Definition of Secondary Education

Hi, My son is over 18 but not yet 19, he sat his A levels but didn't get the results he wanted to get into university. As a result he enrolled onto an NVQ3 course. As this course is voluntary is it still classed as secondary education in the eyes of a court order for maintenance payments? My order has two relevant clauses, one for attaining the age of 18 or the completion of tertiary education to first degree level whichever is later, and the second to reduce the quantum of maintenance once reaching the age of 18 or completing secondary education whichever is later. I believe that he has achieved the second and as he hasn't progressed on to tertiary education the order ends.
I need clarity/evidence either way so that i can support my children on my terms and not on my ex-wife's wants.

A' levels are voluntary too and NVQ level 3 is the same level.

Is it full time, that is more than 12 hours per week? If so then he would still qualify for CMS so is presumably covered by the court order too.

Thanks for the clarification, but is this still secondary education regardless if it is full time or not? My understanding is that this is Further Education but not Tertiary Education.

It does look like there is an erroneous gap in your orders. However if the order is over 12 months then presumably the Resident Parent could go to the CMS and as they are under 20 and in full time "non-advanced" education then I would have presumed they are still in scope

www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-...qualification-levels

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/governm...to-tell-us-about.pdf

Full-time, non-advanced education and approved
training courses
Children over the age of 16 need to be in full-time ‘non-advanced’
education at a school or college, or starting an ‘approved’ training
course, to qualify for child maintenance.
Full-time, ‘non-advanced’ education means that, on average,
the child spends more than 12 hours a week on tuition, exams,
practical work or supervised study towards certain qualifications.
These include but are not limited to:
• GCSEs
• A levels
• NVQ and SVQ level 1, 2 or 3
• BTEC National Diploma, National Certificate and First Diploma
• SCE higher grade or similar
Any qualifications above this level (for example, a degree) are
called ‘advanced’ education. If you are not sure whether your
child’s education counts, you can contact the Child Benefit Office
for more advice.
Approved training is various training programmes arranged by
the government.
For a training course to be approved it should be one of the
following:
England - Foundation Learning Programmes (previously known
as ‘Entry to Employment’) or Access to Apprenticeships.