SFA Gives Assurances That ‘Old’ Qualifications Will Continue To Be Funded

The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) has confirmed that it will continue to fund qualifications from the ‘old’ national framework as well as on the new Qualification Credit Framework (QCF) for those already within the system. Our article on 4th June, Vocational Students Unsure of Their Futures as Qualifications Reform, highlighted that both training providers and students were being left in limo as to whether those already undertaking an NVQ2 would be able to progress to an NVQ3 because of the change in the qualification framework. In a letter to the Guardian newspaper published today (June 15th Geoff Russell of the SFA stated that ‘No existing NQF (National Qualification Framework) qualification will have funding turned off unless an appropriate QCF offer is available now. In some cases we will fund both the “old” and “new” versions of a particular qualification. We are doing this to aid the transition, particularly where the new framework qualification is significantly different in its content from the NQF qualification.’ This will bring relief to many students and employers involved with the current bench joinery and woodmachining qualifications that they will be able to transfer onto the QCF to complete their training. Those students and apprentices taking any qualification that has not been converted onto the QCF will be able to continue training with funding assured.