There is broad agreement on the need to offer students a strong range of vocational pathways to address an evolving skills landscape and boost economic growth. However, what form this will take is still unclear.
This issue will only become more important as the skills market is impacted by shifting demographics and a landscape in which AI becomes increasingly prevalent in our working lives. The World Economic Forum estimates that a billion people will need reskilling by 2030, as work adjusts to emerging technologies.
Labour has previously committed to a ‘Pause and Review’ approach to the withdrawal of funding from some BTECs. However, a report published this week by WPI Strategy, commissioned by Lord Sainsbury, author of the 2016 report which paved the way for T Levels, calls for the government to ‘keep going with existing reforms and accelerate the roll-out of T Levels’.
The right path for the government to take should be guided by the needs and demands of learners. Importantly, it’s government’s duty to consider the impact that the defunding of BTECs would have on the students who are taking them, as this is a policy which will affect the lives and futures of many thousands of young people.
The sheer scale of impact is significant: over one in five working-age adults in England hold a BTEC and 32 per cent of current provision for 16-18 year olds is at risk as a result of the reforms, equating to around 300,000 students.
By comparison, T Levels only account for 2.5 per cent (23,000) of learners. Analysis by the #protectstudentchoicecampaign indicates that at least 155,000 young people could be left without a suitable course from 2026. The DfE’s Impact Assessment estimates that defunded qualifications represent around 12 per cent of all 16 to 19 enrolments at level 3, and 40 per cent of non-A Level enrolments at level 3.
This in turn is expected to impact the talent pipeline in the UK at a time when the country is facing massive skill shortages for key professions.
The removal of BTECs would exacerbate significant shortages
Data from NHS England showed that over 31,000 positions for nurses, midwives and health visitors were unfilled in the UK as of March 2024. BTECs support one in five students in entering nursing degrees and 3,000 people in earning early years qualifications, one for every nursery in the UK.
The removal of BTECs would exacerbate the significant shortages we are seeing today. Many NHS organisations have expressed concern about the impact that the defunding of BTECs will have on the workforce and say that it is counterintuitive to their efforts to engage more people from a diverse range of communities.
Finally, there is the important matter of educational inclusion. The DfE’s July 2022 impact assessment estimates that those with SEND, ethnic minorities and disadvantaged backgrounds are some of those most likely to be affected by the reforms.
The removal of alternatives to T Levels would likely result in a decrease in access and have a negative impact on the diversity of talent reaching higher education and employment.
Certainly, there is a place for T Levels in the landscape of vocational qualifications. They are a welcome addition, providing more choice for young people.
But there is a way forward which does not require a stark choice between the two, as the WPI report suggests. In its place should be a comprehensive model which embraces both T Levels and BTECs and recognises their combined contribution to meeting the needs of the modern skills landscape.
I’m not saying the opinion is wrong; but I am saying that the owner of BTECs might not be unbiased when it comes to the role of BTECs in the system?
And I would say that qualifications and good quality training aren’t the same thing
Simon, then look at a successful 6th Form College, such as ourselves at Ada, National College for Digital Skills, where all our students take either the BTEC National Diploma in Computing together with related A-Levels, or the BTEC National Extended in Diploma in Computing, and not only achieve excellent results but all go on to highly successful careers in the digital tech sector – either via a university degree, apprenticeship degree, or directly in to work route. So, yes please, let’s look at quality outcomes for students as opposed to lazy generalisations.
I can confirm. Qualifications and good training are NOT the same thing. As for more choice, well let’s consider industry where they have to interpret all this malarkey – often, I might add to be very disappointed.