Recommendation 34

HM Government · verbatim extract Rejected

To support the roll out of T Levels, we are removing funding from qualifications which overlap with T Levels to allow T Levels the space to thrive and allow as many young people as possible to benefit from the breadth and depth they provide. The Government is putting A levels and T Levels at the heart of most young people’s study programmes because these qualifications offer the best progression for students. Ensuring that all students, regardless of background are best equipped to progress to skilled employment or higher education. Feedback from T Level students and providers has been highly positive, with the first cohort achieving an overall pass rate of 92.2% in summer 2022 and progressing onto the next stage of their careers. The reforms are happening in a gradual, phased way, with the earliest funding removal for overlapping qualifications in August 2024. We are also providing extensive support to colleges to facilitate the transition to T Levels, including significant support on the provision of industry placements. The Government is reforming qualifications at Level 3 because too many qualifications have low or no enrolments, are not sufficiently based on IfATE’s employer led occupational standards, and often do not progress young people to related occupations. For example, 36 qualifications overlapping with wave 3 T levels had no enrolments, and a further 24 had fewer than 100 enrolments in 2020/21. Many existing qualifications lead to employment in unrelated fields (e.g., Agriculture or Construction qualifications leading to retail jobs). Our reforms are designed to ensure young people study technical education options based on employer-led occupational standards, leading to their chosen occupation. Where young people need support to progress to T Levels, they will be able to access the T Level transition programme or other reformed Level 2 provision. There is evidence that current AGQs are less effective than A Levels when it comes to university outcomes; BTEC entrants are more likely to drop out or graduate with a lower class degree compared to A Level students. We are confident, therefore, that our reforms will increase outcomes for learners and build a strong pipeline of skills for the future.