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The Adult Skills (Specified Qualifications) Regulations 2010

S.I. 2010/733 · Made 6 March 2010 · Extends to England and Wales

Up to date with all changes known to legislation.gov.uk, revised to 1 August 2020.

Education, England

Made 6th March 2010

Laid before Parliament 11th March 2010

Coming into force 1st April 2010

The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 87, 88, 89, 262(3) of and paragraph 3 of Schedule 5 to the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009f1.

Annotations to the whole text

Footnotes

f1

2009 c. 22.

Contents

  1. 1Citation and commencement
  2. 2Interpretation and application
  3. 3Literacy qualifications
  4. 4Numeracy qualifications
  5. 4AInformation technology qualifications
  6. 5Vocational qualifications at level 2
  7. 6Qualifications at level 3
  8. 7Publication of lists
  9. 8Exclusion for apprentices
  10. 8AExclusion for persons skilled in information technology
  11. 9Persons to be treated as not having a specified qualification
  12. 10Assessment of skill level
  13. 11Tuition fees
  14. Signature
  15. Explanatory note

1Citation and commencementI1

These Regulations may be cited as the Adult Skills (Specified Qualifications) Regulations 2010 and come into force on 1st April 2010.

2Interpretation and applicationI1

(1)

In these Regulations–

  • “the Act” means the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009;

  • “an education or training provider” means any body which provides courses of study for qualifications specified in, or for the purposes of, these Regulations;

  • “the Schedule” means Schedule 5 to the Act.

These Regulations apply in relation to England.

3Literacy qualificationsI1

For the purposes of paragraph 1(a) of the Schedule, a specified qualification in literacy is a qualification, or description of a qualification, which is assessed by F1the Secretary of State to be at the level of attainment specified in paragraph 4 of the Schedule.

4Numeracy qualificationsI1

For the purposes of paragraph 1(b) of the Schedule, a specified qualification in numeracy is a qualification, or description of a qualification, which is assessed by F1the Secretary of State to be at the level of attainment specified in paragraph 5 of the Schedule.

4AInformation technology qualificationsF1

For the purposes of paragraph 1(ba) of the Schedulef1, a specified qualification in making use of information technology is a qualification, or a description of a qualification, which is assessed by the Secretary of State to be at the level of attainment specified in paragraph 5A of the Schedule.

5Vocational qualifications at level 2I1

For the purposes of paragraph 1(c) of the Schedule, a specified vocational qualification at level 2 is a vocational qualification, or description of a vocational qualification, which is assessed by F1the Secretary of State to be at the level of attainment specified in paragraph 6 of the Schedule.

6Qualifications at level 3I1

For the purposes of paragraph 2 of the Schedule, a specified qualification at level 3 is a qualification, or a description of a qualification, which is assessed by F1the Secretary of State to be at the level of attainment specified in paragraph 7 of the Schedule.

7Publication of listsI1

The Chief Executive must make available to the public lists of the specified qualifications and specified vocational qualifications assessed, in exercise of F1the Secretary of State’s functions under regulations 3, 4, F24A 5 and 6, as being at the relevant level of attainmentf1.

8Exclusion for apprenticesI1

For the purposes of sections 87(3)(c), 88(2)(c) and 88(4)(c), it is a condition that a person should not be studying for a specified qualification F1, other than a specified qualification in making use of information technology, as part of their engagement under the Government arrangements known, at 1st April 2010, as Apprenticeships.

8AExclusion for persons skilled in information technologyF1

For the purposes of sections 87(3)(c) and 88(2)(c) of the Act, insofar as they are connected with the provision of a course of study for a qualification specified for the purposes of regulation 4A (qualification in making use of information technology), it is a condition that a person must have information technology skills below the level of attainment described in paragraph 5A of the Schedule.

9Persons to be treated as not having a specified qualificationI1

(1)

A person is to be treated for the purposes of sections 87(1) or 88(1) of the Act insofar as they are connected with the provision of a course of study for a qualification specified for the purposes of regulation 3, as not having that qualification or a qualification (including one awarded by a person outside England) which appears to F1the Secretary of State to be at a comparable or higher level if that person–

(a)

is assessed in accordance with regulation 10 as having literacy skills below the level of attainment described in paragraph 4 of the Schedule; and

(b)

has been awarded on a previous occasion either–

(i)

a qualification specified for the purposes of regulation 3; or

(ii)

a qualification (including one awarded by a person outside England) which appears to the Secretary of State to be at a comparable level to or higher level than a qualification specified for the purposes of regulation 3.

(2)

A person is to be treated for the purposes of sections 87(1) or 88(1) of the Act insofar as they are connected with the provision of a course of study for a qualification specified for the purposes of regulation 4, as not having that qualification or a qualification (including one awarded by a person outside England) which appears to the Secretary of State to be at a comparable or higher level if that person–

(a)

is assessed in accordance with regulation 10 as having numeracy skills below the level of attainment described in F2paragraph 5 of the Schedule; and

(b)

has been awarded on a previous occasion either–

(i)

a qualification specified for the purposes of regulation 4; or

(ii)

a qualification (including one awarded by a person outside England) which appears to the Secretary of State to be at a comparable level to or higher level than a qualification specified for the purposes of regulation 4.

F3(3)

A person is to be treated for the purposes of sections 87(1) or 88(1) of the Act, insofar as they are connected with the provision of a course of study for a qualification specified for the purposes of regulation 4A (qualification in making use of information technology), as not having that qualification or a qualification (including one awarded by a person outside England) which appears to the Secretary of State to be at a comparable or higher level if that person—

(a)

is assessed in accordance with regulation 10 as having information technology skills below the level of attainment described in paragraph 5A of the Schedule; and

(b)

has been awarded on a previous occasion either—

(i)

a qualification specified for the purpose of regulation 4A; or

(ii)

a qualification (including one awarded by a person outside England) which appears to the Secretary of State to be at a comparable level to or higher level than a qualification specified for the purposes of regulation 4A.

10Assessment of skill levelI1

(1)

For the purposes of F1regulations 8A and 9, an education or training provider may assess whether a person has a skill level below the level of attainment demonstrated by paragraphs F24, 5 or 5A of the Schedule.

(2)

For the purposes of performing the function in subparagraph (1), an education or training provider may select a test or assessment.

11Tuition feesI1

For the purposes of section 88(7) of the Act, “tuition fees” include–

(a)

the costs of any examination for a qualification specified in regulations F13, 4 and 4A;

(b)

the costs of any assessment under regulation 10.

Signature

Kevin Brennan

Minister for Further Education, Skills, Apprenticeships and Consumer Affairs

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

6th March 2010

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Under sections 87 to 89 of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 (“the 2009 Act”), the Chief Executive of Skills Funding (“the Chief Executive”) is under a duty to secure the provision of proper facilities for eligible persons undertaking a course of study for specified qualifications (as described in Schedule 5 to the 2009 Act), and to ensure that courses of study for such qualifications are free of charge to eligible persons. These Regulations specify the qualifications to which these duties relate, and make other related provisions. These Regulations replace the Adult Skills (Specified Qualifications) Regulations 2009 (“the 2009 Regulations”) which made similar provisions in respect of the Learning and Skills Council for England, which is abolished under the 2009 Act.

Regulations 3, 4, 5 and 6 confer functions on the Chief Executive to determine specified qualifications and specified vocational qualifications. Regulation 7 requires the Chief Executive to make lists of these qualifications available to the public.

Regulation 8 ensures that a person who is undertaking a specified qualification as part of an apprenticeship programme will not be someone in respect of whom the Chief Executive is under duties under sections 87 or 88 of the 2009 Act. This regulation is made in exercise of the powers at sections 87(3)(c), 88(2)(c) and 88(4)(c) to specify conditions which persons must satisfy in order to fall within sections 87(3), 88(2) and 88(4) respectively.

Regulation 9 sets out persons who are to be treated as not having a specified qualification. This enables persons who have obtained a specified literacy or specified numeracy qualification, but who have since lost the skills at the relevant level, to take a further course of study to obtain the qualification again.

Regulation 10 provides that education or training providers may assess whether a person has a skill level below that specified for literacy and numeracy; and that they may exercise their discretion as to the means by which they assess skill levels.

Regulation 11 provides that the cost of an examination for a specified literacy and numeracy qualification will constitute “tuition fees” for the purposes of section 88.

A full impact assessment of the effect on the costs of business and the voluntary sector was carried out in respect of the 2009 Regulations and is available from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET.