Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 27
35th Report - Introducing T Levels
Published 27 Jun 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Introducing T Levels All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The Department told us it recognises the additional burden of T Levels on colleges. It had sought to address this, and help colleges transition to T Levels from other level 3 programmes, by providing a 10% funding uplift in 2023/24 and 2024/25. This reduced to a 5% funding uplift for 2025/26.81 The Department explained that colleges received a higher uplift in the earlier stages of the roll-out when T Levels were newer.82 It also told us it had introduced a retention incentive scheme for teachers training in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and priority subjects, awarding £6,000 annually after tax; offered bursaries to support teachers of STEM subjects; and is trialling a teacher exchange programme with industries. Despite these initiatives, it recognised there was more to do to attract teachers into the further education sector more widely.83 Written evidence from the Education and Training Foundation, Association of School and College Leaders and Edge Foundation pointed to the ongoing recruitment and retention issues within the further education sector, specifically in the construction, engineering and digital industries.84 We pressed the Department on the demands of T Levels compared to other level 3 qualifications. It told us that, with an average of 660 to 840 hours per year, T Levels required more study time than an average level 3 course (640 hours) but less than international comparators, including Canada (935 hours), Denmark (1,000 hours) and Italy (890–1,155 hours).85
From: Public Accounts Committee, 35th Report - Introducing T Levels (HC 822), 27 June 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Thirty-fifth Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026 (deadline 27 August 2025).
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Thirty-fifth report from Session 2024-26
Published 15 October 2025.
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Thirty-sixth report from Session 2024-26
Published 15 October 2025.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it agrees with each of the Committee's recommendations on T Levels and gives target implementation dates ranging from autumn 2025 to March 2026.
- On raising student awareness and enrolments, it agrees and says it will build on this through the continuing 'Skills for Life' campaign and by improving careers guidance. Its plan will be "fully implemented by September 2029".
- On industry placements, it agrees that it "can do more" to grow high-quality placements, and "will set out further plans by December 2025".
- On how T Levels fit with other qualifications, it says a post-16 education and skills strategy, to be published in autumn 2025, will set out "clearly where T Levels will sit alongside other funded qualifications and their purpose".
- On college funding pressures, it agrees and has introduced "an additional temporary 5% uplift" to the T Level funding rate for academic year 2025-26. It also says it will continue to work with providers to assess ongoing costs.