Further information
New field on Section 96 website entries: Category
The Department for Children Schools and Families has established a new committee - the Joint Advisory Committee for Qualifications Approval (JACQA) - to advise the Secretary of State on which of the accredited qualifications for pre 19 learners in England should be approved as eligible for public funding under Section 96 of the Learning and Skills Act 2000.
JACQA meets on a termly basis to consider Stand Alone qualifications submitted by Awarding Organisations for approval for public funding.
In line with the Department's policy, there is a presumption that, the majority of qualifications for 14-19 year olds eligible for use in maintained educational institutions should fall within four National qualification Suites or Frameworks - A levels and GCSEs; Diplomas; Apprenticeships; the Foundation Learning Tier - JACQA will make recommendations to the Secretary of State on whether a qualification is eligible for funding within one or more of the four national qualification suites or frameworks or whether they are eligible for funding as a Stand Alone qualification, intended only for use outside of the four national suites or frameworks.
Entries on this website for all qualifications approved by the Secretary of State since 1 January 2009 now show within which of the national suites or frameworks the qualification is eligible for public funding. This information can be found in the <Category> field, the entries in that field will be one (or more1)of the following:
Stand Alone - Qualification judged to meet the criteria for free-standing qualifications2 and can be offered to all pre 19 learners outside of the four national suites or frameworks.
Apprenticeship - Qualification approved for use within an Apprenticeship framework for pre 19 learners
FLT PP – Qualification approved for use within the Foundation Learning Tier for pre 19 learners.
Diploma - Qualification approved for use within the 14-19 Diploma ( this may be the Principle Learning element for a specific Diploma or one of the non A level or GCSE qualifications available to learners as Additional and Specialist Learning options) for pre 19 learners.
A levels/GCSE - A level and GCSE qualifications available to pre 19 learners
It is the responsibility of all Education and Training Providers to check that any qualification they wish to offer to any pre 19 learner is eligible for public funding within the appropriate qualification route being followed by that learner.
NOTE: Qualifications approved for inclusion on Section 96 before 1 January 2009 are eligible for use by any pre 19 learner in line with the age range for which they are approved. This will apply until such time as those qualifications are put forward by their Awarding Organisation for re-accreditation by Ofqual (or a regulatory body recognised by them) or are reviewed by JACQA.
Further details on the new criteria for approval of qualifications for receipt of public funding under Section 96 can be found in the 'New Criteria for Approval (from October 2008)' item on the Further Information page of this website.
1 Qualifications can only be eligible for public funding as either a National Suite or Framework qualification or as a Stand Alone qualification. However qualifications may be approved for eligibility in more than one National Suite or Framework.
2 Criterion E and F of the Section 96 Administration Criteria