Funding for ‘Mickey Mouse’ qualifications is cancelled

LOW-QUALITY qualifications such as floristry, horse management and networking are to be denied funding from the Government.

The Department for Education (DFE) has banned new vocational qualifications from receiving funds from 2020.

In an effort to boost the profile and prestige of alternatives to A-levels, officials have drawn up a list of 163 “lower quality” BTECS, Tech Levels and their equivalents which will no longer be eligible for state cash support.

These include a City and Guilds Level 3 Diploma in Floristry, a City & Guilds Level 3 Extended Diploma in Horse Management and an AQA Level 3 Technical Level IT in Networking.

Damian Hinds, the Education Secretary, said that the 163 qualifications have had their funding pulled in order to encourage students to take other higher quality qualifications.

The head of Ofsted has also warned that further education colleges are giving students “false hope” by offering courses in fields where they have no prospect of employment.

Amanda Spielman suggested that colleges, which provide largely vocational courses for 16 to 18 year-olds, are putting the “financial imperative of headcount” ahead of the what is best for young people.

The Government is launching an overhaul of post-16 education to improve technical training.

New qualifications dubbed “T-levels” – the technical version of A-levels – are due to be piloted from next year.

Mr Hinds said: “We want young people to be confident that whatever option they choose after their GCSES will be high-quality, valued by employers and will lead to a good, well-paid job.

“I have said you cannot legislate for parity of esteem between technical and academic education – you’ve got to ensure high standards, then the esteem will come. Our unrelenting focus on improving the quality of the qualifications available is key to this.”