The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will scrutinise the
introduction of the T Level technical qualifications at
10am on Thursday 24th April. The
session will be informed by the National Audit Office's (NAO) own
report on the topic.
The early rollout of T Levels, introduced as a critical part of
government reforms to get people into skilled work, coincided
with the pandemic. The NAO report highlighted concerns around low
student numbers, the value of awarding organisation contracts,
challenges recruiting students, and the cost of T Levels to the
government compared with other technical qualifications.
The session will likely see an examination of the DfE's efforts
to increase T Level student numbers. DfE's early estimates and
ambition for these numbers have not been met. In September 2024,
25,508 students started a T Level - 42% of DfE's initial November
2022 estimate. Over time DfE has revised its ambition, as T
Levels have proved more rigorous than originally assumed and
earlier modelling too optimistic about students choosing T
Levels.
Senior officials from DfE and the Institute for Apprenticeships
and Technical Education will likely be quizzed on progress in
securing industry placements for students to help scale up T
Levels. With actual student numbers lower than originally
estimated across 15 out of 16 available T Levels by 2022/23, some
contracts with organisations to develop and award qualifications
are making a loss; this is another subject the PAC is likely to
scrutinise.
Witnesses
Panel from 10am:
- Susan Acland-Hood, Permanent Secretary at Department for
Education (DfE)
- Julia Kinniburgh, Director General, Skills at DfE
- Carmel Grant, Interim Chief Executive at Institute for
Apprenticeships and Technical Education
