Secretary of State for Education (): Today I am announcing
some changes to the rollout timetable of T Levels in England. We
have decided to defer first delivery of three T Levels in
Hairdressing, Barbering and Beauty Therapy; Craft and Design; and
Media, Broadcast and Production from 2023 to 2024. We have taken
the decision to defer the Catering T Level beyond 2024, to allow
time to consult with employers and sector bodies to ensure that
this T Level meets all the needs of the sector, and will provide
an update on the rollout timetable of this T Level in due course.
The T Level in Legal Services will be introduced as planned in
2023, alongside the T Level in Agriculture, Land Management and
Production which is subject to the usual approval process, and
the Animal Care and Management T Level remains on course for
first teaching in 2024, and Marketing in 2025.
We have a world class and established academic pathway in A
levels, and we are introducing T Levels to provide an equally
high quality, technical option for post-16 students that supports
their progression and meets the needs of employers. Now more than
ever, as we recover from the pandemic, we need students to finish
education well equipped to progress to further training or to get
a skilled job, allowing businesses to recover and thrive. As
such, quality has been the priority and I am determined that we
protect the quality of T Levels to ensure that they continue to
lead to great outcomes for all students. T Level technical
qualifications will only be approved for delivery where we are
sure they are good enough and can be delivered to a high
standard. As such, there is more work for awarding organisations
to do before IfATE and Ofqual can be clear that these T Levels
are capable of meeting the high quality bar required by both
organisations to enable them to be taken into delivery, and that
will not be possible in time for launch this September. This is a
decision that has been taken jointly between IfATE and the
Department for Education, in consultation with Ofqual and the
relevant awarding organisations.
In September, 18 T Levels will be available, being delivered by
hundreds of providers. The T Level Action Plan, which was
published today, sets out that T Level starts doubled from around
5,000 to around 10,000 between 2021 and 2022. Most importantly, T
Level students, teachers and employers continue to give us great
feedback on the quality of T Level courses.
We have backed providers with significant additional revenue and
capital funding so they are well prepared and have the resources
to deliver T Levels to a high standard. We have made around £400m
available to improve buildings and buy state of the art
equipment. We recently announced a short term 10% uplift in T
Level revenue funding to help providers as they transition from
study programmes and scale up and a new £12m Employer Support
Fund to help providers deliver quality industry placements. This
comes alongside a range of practical support measures we have put
in place to support providers to implement T Levels.
As part of the wider qualifications review, we have set out that
there will be at least one year between the introduction of a T
Level and the removal of funding approval for overlapping
qualifications. Qualifications that overlap with the three T
Levels moved back to 2024 were already due to have funding
removed in 2025 and this will not change; there will still be
dual running for one year. We will confirm implications for
qualifications that overlap with the Catering T Level when we
provide an update on the timetable for introduction.
T Levels have been designed together with employers to ensure
that they will give young people the skills and experience that
businesses need. They remain brilliant qualifications that are
transforming technical education in England, giving it the status
it deserves, giving students qualifications that will lead to
rewarding careers, and giving businesses access to young people
with the skills that they need to grow and thrive. I would like
to thank all T Level providers who continue to work so hard to
make T Levels a success and we remain committed to working
closely with schools and colleges as we roll out T Levels. The
decision we have taken today will protect the quality of T Levels
to ensure that every student taking a T Level knows they are
taking a world class technical course.
Introduction of T
Levels
T Level action
plan
Introduction of T
Levels
T Levels: next steps for
providers
T Levels capital
fund
