DfE to publish overall T Level scores for each college

Colleges are set to receive an overall attainment score for their T Level provision for the first time, the Department for Education has confirmed.

The new measure will be published from February 2027, covering results from the 2025-26 academic year.

Officials have been working on an overall T Level attainment measure since before the technical courses were introduced in 2020, with publication originally planned for 2023-24 once the third cohort completed.

But the Department for Education (DfE) announced in January 2025 that this timeline would not be met “given the changes made to how overall grades are derived since the original plans were announced”.

Updated technical guidance for 16 to 19 accountability measures, published today, stated that the overall attainment measure has now been developed and will first be published alongside the next release of existing performance measures.

The department said shadow data for 2024-25 would not be shared because of the continued expansion of T Levels and the increasing number of providers delivering the qualifications.

Instead, providers will receive their 2025-26 data during the October 2026 “checking exercise”, which the DfE said would ensure “maximum provider coverage”.

Calculating the T Level attainment measure

T Level grades will be converted into points and contribute to an average point score. A distinction* will be worth 180 points, a distinction 150, a merit 120 and a pass 90.

The points will then be divided by three because T Levels are equivalent in size to three A Levels.

This means a T Level pass will be worth 30 points per entry, equivalent to a C grade at A Level.

The measure will also take account of partial achievement. The T Level core component and occupational specialism will each contribute points, as will completing the industry placement.

No points will be awarded for an incomplete industry placement.

The department previously said the overall attainment measure will include provider breakdowns by learner disadvantage status.

College group reporting

The DfE is also changing how performance is reported for large college groups.

For the first time, the department will publish average point score (APS) data for individual colleges within college groups, rather than just group-level figures.

It will publish campus-level APS data for colleges with campus identifier codes in place as of January 2026.

Students will be allocated to campuses using June 2026 individualised learner record returns.

The DfE said the changes were intended to improve transparency for students and strengthen local accountability, reflecting the growth of large college groups and mergers across the sector.

It will “provide prospective learners with more detailed information to support informed decision making”, the department added.

Only the APS will be disaggregated initially, with the department saying further 16 to 19 measures will be broken down in future years.