Old qualifications are being phased out. Is your 2027 skills budget still going to count?

In June 2024 we wrote about the move from SETA qualifications to QCTO occupational qualifications. Two years later, the transition has reached the point where it affects real budgets.

On 11 June 2026, the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Buti Manamela, announced the transitional arrangements for qualifications registered before 2009. The list of qualifications that were granted more time was published in the Government Gazette in June 2026.

The numbers

• 1,475 older qualifications had reached the end of their registration period.

• 630 of them received an extension for new enrolments, ranging from six months to 24 months.

• The rest were deregistered, either because nobody was enrolling or because a new occupational qualification has replaced them.

• 948 occupational qualifications and part qualifications are now registered on the National Qualifications Framework.

• Regulatory unit standards received up to three years to move to replacement skills programmes.

Learners who are already enrolled can finish under teach out arrangements. The risk sits with new enrolments.

Why this matters for your B-BBEE score

Skills Development is a priority element on the B-BBEE scorecard, and learnerships are often the biggest single line in the budget. If you enrol learners on a qualification that can no longer take new learners, you may lose the spend, the points and the goodwill of the learners.

The same applies to your Workplace Skills Plan. A plan built on qualifications that are closing is a plan you will have to redo.

What to do before you enrol your next group

• Ask your training provider for the SAQA qualification ID of every programme, and check its status on the SAQA website.

• Check the last date for new enrolments, not only the last date for completion.

• Confirm that the provider is accredited by the QCTO for the replacement occupational qualification.

• Build your 2027 Workplace Skills Plan on qualifications that will still be open when your learners start.

• Keep the registration documents for every learner. Your verification agency will ask for them.

Spend once, claim properly

Skills Development spend is only worth its points if the programme qualifies and the evidence is complete. A short check now is far cheaper than a lost learnership group next year.

Inclusion Works Consulting reviews your skills plan against the current qualification lists and the B-BBEE Codes before you commit your budget. Email info@inclusionworks.co.za.