T-level qualifications still less popular than BTECs, NAO finds

The National Audit office has suggested that vocational qualifications such as BTECs remain more popular than T Levels for students and should be retained until T Levels can be fully evaluated.

The Department for Education (DfE) launched T Levels following recommendations from the 2016 Sainsbury Review, which outlined the need for new technical education routes, standards set by employers, and industry placements.

In 2019 DfE stated that T Levels would become the main technical option for 16-to19-year-olds. They involve students choosing an occupational specialism, undertaking an industry placement and completing more learning hours than similar technical qualifications. In 2020 the DfE launched 16 of 21 T-Level qualifications.

The NAO report found that T Levels cost more than other qualifications given the additional teaching hours and industry placement involved.

DfE allocated providers between around £5,500 to £7,000 in 2024-25 for a single study year for each student (compared with up to around £4,800 for other qualifications), in addition to core funding. However, DfE’s current best judgement is that T Levels will be 25% more valuable than other level 3 qualifications. Nevertheless, the future economic benefits are uncertain and it will take time for benefits to be realised.

The NAO also found that with 25,508 students starting in September 2024, the fifth year of T Levels being available, DfE has a central estimate for 66,100 students a year starting by September 2029. In thinking about student numbers, the NAO said the DfE will need to “monitor the impact of wider strategic changes and ensure its revised commercial arrangements with awarding organisations are sustainable”.

It comes as the DfE had initially forecast that 100,000 students would be enrolled in the two-year qualification by 2027, however, this has now been revised down to 50,000.

Speaking to The Guardian, Bill Watkin, chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, said: “The report from the NAO reinforces the need to retain a middle pathway of applied general qualifications for students for whom neither A-levels nor T-levels present the best way forward.

“T-levels represent a vital opportunity to acquire the skills and experience that are essential for the workplace but they are not right for everyone, and we need to be confident that every young person can access a valuable and valued suite of qualifications in the future.”