Skills Funding Agency and the QCF...

The Learning Skills Council (LSC) has been replaced by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA)

How the Skills Funding Agency is implementing the Qualifications and Credit Framework

Implementation involves ensuring that:
• funding and performance can be aligned to the QCF
• the Skills Funding Agency funds those QCF qualifications identified by sector organisations as priorities
• QCF qualifications become the provision of choice across all Skills Funding Agency funded programme
• the Skills Funding Agency's business systems and processes can support the implementation of the QCF
• the Personal Learning Record is enhanced and deployed to support the QCF.
The Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF)
The Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) is a new way of recognising achievement through the award of credit for the achievement of units and qualifications. The QCF provides a simple and rational organising framework that presents learner achievement and qualifications in a way that is easy to understand, measure and compare. It gives individuals the opportunity to learn in a more flexible way and enables a wider range of organisations, including employers, to have their training recognised.

The QCF is a key strand of the Government’s Vocational Qualification Reform (VQR) Programme. The Skills Funding Agency is responsible for implementing the QCF across the wider post 19 skills system in England, and for delivering the changes made to the Personal Learning Record to support the additional QCF services which will operate in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

From 1 April 2010 the new arrangements for confirming public funding for qualifications delivered to learners aged 19 and above in England began. These arrangements are managed and operated by the Skills Funding Agency (the Agency) and will cover the following categories of provision.

• Vocational qualifications in the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF), which will be the primary focus
• QCF units for inclusion in the ongoing unit funding trials
• Non-vocational qualifications in the QCF
• Certain categories of National Qualification Framework (NQF) provision such as Skills for Life
• Other provision (including Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) recognised Access to Higher Education), that the Agency will continue to fund.

Qualifications within the QCF will be confirmed for funding for one or more of the Agency’s delivery programmes (Adult Learner Responsive provision, Offender Learning and Skills Service, Train to Gain, and Programmes for the Unemployed). Apprenticeships will be subject to separate arrangements, in which the Agency will need to work together with JACQA, YPLA and the National Apprenticeships Service (NAS).

For further information you may be interested in referring to the:

• Skills Funding Agency Funding Approval Process (March 2010)
• Technical Parameters for Funding – Adult Learner Responsive (March 2010)
• Target-bearing Level 2 and Level 3 Qualifications in the QCF (version 1) (March 2010)

QCF qualifications confirmed for public funding at the 19 April 2010


This online list identifies the qualifications within the QCF that have so far been confirmed as appropriate for public funding in Adult Learner Responsive and Train to Gain for the remainder of 2009/10 and 2010/11.

In order to provide early notice of accredited QCF qualifications confirmed for funding, this list will be updated on a regular basis through the transition period (February – December 2010). It will also include qualifications confirmed for other programs as well, including OLASS and Programmes for the Unemployed.

Qualifications and units approved for funding will continue to be added to the Learning Aims Database (LAD), which will remain the primary source for funding information and will include funding rates and programme weighting factors.

At the end of April we will publish more details concerning the process for removing funding from NQF qualifications in advance of August 2010.


QCF qualifications confirmed for public funding at the 19 April 2010
(Published 19 April 2010)


Personal Learning Record

The Personal Learning Record is a free service intended to empower the learner to view and review their learning and support them in making the right learning choices in the context of the QCF. The learner will be able to view all of their QCF achievement data, on-line, and in one place.
The Skills Funding Agency is responsible for implementing the QCF across the wider post 19 skills system in England, and for delivering the changes made to the Personal Learning Record to support the additional QCF services which will operate in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Personal Learning Record is being delivered in two phases:

Phase one: Transition Service (April 2009 – September 2010)
Phase two: Full integration with the Personal Learning Record (September 2010 onwards)

For more information on SFA follow this link to their website…

Skills Funding Agency