What a start to the week for FE. The Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper marks a significant shift in the system of vocational education for young people that will help tackle the UK’s widening skills gap in industries vital to economic growth.
We believe the UK needs a broad qualifications landscape, offering clearly defined pathways from foundational levels through to degrees and higher technical and professional qualifications. This will build a highly skilled workforce capable of delivering on the ambitions of the UK’s industrial strategy.
As the UK’s largest awarding organisation, Pearson has extensive experience of delivering a range of post-16 qualifications, including BTECs, A levels, and T Levels. Throughout the swirling debate around the future of vocational education in this country we have maintained that there should be a third route for students alongside A levels and T Levels. Every young person should have access to high-quality technical and vocational qualifications, supported by clear progression pathways that offer choice, flexibility, and opportunity. We are encouraged that government has now set a clear ambition and statement of support for this third route in perpetuity. The task ahead now is to define and deliver this in practice.
While it is right to update and review our qualifications system so it’s fit for the future, we mustn’t dismiss or forget what has worked well. For decades, Pearson’s BTEC Nationals have helped millions of people enter the workforce, progress to further and higher education, and achieve their career ambitions.
Changes like this don’t happen overnight and much of the finer, practical detail remains unclear in these early stages. This will come in due course and we look forward to bringing our extensive experience in designing and delivering vocational qualifications to V Levels, working with the Department for Education and Ofqual to ensure the new qualification helps people build successful careers and equips employers with the skills they need to drive productivity and growth.
One in five of the UK working population has one or more BTECs – it’s part of the fabric of people’s lives and careers in this country. From these many years of providing vocational qualifications to millions of students, we have learnt a number of valuable key lessons that we urge the government to consider as they begin this journey to create and launch V Levels:
Progression to higher education
V Levels must have the same level of recognition from higher education as existing smaller vocational qualifications. BTECs provide a valuable route for students into higher education – around 20 per cent of entrants to nursing degrees hold a BTEC Level 3 National qualification, for example. We know that the demand for higher level skills will increase in the future and students taking vocational qualifications must be supported to progress both into employment, and into degrees and higher technical and professional qualifications, as a route to higher level employment.
Accessibility of larger qualifications should be addressed on sector-by-sector basis
The ongoing defunding of larger vocational qualifications in key sectors – including BTECs in digital, health and social care, engineering, and creative media – remains a major concern. These qualifications are crucial pathways to both employment and higher education. Removing them before clear, scalable alternatives are in place risks leaving students without viable routes into industries already facing acute skills shortages. Larger qualifications need to be made available until T Levels are made more accessible, and where occupational standards are not appropriate for the sector. Occupational standards at Level 3, and therefore T Levels, will not be relevant for all sectors.
Relationship between qualifications and occupational standards
V Levels should not be based solely on occupational standards but based on content drawn from occupational standards alongside broader knowledge and skills such as critical thinking, problem solving and research, to ensure that learners can progress to higher level study.
The assessment model will be critical
One of the strengths of BTECs is that they offer students, who may not thrive under a qualification based entirely on high-stakes exams, a path to succeed and progress through practical learning. We welcome the recognition that V Levels will generally have an increased proportion of non-exam assessment compared to many A levels. A one-size fits all assessment model does not work and this approach will allow for valid assessment of applied knowledge and skills.
Designing and delivering new qualifications will take time and we stand ready to work closely with DfE and Ofqual to understand the details, and start the process of developing new qualifications. Our teams will also be working hard over the coming days, weeks and months, to support colleges, schools, teachers and students through any changes ahead.
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