Following accreditation, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) recommends qualifications for approval under Sections 96 and 97 of the Learning and Skills Act 2000, according to specified criteria.

The approvals team provides advice to DfES twice a month. The advice includes recently accredited qualifications, extensions to periods of accreditation, qualification withdrawals and amendments to title, sector subject areas and age approval categories.

Once QCA's advice has been accepted by DfES, approved qualifications are listed on the DfES Section 96 and Section 97 websites and on the Learning and Skills Council's (LSC's) Learning Aims Database, in addition to QCA's NDAQ website of accredited qualifications.

The Learning Aims Database provides additional information about the funding eligibility of approved qualifications as well as information on other types of non-QCA approved qualifications.

Please note that accreditation data on the NDAQ DfES and LSC websites is not updated at the same time, owing to the time lag involved in providing advice to DfES and the subsequent transfer of approved data to the Learning and Skills Council.

Section 96 and Section 97 use four main age approval categories for advice purposes:

• pre-16
• 16-18
• 18+
• 19+

Approval decisions are normally cumulative, so if a qualification is suitable for learners aged under 16 it will also be suitable for learners aged 16 to 18, 18+ and 19+. Similarly, if a qualification was not considered suitable 16+, neither would it be appropriate for a learner aged under 16. There are however exceptional cases, for example pilot qualifications may be designed specifically for pre-16 use.

A category of 'no approval sought' is also available. One example of when no approval sought might be chosen is when a qualification is for use in Northern Ireland only. Also since March 2004 BTEC Higher National Certificates and Higher National Diplomas have been accredited by QCA but not approved by the Secretary of State. These qualifications would therefore appear as no approval sought on NDAQ.

Further information on the suitability of different types and levels of qualification for different age groups of learners is given below.

Approval periods

The approval start date for a qualification is the date that the qualification is uploaded onto the Section 96 and Section 97 websites following acceptance of QCA’s advice. The approval start date will therefore be slightly later than the accreditation start date.

In the case of qualifications accredited with delayed accreditation start dates, accreditation and approval start dates are the same. Qualifications are approved under Sections 96 and/or 97 until their accreditation end date.

Please note that accreditation data on the QCA, DfES and Learning and Skills Council websites is not updated at the same time, owing to the time lag involved in providing advice to DfES and the subsequent transfer of approved data to the Learning and Skills Council.