All 12 Pearson Level 3 qualifications approved for funding from September 2025 in England
We are pleased to announce that all 12 of our qualifications submitted for approval in July 2023, have been approved for funding and will be available for first teaching from September 2025.
Defunding from 1 August 2025
Today, the DfE has published a list of Level 3 qualifications that will be defunded from 1 August 2025. As expected, this list includes some Level 3 BTEC qualifications. We will now be working closely with colleges and schools offering these qualifications to ensure learners starting a two-year programme in September 2024 are registered on the correct qualification to receive funding for the duration of their programme.
Level 3 qualifications in scope for funding approval withdrawal
Defunding from 1 August 2024
An outcome of the Level 3 DfE funding review published in March 2023 , also means some BTEC qualifications in Early Years and BTEC Construction will no longer be funded for new registrations from 31 July 2024. If you have learners on these qualifications and you are intending to top your learners up to a larger qualification this year, it is important that these learners are transferred onto the new qualification by 31 July 2024, so learners are able to continue their programmes.
NEW BTEC qualifications funded from 1 September 2025
These new Level 3 qualifications have been built in partnership with higher education institutes and employers, ensuring they are future focused and deliver learners the skills and knowledge they need to succeed.
BTECs are highly valued qualifications used by schools, colleges, providers, universities and employers and they will continue to be a vital part of the Level 3 qualifications landscape in England in the future.
Eight of our approved qualifications are Alternative Academic Qualifications, set to replace some of our defunded BTEC National qualifications. The table below shows our NEW BTEC National qualifications and the corresponding qualifications they replace.
| QAN | Defunded qualification | QAN | Newly approved and funded qualifications from September 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
601/7436/5
|
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate in Applied Science
|
610/3965/2
|
|
601/7341/5
|
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate in Computing |
610/3963/9
|
Pearson Level 3 Alternative Academic Qualification BTEC National in Computing (Extended Certificate) |
603/0862/X |
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate in Construction and the Built Environment
|
610/3959/7 |
|
601/7569/2 |
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate in Children's Play, Learning and Development
|
610/3966/4 |
|
601/7584/9 |
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate in Engineering |
610/3962/7
|
|
601/7197/2 |
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate in Health and Social Care
|
610/3964/0
|
|
601/7575/8
|
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate in Information Technology |
610/3960/3
|
|
603/3040/5
|
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate in Applied Human Biology
|
610/3958/5 |
Alongside our eight newly approved Alternative Academic Qualifications, we also have four new Technical Occupational Entry qualifications approved from September 2025:
- Pearson BTEC Level 3 Technical Occupational Entry for Cyber Security Technicians (Diploma)
- Pearson BTEC Level 3 Technical Occupational Entry for Early Years Educators (Diploma)
- Pearson BTEC Level 3 Technical Occupational Entry for Personal Trainer (Diploma)
- Pearson BTEC Level 3 Technical Occupational Entry for Teaching Assistants (Diploma)
All new qualification titles will be confirmed when the DfE release their final list of approved qualifications in July 2024.
Further support
We are here to help you navigate the new funding requirements, so that you can continue to teach BTEC with confidence.
Explore our updated funding guide for Level 3 Nationals
To keep up to date with the latest information on Level 3 reform, please bookmark and visit our Level 3 reform page.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us through the Pearson support portal.