The defunding of BTECs and other applied general qualifications could be delayed further, the skills minister has indicated.
Jacqui Smith told the Sixth Form Colleges Association’s annual conference that the Department for Education would confirm “transition” plans to new V Levels in a “matter of weeks” alongside its response to the level 3 and below pathways consultation.
The consultation, launched in October with the post-16 education and skills white paper, committed to removing funding for all existing diploma and extended diploma-sized qualifications of 720 guided learning hours and over in T Level subject areas in 2026 and 2027.
Teaching of the first V Levels is due to begin in September 2027.
Smith acknowledged that colleges had raised “substantial concerns about the pace of transition” and assured leaders she had “no intention of putting young people’s futures at risk” before suggesting the defunding timeline could be changed.
Speaking on Wednesday she said: “I know you want confirmation of the qualifications that will be defunded for 2026 and 2027 and that you need this information as soon as possible.
“I do hope to be able to set out that final position alongside the response to the level 3 consultation, so we can provide you with that full picture.
“We don’t want to keep having to do year-by-year changes, but rather to have a plan about how we transition to an end-state situation that I hope all of us can support and the students can benefit from, and we’ll publish that in a matter of weeks.”
Catherine Richards, principal of East Norfolk Sixth Form College, pleaded with Smith to push back the defunding timeline for diploma and extended diploma qualifications, telling her that allowing the courses to be funded for a further two years would make a “huge difference”.
She explained colleges are “not sure what to do” with prospective students from this August because they do not know what will be funded.
Responding to Richards’ two-year delay request, Smith said: “I hear you. That’s why we… I won’t go back to say we did have a plan last year which people are now asking us to change… but that is the basis on which we’re now thinking.”
Plans to defund qualifications that overlap with T Levels began under the previous government. After the 2024 general election, Labour carried out a “short review” which resulted in the defunding of 157 qualifications paused by one or two years depending on their route.
After the skills minister’s speech this week, a DfE spokesperson said: “As per the usual processes, we are considering all the responses to the consultation on post-16 pathways. We will set out our response and the transition arrangements to reach the new qualifications in due course.”
Veering to V Levels
V Levels are being designed as a vocational pathway at level 3 to sit alongside academic A Levels and technical T Levels, pitched at students who want to “explore different sectors before deciding where to specialise”.
V Levels will be a similar size to a single A Level – 360 guided learning hours – with the intention being that students can mix and match between the two qualifications. Officials have said they will also consider creating medium and larger-sized V Levels if there is wide-ranging support for this in the consultation feedback.
The plan is for the first V Level classes to start in September next year, but very few are expected to be available at that stage. The full rollout is due to take four years until 2030-31.
Similar to the T Level rollout in 2020, V Levels will be introduced route-by-route. A full timetable will be confirmed when the government responds to the consultation.
Under current plans, students will not be able to enrol on BTECs in health and social care, applied science or IT for the next academic year, with BTECs in business and engineering set to be removed in 2027. These courses are currently being studied by around 70,000 16 to 19-year-olds in England.
The Protect Student Choice campaign, led by the SFCA, has urged ministers to allow students to enrol on diplomas and extended diplomas in T Level subject areas over the next two years while the V Level rollout takes shape. Without this delay, youngsters are at risk of falling through a “qualifications gap” in key areas of the economy, the campaign argues.
Following Smith’s speech, SFCA CEO Bill Watkin told FE Week: “We welcome the minister’s commitment to ensuring a smooth transition to the new qualifications landscape and her determination not to put young people’s futures at risk.
“In the autumn, the Protect Student Choice campaign shared compelling evidence with the Department for Education to support the case for a pause to the defunding of diplomas and extended diplomas in T Level subjects to aid the successful transition to V levels.
“Since then, we have welcomed the opportunity to engage in constructive bilateral discussions with government officials about this matter and it is our hope that a positive statement on transition arrangements will accompany the government’s response to the post-16 qualifications consultation.”
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