Approvals and fees

To apply for approval to deliver T Levels, you must be listed as eligible with the Department for Education (DfE). 

If the DfE lists a college or academy group, then all locations under that group are eligible but the individual college or academy must gain individual NCFE T Level approval separate from the group they are in. However, where the DfE lists a specific school or college, then only that location can be approved.   

Check your eligibility 

Providers currently funded to offer 16 to 19 study programmes and with existing students funded in band 5 (the full-time national funding band) will be eligible to offer T Levels. 

Providers who only have a contract to provide apprenticeships or adult provision are not eligible to apply. 

Register to offer T Levels - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 

The application window is open from the last Monday in February to the final Friday in June each year.  Approval is only given to providers wishing to deliver from September of that same year. 

Approval cannot be gained a year in advance – for example, providers wishing to deliver from September 2027 should not apply in the 2026 window.

If you’ve already requested approval from the DfE to deliver these qualifications, you still need to request approval from NCFE. You should follow the steps below:  

1. Visit the T Levels updates page on the NCFE website. 
2. Click ‘Deliver this qualification’ to request approval. 
3. Follow the online instructions to fill out the request form. You’ll be allocated an External Quality Assurer to carry out an approval review and this must take place within 20 working days of submitting the form. You must ensure you’re able to support a visit within the next 20 working days before you submit your application as we’re unable to put your application on hold once submitted. 
4. When completing the form, please have details of key staff, your national centre number (NCN) and UKPRN to hand. Please ensure you use the name you have registered with on the government DfE/UKPRN websites.

Take a look at our approval support page for more information.  

Approval criteria can be found in the T Level section on our approvals page.

Providers that aren’t currently delivering any T Levels on their NCFE account will require an approval review to deliver from the coming September. If you're already delivering T Levels and want to add an additional T Level qualification, you will need to submit an approval request through the NCFE website. There is an exception to this if providers wish to deliver the dental occupational specialism, contact [email protected] for further information.

We must give providers a decision on whether they can be approved to deliver T Levels within 20 working days of the application being made during the approval window. Providers who require an approval review may have their approval rejected if they don’t arrange it within the deadline. Providers who are rejected can reapply up to the application deadline and have another 20 working days to complete the approval review. The 20 working days includes typical school holidays, such as Easter, but not bank holidays. 

Yes, all providers require a T Level specific approval review. The AMR report will be shared with the External Quality Assurer to avoid duplication of work that has recently been done.

There is no approval fee for providers in relation to any T Levels.  

These are published on our mandatory policies and fees page and the current fees can be found in the 2025-26 fees document. 

With the exception of the dental components of the Health T Level, once approved for a qualification you’re eligible to run any occupational specialism within the qualification.  Further approval is not required to change the occupational specialisms you’re delivering.

The dental occupational specialism requires a further approval review, please contact [email protected] if you’re interested in delivering this specialism.