Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 28
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)
For each student enrolled on a T Level, colleges need to pay a set fee to those organisations developing and awarding qualifications. For the latest set of contracts with awarding organisations procured by IfATE, fees per student had increased for six contracts, by amounts ranging 79 C&AG’s report, para 3.17 80 Committee of Public Accounts, Managing colleges’ financial sustainability, Thirty-Eighth Report of Session 2019–21, HC 692, 27 January 2021 81 Q 23; HMG, April 2025 - confirmation of additional support for T Levels, 28 April 2025 82 Q 11; C&AG’s Report, Para 11, 2.14 83 Q 24 84 ITL0002, ITL0003, ITL0008 85 Q 34 17 from 26% to 149%. For the remaining two contracts, costs per student decreased by 18% and 37% respectively.86 We pressed the Department on why the second-phase contracts were so much more expensive.87 It described how the first contracts made a loss due to initially being priced too low by awarding organisations. Lower-than-expected student numbers then created additional financial pressures.88 It confirmed that IfATE used an adaptive pricing approach, where student entry fees could be increased or decreased depending on student numbers, to ensure awarding organisations did not carry all the volume risks on the latest contracts. As a result, colleges may need to pay higher student fees to awarding organisations.89 The Department described how the higher fees were comparable with the fees for three A levels, presented value for money for colleges and were a small proportion of colleges’ overall costs. This contrasts with what we have heard from some colleges however, who felt fees were too high.90 86 C&AG’s Report, para 16 87 Q 64 88 Q 68; C&AG’s Report, para 16 89 Qq 68, 71; C&AG’s Report, para 3.11 90 Qq 64, 69-71 18
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.