Education and Skills Act 2008

8 Sufficient relevant training or education

(1) For the purposes of this Part, relevant training or education is “sufficient” in relation to any relevant period if it amounts in aggregate to—

(a) at least 280 hours of guided learning, in the case of a relevant period which is one year;

(b) such number of hours of guided learning as is determined in accordance with regulations, in the case of any other relevant period.

(2) For the purposes of this Part, a person participates in a particular number of hours of guided learning by—

(a) participating in actual guided learning for that number of hours, or

(b) completing a course or courses which can reasonably be expected to be adequate to enable persons completing it or them to achieve any standard required to attain an accredited qualification to which that number of hours of guided learning has been assigned.

(3) In subsection (2)—

• “accredited qualification” has the meaning given by section 6(2);

• “actual guided learning”, in relation to a person, means time the person spends—

  (a)

  being taught or given instruction by a lecturer, tutor, supervisor or other appropriate provider of training or education, or

  (b)

  otherwise participating in education or training under the immediate guidance or supervision of such a person,

  but does not include time spent on unsupervised preparation or study, whether at home or otherwise;

• “assigned” means assigned by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority under subsection (2)(g) of section 24 of the Education Act 1997 (c. 44) (functions of the Authority in relation to external vocational and academic qualifications) by virtue of subsection (2B) of that section.

(4) Regulations may make provision for attributing to any relevant period a number of hours of guided learning in which a person participates (or is treated by the regulations as participating) by virtue of subsection (2)(b) in cases where courses do not begin and end during a single relevant period.