Courses at level above the Apprenticeship eligible for funding?

This may be an ineligible cost:

P114.7 Any training, optional modules, educational trips or trips to professional events in excess of those required to achieve the apprenticeship. This includes training solely and specifically required for a licence to practise.

P114.8 Any fees to third parties associated with a licence to practise. This includes registration, examination and certification costs. This applies even where a licence to practise is specified in the apprenticeship standard and assessment plan.

P114.9 Any fees to awarding bodies for non-mandatory qualifications (qualifications that are not specifically listed in the standard). This includes registration, examination and certification costs.

You do not have to use a qualification where it is not specified by the standard, you would need to devise your training and deliver against the non-regulated aim for the standard.

HTH

Thanks for your reply Martin.

If we had done a thorough review of the units included in the proposed qualifiaction and deemed the entire content appropriate to satisy the knowledge, skills and behaviours required of the standard, would this suffice to satisy this as an elibile cost?

We will of course ask the question of the ESFA also, we just wondered if anyone else had come accross a similar scenario and how this has been dealt with and we appreciate everyone's view on the matter,

Also specifically we were curious as to whether the Level mattered, especially considering there are no other courses available at an equivallant or lower level that would be appropriate.

Only the training aspects of a non-mandatory qualification can be included as an eligible cost, but fees to awarding bodies for registration, examination and certification costs are ineligible costs as in P114.7/8/9 and cannot be included in the negotiated price.

Best check with the ESFA.