What are T-Levels? – Alexandra Coupland – Reigate Grammar School

There’s a quiet revolution happening in further education. Launched in September 2020, a new approach to technical education was introduced: T-Levels. But what is this new qualification, and what does it mean to the future of technical education?

A distinction at T-Levels counts – and receives the same number of UCAS tariff points – as 3 A-levels. It is a mixture of classroom learning and ‘on-the-job’ experience during an industry placement for students aged 16 – 19, in courses such as childcare, design, digital production, construction planning and more. They were proposed by Lord Sainsbury in 2016 after the ‘Post-16 Skills Plan’ was published. It was a review of Technical Education that found vocational education in England to be inadequate in respect to preparing and providing the skills needed to meet industries’ skill requirements. Therefore, its aim is to meet workplace needs through a practical, employer-led programme. As well as this, it enables its students to go onto higher education to into a degree or qualification in their field with 120 universities currently accepting T-Level students onto their degree courses such as: University of Bath, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Exeter and more. 71% of students who applied for a place at university got it.

As part of a T-Level, the student must undertake a substantial work placement that typically lasts around 3 months – a great addition to CV’s that led to job offers. In addition, they take a core exam (testing for fundamental knowledge in their sector) and participate in an employer-set project. All of these count towards their final grade, announced in August (the same day as A-levels) and a student cannot obtain their qualification if they do not pass each element of it, due to all of the components being essential in the workplace.

A qualification like this was never going to be easily introduced – and it has faced its fair share of challenges. A major one being the first-year health and science T-Level tests sat in 2022 by 1600 students. Several questions contained errors, and this eventually led to the exam being proclaimed as invalid. Ofqual and the Department for Education announced that no student was to be disadvantaged by the mistake as any students who achieved an overall core component grade which was higher than their Employer Set Project grade, would be awarded the higher grade. They were also able to re-take the Employer Set Project and if they scored higher on said resit, they would be given the improved grade. Despite these remedies, it must have been very stressful for the students concerned.

Despite these teething problems, the T-Level programme is continuing to grow. From September 2020, when just 3 T-Levels were available, 43 providers delivered them to the 1029 students. From September 2021, there were 10 T-Levels available, delivered by 102 providers to 5000 students who will be receiving grades in 2023. The government plans to grow these numbers significantly, so it is expected that T-Levels will become a major classroom based technical qualification in the next few years. New opportunities such as the T-Level in Animal care and management will be delivered from September 2024 onwards, bringing even more students onto the course.

If we are to solve the skills problem in this country, let’s hope this qualification delivers on it promise of improving technical education for the benefit of the economy, the workplace and the community. So, if you are interested in T-Levels or skills education check your local college for more information on the various opportunities provided by their courses.