As you’re aware, the SFA recently announced changes to its funding rules meaning that a number of adult qualifications may no longer be publicly funded. This story has hit the wider press this month with reports stating that around 5,000 adult vocational courses will be cut in order to "simplify and streamline" the adult skills system in England.

Skills and Enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock took to Twitter to announce that the current system is ‘hard to understand’ and the Government will be binning ‘low-value’ courses such as self-tanning, balloon artistry and instructing pole fitness in order to focus on qualifications that employers value. Nearly £200m of the department's adult skills budget will now be redirected towards what the Government considers to be the ‘most relevant’ qualifications.

NCFE agrees that funding should of course be focused around qualifications of quality and rigour that lead people into successful employment – that’s not up for debate. And it’s true that many of the qualifications being spoken about are in niche areas and may seem irrelevant to the skills needs of the country. However, ‘aerial balloon displays’ and ‘self- tanning’ only account for a tiny portion of the qualifications that are being resigned to the scrapheap.

We feel that many of the qualifications in danger of losing funding actually do have real value to learners and what’s more, they’re held in high regard by employers. For these qualifications within NCFE’s portfolio, we’re working hard to secure their funding for the 2014-15 session. For example, we proactively put in an appeal with the SFA for a number of qualifications to be considered as exceptions. We recently received the result of this appeal and are delighted to note that we’ve seen great success, and the following qualifications were successfully appealed:

• Level 2 Certificate in Contact Centre Operations (600/1292/4)
• Level 2 Certificate in Customer Service Knowledge (600/1772/7)
• Level 2 Certificate in Principles of Business and Administration (501/1224/7)
• Level 2 Certificate in Understanding the Safe Handling of Medicines (501/0037/3)
• Level 2 Certificate in Mental Health Awareness (600/6134/0)
• Level 2 Certificate in Understanding End of Life Care (600/9523/4)
• Level 2 Certificate in Nutrition and Health (600/9966/5)
• Level 2 Certificate in Understanding Working in Mental Health (600/6133/9)
• Level 2 Certificate in Cleaning Principles (601/0791/1).

For example, we felt that there were qualifications on the list in the Health and Social Care sector such as ‘Working in Mental Health’ and ‘End of Life Care’ which fill a skills gap and are integral to those who work in this incredibly worthwhile profession. Therefore, we’re pleased that the SFA is treating these qualifications as exceptions and granting them public funding.

Other key examples include qualifications in Customer Service, Business and Administration and Contact Centre Operations. The call centre industry is one of the UK’s most rapidly expanding sectors, now employing over 1 million people. Therefore, surely it’s necessary to equip the people who work in this industry with the skills they need to do an effective job. Again, with this in mind, we’re glad that these qualifications have been successful in their appeal. You can see the full list here.

At NCFE, we’re not just sitting back - we’re proactively responding to the changes, looking at each affected qualification individually, working closely with the SFA. We anticipate there will be more qualifications that we will appeal for in the coming weeks and months and we’ll endeavour to keep our customers informed every step of the way.  

In the case of other qualifications, we’ve taken this opportunity to re-evaluate them and we may choose to amend them if we feel that this is the right thing to do. We’ll be working closely with both employers and our key partners to ensure that these qualifications remain fit for purpose and meet the needs of learners and the labour market.

And remember the qualifications which remain unaffected by the funding changes such as our Apprenticeships and our units available for individual registration and certification.

If you’ve got any questions about the SFA funding changes, you can call our dedicated team on 0191 239 8000 or email [email protected] – we’d be more than happy to help! You can also leave a comment here on the Blog to let us know what your thoughts are.