What counts as ‘nonqualification’ hours?
Suki Gill
16-19 Planning Manager
Aims of the session


Understand the principles of nonqualification hours in accordance with
EFA and Ofsted guidance
Understand what ‘counts’ as nonqualification hours and evidencing
them
Importance of non-qualification
hours

The Wolf review of Vocational Education (March
2011)

EFA 2014/15 Funding regulations guidance
(June 2014)

Ofsted Study Programme guidance (January
2014)
The Wolf Report - 5 Key Labour Market
Characteristics
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Full-time education or training to age 18 is now the
dominant pattern
Change in the youth labour market, employment-related
regulation, and employers’ assumptions about schoolleavers’ skills
Valuing and rewarding employment experience and not
just formal credentials
Good levels of English and Mathematics
Students need general skills and the educational system
needs to respond quickly and flexibly to change
The Wolf Report Recommendations



Wolf Report recommendation 5:
‘The overall study programmes of all 16-18 year olds in ‘vocational’
programmes should be governed by a set of general principles
relating primarily to content, general structure, assessment
arrangements and contact’
Wolf Report recommendation 6:
‘Programmes should include at least one qualification of substantial
size (in terms of teaching time) which offers clear progression either
in education or into skilled employment’
Wolf Report recommendation 9:
‘Students who are under 19 and do not have GCSE A*-C in English
and/or Maths should be required, as part of their programme, to
pursue a course which either leads directly to these qualifications, or
which provide significant progress towards future GCSE entry and
success’
The Wolf Report Recommendations


Wolf Report recommendation 11:
‘Funding for full-time students age 16-18 should be on a programme
basis, with a given level of funding per student. The funding should
follow the student’
Wolf Report recommendation 21:
‘DfE should evaluate models for supplying genuine work experience
to 16-18 year olds who are enrolled as full-time students, not
apprentices, and for reimbursing local employers in a flexible way,
using core funds’
Ofsted Study Programme guidance
(Jan 2014)


What extend do leaders and managers:
allow for meaningful work experience (related to the
student’s vocational area) or other non-qualification
activity to develop personal skills and/or prepare for
further/higher education, training or employment
In inspecting and reporting on students’
achievement in the sixth form, inspectors should
consider:
how well students’ personal, social and employability
skills (communication, teamwork, leadership, taking
responsibility, problem-solving, reflective thinking,
independent enquiry) are developed to prepare them for
their next steps (further/higher education, training or
employment), including the contribution of ‘nonqualification’ activity
EFA Study Programmes
EFA Funding Allocation
statement
Your data is key
October 2014
School census return date
January 2015
EFA to send out school funding factors based on 2013
to14 data and lagged numbers based on 2014 to15
recruitment
February
Deadline for business cases to be with EFA
March
EFA confirms national rate
EFA send out school funding allocations
Data - Qualification hours


For funding purposes only qualifications
approved for teaching to 16-19 year olds under
section 96 of the Learning and Skills Act 2000
(s96), or any alternative list which may be
published by DfE in the future, can be included
within a study programme as qualification
activity
Qualifications not approved under S96 cannot be
taught in schools, but can be delivered by other
providers
Data - Non-qualification hours
Hours that:


do not count towards a qualification counted above; and
are delivered towards informal certificates or other nonqualification activity (including activity to give young people
the skills they need to live more independently and be
integrated within their community); or

are for tutorial purpose; or

are spent on work experience, other work-related activities

volunteering and/or community activities or enrichment
activities organised and quality assured by or on behalf of the
institution whether paid or not, including activity such as the
Duke of Edinburgh Award that might lead to an award but is
not listed on s96
Examples of activities that are not
funded




Voluntary extra-curricular activities and
clubs delivered during breaks or outside the
normal working pattern;
Study that is homework or independent
study/research that is not timetabled;
Time spent in employment and or work
experience organised by anyone other than
by or on behalf of the organisation;
Time spent on volunteering and/or
community activities that are not organised
by or on behalf of the institution.
‘Planned’ hours (540+ to achieve
FT learner status) and Funding



Made up of qualification hours and nonqualification hours
The total of both hours fields are used to
determine the full or part time funding rate
for the student
When entering the planned hours on data
returns institutions must ensure that the
hours entered are realistic and deliverable
to each individual student.
‘Quality assured hours’



Have you accounted for each ‘planned’
hour?
These hours need to be supported by
auditable evidence of eligible timetabled
activity or captured within an Individual
Learning Plan (ILP)
Evidence required for ALL activities
(hours)
Study programme design
Stage 1 (Qualification hours)

Progress to a level of study which is higher than
their prior attainment;

Take qualification(s) which are stretching ;

Take qualification(s) judged to be of suitable size
& level to enable progression
Stage 2 (Qualification hours)

Achieve English and maths GCSE A*-C, or
functional skills that will progress towards this if
this has not already been achieved;
Stage 3 (Non-qualification hours)

Participate in value-added non-qualification
activity & work experience whenever appropriate
Study Programmes Principles
Within each stage learning must be:

Relevant

Planned (timetabled)

Organised and / or supervised

Within normal working pattern
Calculate Planned qualification hours (Stages
1 and 2)
Calculate planned non-qualification hours
(Stage 3) and consider the quality aspects
Study leave and time spent in
exams


Study leave counts ‘subject to the activity meeting
the published criterion of being planned, explicit in
the student’s learning plan/ timetable, and
supervised and/or organised by a member of staff’.
The EFA would expect that any study leave is
focused on a defined exam or assessment, such as
leading up to the summer exam season; that it is
time limited and that the weekly number of hours
does not exceed the student’s planned weekly
hours for the overall study programme. This applies
to study leave in year 12 and in year 13.
Study leave and time spent in
exams


Study leave should be supervised or organised by
the institution, for example by requiring the
completion of structured revision or practice papers
that are marked by a member of staff and where
the student is given feedback
The time when the student is taking the exam can
also be included in the total planned hours
Evidencing ‘non-qualification’
hours
Evidencing non-qualification hours




Ofsted 16-19 Study Programme guidance
Wolf Report
For the non-qualification element of the funding
total, institutions are reminded that for an activity
to be entered on the data set as publicly fundable
they should be able to evidence that they have
incurred a recognisable cost in delivering that
activity
Institutions will need to show through experience in
the workplace and participation in other activities of
value, which do not necessarily lead to
qualifications, but enable progression to higher
levels of study and/or into employment.
EFA Evidencing student
existence & eligibility
Evidence
required for
Study Programme (SP)
evidence required
Student eligibility for
public funding
Funding guidance for Young people
2012/13: Funding regulations section
Student eligibility for
Timetable or learning plan setting out
full or part time funding SP, reflecting hours in School Census
Eligible activities for
inclusion in SP
All activities in SP that are planned,
supervised and/or organised by a member
of staff within normal working pattern
Student retention
External awarding body evidence, or
evidence from registers
Core aim
Learning plan indicating which
qualification is the core aim of the SP
EFA Assurance and reporting
EFA Bulletin June 19 - Planned hours review
started this summer:
Who will complete the return 1)
Institutions that have had the most significant
increase in full time programmes
2)
Institutions selected for funding audit that
have had an increase in full time programmes
Evidencing requirements








Must meet the Study programme principles
(planned, organised….)
3 stages (qualification & non-qualification hours)
Opportunity cost of doing one activity over
another?
Process to manage FT/PT hours (spreadsheet)
Evidence at programme level (hours, scheme of
work, lesson plans) and student level (Individual
Learning Plan (ILP) and/or Learning agreement and
enrolment forms)
Recognisable cost?
Links to progression?
Hours – realistic and deliverable?
Non-qualification hour activity


Any virtual learning element of the
study programme should be planned,
timetabled and organised by the
institution
Other activity, such as the Duke of
Edinburgh Award, that might lead to
an award but is not listed on S96 will
not count towards qualification hours,
but can count towards nonqualification hours
Non-qualification hour activity







Tutorials/registration
Planned community service
Twilight sessions
Enterprise
EPQ
Private study time/supervised study*
Work experience*
2014/15




This does not include homework or
independent study/research that is not
timetabled……
So, what if the independent
study/research is timetabled?
Demonstrate impact
Evidencing requirements
Support during these sessions
Quality of hours (EFA & Ofsted)
Study Programme summary




Your data collection is key – it will cost
YOU if you get it wrong
Consider the needs of the learner – the
programme must be relevant to their
needs
Appropriate information, advice and
guidance are vital
Where does the learner need to get to –
progression planning is key
EFA Question and Answers
Section 1
Qualification and nonqualification hours
Work experience
Work experience (not a funding
requirement)
EFA in December 2013 letter:
‘ Work experience is a key area within many
students’ study programmes and provides the
greatest benefit for students where it is substantial
and with external employers. Only work experience
with external employers should be counted towards
and recorded as a work experience learning aim
from 2014/15. Simulated work environments should
be separately recorded as non-qualification activity’
Work experience
EFA in March 2014 letter:
‘ We strongly encourage work experience as part of
study programmes. We have received a number of
questions and concerns about the eligibility for funding
various types of work experience in different contexts,
and how these hours should be recorded on the
Individualised Learner Record (ILR). Following recent
discussions with representative bodies, Ofsted and
policy colleagues within the Department of Education we
will shortly issue a note providing further information
and clarity on this issue’
Further ‘clarity’ on what does and does not count as
work experience continues to come through from
the EFA
Recording work experience



From 2014/15 the way non-qualification
activity is recorded has changed
Work Experience will need to have taken
place within an EXTERNAL employers’
workplace
Simulated work environments should be
separately recorded as non-qualification
activity
Information required for work
experience provision




Where the work experience is a specific element,
stipulated in the structure of the qualification by the
awarding organisation, it can be recorded,
alongside the planned qualification hours, in the
Planned Learning Hours field
A specific work experience learning aim must be
entered identifying the student as undertaking work
experience, also provide an hours range
attributable to the work experience
Planned work experience hours must not be double
counted
If you are not offering work experience what are
you doing to promote employability skills?
EFA Question and Answers
Section 2
Work experience
EFA Question and Answers
Section 3
Data
EFA Update - Technical guide



A new technical guide has been published
to help you understand how the 5 new 1619 headline measures will be calculated
Progress, attainment, progress in English
and maths, retention and destinations
New accountability system begins in 2016
but for students starting a 2 year course in
Sept 2014 the outcomes will be reported
in 16-18 performance tables in Jan 2017
EFA Update – Bursary Fund


The 16-19 Bursary Fund management
information return for the completed
2013/14 academic year opened from 1
October – Bursary return to be completed
by 31 October.
From 1 October, the return form may be
accessed either through the EFA
Information Exchange or directly via
GOV.UK.
EFA Update – School
Governance

Lord Nash letter to all chairs of governors
to set out his priorities and draw attention
to the updated governor's handbook 2014,
opportunities for further training and
useful resources to help them with their
work.
EFA Update – EFA Information
Exchange calendar

Information exchange calendar now live
showing EFA's deadlines, publication dates
and events that affect you.
Further support needed?
Please contact
suki.gill@hertfordshire.gov.uk
Direct line: 01438 845050
EFA South
YPSouthern.EFA@education.gsi.gov.uk
Thank you
Questions