.

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Q3. Can schools and colleges teach a course that is not on the published section 96 list if it does not lead to a qualification?
Yes. Section 96 does not cover courses that lead to more informal certificates, such as the Duke of Edinburgh Award, or provision that is not certificated in any way. It only applies to courses that lead to a qualification.

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Q4. What are the current arrangements for section 96 approvals?
Qualifications are required to meet two over-arching criteria in order to be approved under section 96. These are:

  1. Accreditation by Ofqual. Only qualifications that meet high quality standards are eligible for public funding. Accreditation by Ofqual provides these assurances.
  2. Suitability for the age group. Account will be taken of whether the qualification is suitable for the age group in terms of maturity, social well-being and health and safety requirements.

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Q5. How will organisations and educational institutions know if a qualification has section 96 approval for a particular age group?
The list of approved qualifications is available on the Department's section 96 website. The list identifies qualifications that have been approved for the following age groups: pre-16, 16 to 18 and 18.

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Q6. How often is the section 96 list updated?
The list is updated monthly, at the end of each month. Information on qualifications added, amended or deleted in each update can be accessed within the section 96 website by selecting those options in the left hand menu.

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Q7. How long does it take for a qualification to receive section 96 approval?
It can take up to 15 weeks from the time the Awarding Organisation submits a qualification to Ofqual's Regulatory Information Technology System (RITS) to the publication of funding information following section 96 approval by the Secretary of State. The whole process is described in detail in the Education Funding Agency's document From Regulation to Publication. A summary of the process leading to approval is:

  • Awarding Organisations submit their qualifications to Ofqual for accreditation using RITS and indicate the age categories for which they are requesting section 96 approval.
  • Ofqual assesses the qualifications against accreditation criteria published under section 140 of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 (this can take up to 4 weeks). If qualifications pass the assessment, Ofqual will assign a qualification accreditation number (QAN) to indicate that the qualification is regulated.
  • Early in the month, DfE receives a list of Ofqual's newly accredited and amended qualifications for under 19 year olds.
  • DfE assesses each of the qualifications on the list against the criterion of suitability for the age group. Following this decision, DfE uploads all new approvals to the section 96 website at the end of each month.
  • The approved qualifications are then sent to Data Service and the Education Funding Agency for upload to the Learning Aim Reference Application (LARA) and for funding allocation.

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Q8. How long does an approval last?
Approval under section 96 is open-ended and lasts for as long as the qualification is available in its approved form. However, the Secretary of State does have the power to revoke an approval under section 98(5) of the Learning and Skills Act 2000.

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Q9. Do all qualifications that have section 96 approval and are taught to pre-16 year olds count towards Key Stage 4 performance tables?
No. Whilst schools are free to offer any qualification approved under section 96 for this age group, from 2014, Key Stage 4 performance tables will be restricted to those qualifications that are rigorous, high quality, and enable progression to a wide range of employment and further study opportunities for the majority of young people. The list of qualifications which will count in the Key Stage 4 Performance Tables in 2014 is available here. The list of qualifications that will count in the Key Stage 4 Performance Tables in 2015 is available here.

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Q10. How will I know if a qualification has not been granted approval under Section 96?
If a qualification does not meet the criteria and is not approved under section 96, the Department will write to the Awarding Organisation's Responsible Officer, providing a brief explanation for why the qualification was rejected. The section 96 website lists all the qualifications that have been approved. If you have a query about a qualification that appears in Ofqual's register but does not appear on the approved section 96 list, you should contact the Awarding Organisation.

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Q11. Where can I find information on funding for section 96 qualifications?
All funding matters for section 96 qualifications are handled by the Education Funding Agency. Further information can be found on the EFA website or by contacting the agency directly.

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Q12. Where can I find out more about a qualification?
The Register of Regulated Qualifications contains details of all recognised Awarding Organisations and regulated qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The 'Search Qualifications' tab will give access to full details of all regulated qualifications and the 'View Performance Measures' tab at the foot of the qualifications page provides information on the performance points associated with that qualification. A practical guide to key stage 4 and 5 performance points can be found here.

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