FE teacher pay gap with schools hits 15-year high

Further education teachers now earn nearly £10,500 less than school teachers – the widest pay gap in at least 15 years, new research has found.

New findings from the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) today reveal teaching staff in FE providers earn on average 27 per cent less than their peers in secondary schools.

The disparity has widened sharply in recent years, with researchers warning that sustained funding increases will be needed if colleges are to close the gap and recruit enough teachers.

While average UK earnings have grown by 4 per cent since 2010, FE teacher pay has dropped 18 per cent in real terms over the same period.

In 2010, the median FE teacher salary was £32,645, compared with £36,756 for secondary school teachers — a gap of about 12.6 per cent.

The difference narrowed slightly during the 2010s but began widening again from 2020-21.

By 2024-25, the median FE teacher salary stood at £39,355, compared with £49,789 for secondary school teachers, leaving a pay gap of almost £10,500.

The report said: “School teachers’ pay has also dropped in relative terms, but the drop for FE teachers has been far larger. This data reinforces the impression that FE teacher pay is now far less competitive than it was in the recent past.”

Funding pressures

Recent analysis from the Institute for Fiscal Studies revealed per student funding for 16 to 18-year-olds, the main income source for many colleges, has declined by 8 per cent in real terms over the last 15 years.

NFER researchers said this reinforces its conclusion that the 27 per cent gap in FE teacher pay is largely driven by colleges and other providers’ inability to afford higher pay.

The Department for Education further stung leaders this week after it announced a 0.5 per cent rise to the 16 to 19 funding base rate this week despite promising real-terms increases in the recent skills white paper, prompting warnings that this measly cash boost to college finances will leave “very little” for staff pay rises.

NFER called for a “sustained” effort over several years to sufficiently fund colleges to pay teachers more.

School teacher salaries are nationally binding and set through a recommendation by the School Teachers’ Review Body, which is then approved by the secretary of state.

In contrast, colleges are responsible for setting staff pay themselves. 

‘Totally unacceptable’

David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said college leaders’ hands are tied without a headline pay increase for FE staff.

“The increasing pay gap between school and FE teachers is totally unacceptable,” he said.

“It is also grossly unfair to thousands of college staff who are not being paid what they deserve. It is no wonder that the unions are able to secure wins in ballots for industrial action, with pay below where it should be.”

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said the pay gap between school and college teachers is a “scandal that has blighted the sector for years”. 

She added: “Our members took strike action at colleges across England earlier this year in defence of their pay and working conditions and college employers must do more to ensure staff are paid properly.

“If the government is as committed to improving the skills of the nation as it says, then it must put its money where its mouth is, increase funding for further education and ensure staff pay is prioritised.”

Boosting teacher numbers

The analysis, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, also found the number of teachers in general FE colleges and sixth form colleges has stabilised in the last three years, following a decade of decline. 

Latest data from 2023-24 showed there were around 80,000 FE teachers working in England 

The report also cited 3,000 vacant FE teaching posts in 2023-24, with very high vacancy rates in key subject areas like the construction and engineering sectors, which reached one in 10 unfilled posts in some regions.

NFER education workforce lead Jack Worth said: “We know that FE teachers in these subjects are set to play a critical role in supporting the government to meet its economic growth ambitions.”

Hughes added: “The disparity between school, and indeed industry salaries, has serious consequences for recruitment and retention, particularly in high-priority areas like construction, engineering, and health, which then means key courses can’t run.”

The demographic bulge of an estimated 20,000 more 16 to 18-year-old students in colleges this academic year further exacerbates the FE teacher shortage.

NFER pointed out that the number of 16- to 18-year-olds in England is projected to increase by 7 per cent between 2023 and 2027. 

Researchers said that FE providers will “almost certainly” have to recruit significantly more teachers and to continue doing so for the next few years, adding that a 7 per cent increase in the teaching workforce equates to 2,700 more teachers – nearly half of the government’s 6,500 teacher recruitment target.

Workload and morale

The study also looked at working conditions for FE teachers.

Full-time FE teachers worked an average of 39 hours per week, compared to 41 hours among similar workers in 2024-25.

However, FE teachers were more likely to report working overtime, often without additional pay.

Combined with relatively low salaries, researchers said this could contribute to dissatisfaction and retention problems.

The report also found FE teachers reported less influence over workplace decisions than comparable workers and were associated with lower levels of happiness at work.

NFER suggested colleges could help improve retention by meaningfully involving staff in organisational decision-making.

The report also recommended ministers continue targeting financial incentives in shortage subjects, pointing to evidence from school teacher bursaries and retention payments showing they can be cost-effective.

Free meals funding frozen in FE while schools rate rises

Funding for college students’ free meals will be frozen next year, while schools will see a 5p boost.

In an update today, the Department for Education said the current £2.61 per student FE free meal rate will remain the same in the 2026-27 academic year “as a minimum”.

In contrast, the per-meal funding rate for school children will increase by 5p to £2.66 in September.

The news, which follows revelations of a below-inflation 0.5 per cent increase to the 16 to 19 funding base rate, has been described as “frustrating” and “insulting”.

Darren Hankey, principal at Hartlepool College of Further Education, said: “As someone who was in receipt of and benefited from free-school meals through primary and secondary education; I find this decision deeply disappointing.

“Once again, post-16 students miss out as colleges up and down the country work tirelessly to support many students from some of the least-resourced backgrounds.

“To offer £2.61 a day, a real terms cut, to help try and feed an older teenager is quite insulting and the government’s key mission of breaking down barriers to opportunity rings hollow.”

Qasim Hussain, vice president (further education) at the National Union of Students, added: “The decision is particularly frustrating following yesterday’s wider 16 to 19 funding announcements, which were already a significant disappointment for the sector. 

“Free college meals are a vital support for disadvantaged students in FE, and freezing the rate while costs remain high will make provision increasingly challenging for colleges.”

In its update, the DfE said the rate will remain at £2.61 as a minimum “to support planning” but added that funding is kept under review.

Operational guidance will be issued “in due course”, the department added.

It is unclear why the DfE has chosen to increase meals funding for schools but frozen the rate for FE settings.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Through our Plan for Change, this government has taken a historic step to tackle the stain of child poverty – offering free school meals to every single child from a household that claims Universal Credit. 

“The new entitlement will see over half a million more children able to benefit from a free meal from next school year and lift 100,000 children out of poverty.

“The significant expansion of free meals to an additional 500,000 children is fully funded, backed by £1 billion.”

How the dinner tables have turned

Colleges, independent training providers and sixth-form colleges have had access to free meals in FE funding for disadvantaged students aged between 16 and 19 since it was extended from schools to FE in 2014-15.

The 2026-27 rate freeze will be the first year since at least 2020-21 that FE providers have received a lower per-meal rate than schools.

The FE per meal rate was frozen at £2.41 between 2014-15 and 2022-23. The schools rate was set at £2.34 before being matched with FE at £2.41 in 2022-23 and rose at the same rate until this year, when it reached £2.61.

Diana Martin, CEO of Dudley College of Technology, said the DfE’s announcement on a free meals freeze for next year “is disappointing, given that the degree of disadvantage a learner has does not change when they reach 16”.

Hussain added: “At a time when the cost-of-living crisis continues to affect many families, and some students are struggling to afford food during the college day, this is not the direction we should be taking, even recognising the current fiscal constraints.”

Universal credit expansion

About one quarter of school pupils, 2.2 million, received free school meals in 2024-25.

In the same year, about 90,000 low-income students in 377 FE settings benefitted from free meals allocations, at a cost of £37 million.

But these figures are likely to rise next academic year as free meal eligibility is widened from students or families with an income below £7,400 to anyone from a household receiving universal credit.

This will give 500,000 more pupils and students access to the scheme for the first time, the DfE estimates.

How we’re using Brown’s empathy strategies to improve teaching

The role of teaching and learning has evolved beyond academic attainment. Increasingly, FE colleges are recognised as relational environments where learners’ sense of belonging, emotional safety and wellbeing directly influence engagement and outcomes.

In response to this, I introduced a teaching and learning strategy rooted in Brené Brown’s work on leading with empathy. While this work is in its early stages, it is beginning to have a positive influence on classroom culture and aligns closely with the updated Ofsted inspection framework’s emphasis on inclusion.

I was introduced to Brené Brown’s work by my partner, at a time when I was reflecting on how well existing approaches to behaviour and engagement were serving learners.

Her work is most associated with leadership development, and leading with empathy is being introduced through leadership training rather than classroom practice.

While her research originates in the US, there is growing interest in similar relational and trauma-informed approaches across UK further education.

Why empathy matters

Brown describes empathy as the ability to understand and share another person’s feelings without judgment. Within education, this means recognising learners as whole individuals, shaped by their experiences both in and out of the classroom.

Empathy does not equate to lowering expectations or avoiding challenge. Instead, it enables staff to respond to behaviour, engagement and learning needs with curiosity, fairness and compassion.

Research into student-teacher relationships demonstrates that pupils who feel understood and supported are more likely to engage, persist with challenge and develop positive attitudes to learning.

The strategy introduced was underpinned by three key principles drawn from Brown’s work.

1. Creating psychological safety

Staff focus on building environments where pupils feel safe to contribute, make mistakes and ask for help. This includes normalising error as part of learning, actively listening to pupil voice and responding to mistakes with guidance rather than shame. When pupils experience psychological safety, they are less likely to disengage through avoidance or challenging behaviour.

2. Empathetic but courageous conversations

Empathy is embedded through restorative and solution-focused conversations. Rather than asking, “What rule has been broken?”, staff are encouraged to explore, “What has happened here, and what support is needed next?” These conversations maintain clear boundaries while acknowledging the underlying factors influencing behaviour, such as unmet needs, anxiety or external pressures.

3. Consistency, structure, trust

Predictable routines, clear expectations and calm responses help pupils feel secure. This balance of warmth and structure is particularly beneficial for pupils with additional needs, those experiencing adversity and learners who struggle with regulation or transitions.

Early impact and staff engagement

Early indicators have been encouraging, particularly in relation to staff engagement. Teachers report increased confidence in applying empathetic, relational approaches within their practice.

Feedback suggests staff value the shared language and clarity this approach provides, especially when responding to behaviour, supporting vulnerable learners and maintaining high expectations alongside compassion.

While it is too early to draw definitive conclusions, initial learning visits and informal ‘walk thrus’ point towards a more inclusive culture developing across the setting. Staff are beginning to report stronger relationships with learners and a heightened awareness of individual barriers to learning.

Importantly, inclusion is understood not as the responsibility of specialist teams alone, but as a shared, everyday responsibility embedded within teaching and learning practice.

Alignment with Ofsted

The Ofsted framework places emphasis on how effectively FE colleges identify, understand and meet the needs of all pupils. An empathetic teaching and learning approach supports this by demonstrating strong understanding of individual needs, equitable access to learning, relational approaches to behaviour and inclusive practice enacted consistently across classrooms.

Inspectors look for inclusion as lived experience rather than policy alone. Empathy-driven practice ensures that values of fairness, dignity and support are evident in daily interactions.

By embedding Brown’s principles into classroom practice, staff are better equipped to support diverse needs while maintaining high expectations.

This approach not only aligns with the new Ofsted framework but also reflects a moral commitment to educate with humanity, understanding and purpose.

A patchwork system of support cannot solve the NEET crisis

The Milburn Review is soon expected to publish its diagnosis of one of the most pressing challenges facing the country: the rising number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET).

But the real question is: how will policymakers and the sector respond?

At EDT, we work directly with tens of thousands of young people and adults out of work or education every year. We consistently see not a lack of ambition, but a system that too fragmented to help young people turn that ambition into reality.

Access to employability support varies hugely depending on where a young person lives; Intensive or tailored support in one local authority not existing in the next. 18-year-olds falling between youth and adult funding streams. Waiting times for access to mental health services varying wildly from one area to another.

This is replicated at a national level. Responsibility for NEET young people is spread across schools and colleges, local and combined authorities, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Education and the voluntary sector.

The resulting patchwork of provision is difficult for professionals to coordinate and even harder for young people to navigate.

This matters all the more because we have found that nine in ten frontline employability providers identify low confidence as a key barrier to young people entering education or work – a challenge even more acute for care-experienced young people lacking stable support networks.

The youth guarantee, two weeks’ worth of work experience and expanded apprenticeships are to be welcomed. But it takes time for these policies to translate into real opportunities, and without stronger national coordination, we risk adding more programmes to an already complex landscape.

Gatsby for NEETs?

We can learn from one part of the system in particular that has improved significantly in recent years: careers guidance in schools and colleges.

The Gatsby Benchmarks offer a clear national framework for what good careers provision looks like. Too often delivery still varies, but schools and colleges share a common set of standards, supported by national infrastructure through the Careers and Enterprise Company and Careers Hubs.

There is no equivalent framework for the services supporting young people who are not in school or college, employment or training.

NEET provision could benefit from the same principle: a framework for high-quality support coordinated nationally – but combined with strong local partnerships to deliver it.

Drawing on our programme delivery, we have begun to develop a framework built around the following principles.

If we are serious about reducing NEET numbers, prevention matters as much as the cure. We cannot separate what happens in schools, at key transition points, and once young people fall out of education or work. Any ladder of opportunity is only as strong as its weakest rung.

That means ongoing access to high-quality careers information, advice and guidance, alongside responsive post-16 learning pathways aligned to young people’s goals.

Ongoing support

Where a young person or adult disengages, local services should be able to track, monitor and re-engage them quickly to reduce ‘not known’ outcomes.

Every NEET young person should have access to a trained adviser and personalised support plan. Where they face complex needs, support should be differentiated and delivered holistically, with strong coordination and collaboration across services. That could include access to flexible funding to address practical barriers such as transport, childcare or digital access.

There should be clear pathways into further education, training and employment, including meaningful opportunities to experience and succeed in a work environment, building confidence and employability skills step-by-step.

Crucially, young people must be at the heart of decisions affecting them. That includes these important conversations about the shape and nature of services designed to support them.

At present, many of these elements exist but they are unevenly distributed or too short-term. Strong local programmes deliver excellent outcomes, but they are rarely embedded across the system.

In the same way that schools work towards the Gatsby benchmarks, organisations supporting NEET young people could work towards a shared set of standards for early identification, personalised guidance, workplace exposure and coordinated support back into education, employment or training. This could be coordinated centrally by an independent body (akin to the Careers and Enterprise Company), and supported by local hubs to drive meaningful results. 

The Milburn Review has an opportunity to move the conversation beyond diagnosis and towards system reform.

We dearly hope it recommends national coordination, clear standards for quality support, longer-term funding and genuine collaboration across services to ensure that new initiatives deliver lasting change.

Because if we are serious about reducing the number of young NEETs, we must know what we are all striving for, what excellent practice looks like, and how that is delivered in a joined-up system from school through to adulthood.

Ministers accused of breaking 16–19 funding promise with 0.5% rate rise

Ministers have been accused of breaking a promise for a real-terms funding increase for 16 to 19 year olds made in last year’s white paper to ease demographic pressures.

The Department for Education today confirmed the national funding rate for 16 and 17 year old learners will only rise by 0.5 per cent in academic year 2026-27, from £5,105 to £5,133.

This marks the lowest increase since funding rates were frozen in 2021-22.

The move has “disappointed” college leaders, who pointed out it breaks a pledge made in October’s post-16 education white paper which said there was “significant investment” available to “ensure there is increased funding to provide real terms per-pupil funding in the next academic year to respond to the demographic increase in 16 to 19-year-olds.”

Today’s batch of 16-19 funding guidance documents also failed to reveal details of any additional funding to support significant increases in learner enrolments this year due to a demographic boom in the number of school leavers.

Leaders said the government’s recent £800 million cash injection will be swallowed up by the extra estimated 20,000 16-18-year-olds entering college last autumn. 

But the Association of Colleges (AoC) estimated that there are already around 32,000 current learners in colleges who will now be unfunded, and the “disappointing” funding rise will leave “very little” for staff pay rises. 

The white paper promised £1.2 billion of additional investment per year in skills by 2028-2029, which will allow recruitment and retention of expert teachers and will “respond” to the demographic increase in 16-19-year-olds. 

Julian Gravatt, deputy chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said: “Colleges will be disappointed by the funding announcement today by the Department for Education.

“The DfE calculation that there will be a 1.6 per cent [average per-student] increase shows that this promise hasn’t been kept, and right now, there is a lack of information on the overall budget,” he added. 

Gravatt added that the demographic bulge will bring in extra income in the 2026-27 academic year, which will be lagged for one year, but will also incur extra costs associated with more teachers, staff and teaching space. 

“This may leave very little money for pay rises in 2026-27 given that colleges are operating with funding that assumes no or minimal inflation,” he said. 

Officials have also removed the 5 per cent uplift to the national T Level funding rate for several subjects. 

Meanwhile, a £400 increase has been made to high-value courses in construction in a bid to boost the number of students who are “immediately” employable. 

However elsewhere in the 16 to 19 funding formula, there will be no changes in 2026-27 to the advanced maths premium, core maths premium, disadvantage funding, English and maths funding, English and maths condition of funding or programme cost weightings.

T Level rate lowered

T Levels with technical qualifications introduced before 2022 will have their 5 per cent uplift removed in 2026-27, even if their occupational specialisms were introduced after.

The uplift was introduced to support extra costs associated with the early rollout of T Levels.

This means the funding rate has dropped by 4.3 per cent from last year for T Levels in digital, construction, education and early years and health and science. 

The funding rate for band 9 “very large” T Levels of 1,830 total planned hours for the programme’s two years will be reduced to £14,772 in 2026-27 from this year’s rate of £15,430. 

Band 8 (comprising an average 1,680 planned hours) will reduce from £14,146 to £13,544.  

Band 7 will shrink from £12,864 to £12,316 and band 6 will fall from £11,154 to £10,680. 

Sitting alongside the above funding bands are three additional “uplifted” funding rates across bands 6 to 8. 

The 5 per cent uplift has applied to T Levels in business and administration, legal, finance and accounting, engineering and manufacturing, agriculture and animal care, creative and design and marketing. 

The uplifted band 6 will fund the marketing, finance, accounting and legal services T Levels at £11,214 per student across the two-year qualification. 

Uplifted band 7 has been boosted to £12,932, affecting T Levels such as management and administration, craft and design and media, broadcast and production. 

Meanwhile, all three engineering and manufacturing T Levels and most routes under agriculture, environmental and animal care courses will be boosted to £14,222 per student under the uplifted band 8. 

Ministers today confirmed plans to limit new T Levels to 1,080 guided learning hours, lower than the current minimum of 1,180 hours after long-standing calls from colleges that T Levels are too large and difficult to deliver at scale. 

The move followed new starts data this morning showing ministers failed to meet their T Level recruitment target for 2025-26 by nearly a fifth.

Functional skills to remain as DfE unveils ‘stepping-stone’ GCSE resit courses

Functional skills qualifications will remain available “for some students” as ministers introduce new stepping-stone English and maths qualifications for GCSE resit students.

The Department for Education has launched a consultation on new level 1 English and maths qualifications for 16 to 19 year olds that leave school with GCSE grades 2 or below in the subjects. 

The so-called stepping-stone qualifications were proposed last year by the independent curriculum and assessment review, led by Becky Francis, to better prepare learners to achieve a grade 4 pass in their post-16 GCSE resits.

According to a consultation published today, most in scope students would take the new level 1 preparation courses in their first year of post-16 study and then progress to the resit in their second year.

Changes to English and maths accountability measures, first mooted in the post-16 education and skills white paper, are mentioned in the consultation but are not set out in any detail.

Different design

Unlike functional skills qualifications, the new courses will be designed specifically to prepare learners to achieve at least a grade 4 pass at GCSE. 

There will be further consultations on the detailed design, curriculum and assessment arrangements of the new qualifications, but the consultation states they will be aligned to GCSE content and address gaps from earlier key stages.

Most students who leave school with a grade 2 or below in English and maths will be expected to take the new level 1 preparatory qualifications, but the consultation doesn’t say when they will be available for teaching. Officials won’t tell us that until they analyse consultation responses.

Enrolments on alternative qualifications will be allowed, but are expected to be rare.

“We believe level 1 and entry level English and maths functional skills qualifications will remain an appropriate option for some students. We also believe that level 2 functional skills qualifications may have a role for some students. This is in line with the condition of funding guidance,” the consultation states.

Students who achieve a grade 3 in their GCSEs at school will be able to progress straight to resits.

Modular vs linear assessment

One major design question in the consultation is whether the new qualifications should be modular or linear.

DfE makes the case for a modular design, meaning students could “bank” progress over time which it said could improve the confidence and motivation of students who have previously struggled.

The consultation notes: “If students make progress in their learning but do not achieve the full qualification, having nothing to show for that progress could lead to further disengagement.”

However, one drawback of the modular approach could be that frequent assessments have the opposite effect by increasing pressure on students and create timetabling challenges for providers. 

Options proposed include making the new qualifications fully modular, fully linear or a hybrid model combining modules with a final exam. 

Condition of funding still applies

The consultation makes clear the new qualifications will sit within the existing English and maths condition of funding rules that apply to 16 to 19 study programmes. 

This rule means providers must ensure students who have not yet achieved a grade 4 or above in English and/or maths continue to study the subjects. There are funding penalties if the condition isn’t met.

DfE said the new qualifications are intended to support the condition by giving lower-attaining students more time to gain the skills and knowledge they need before attempting to resit the GCSEs.

It added that the new qualifications should be completed within the teaching hours already required under the condition of funding guidance.

The consultation closes on June 2.

Ministers shrink T Levels to boost take-up and manageability

New T Levels will be smaller than any existing course as ministers slash classroom hours to make the flagship qualifications more manageable.

The Department for Education will limit new T Levels to 1,080 guided learning hours, lower than the current minimum of 1,180 hours, while also working to “manage down the size” of existing courses.

The move follows warnings from colleges that T Levels are too large and difficult to deliver at scale.

Ministers today confirmed plans for eight new T Levels (full list below), expanding the current offer that covers 21 subjects.

The new subjects include hair and beauty and catering and hospitality – two areas where the Department for Education has previously attempted, but failed, to launch T Levels.

In its response to the level 3 and below consultation, which also clears the way for new V Levels, the DfE said it remains “confident” T Levels are the “right choice for students who know what broad career area they want to pursue post-16”.

But officials admitted they “must go further to improve their deliverability” as recruitment continues to lag significantly behind forecasts.

Colleges told the consultation that the “size and nature” of T Level content and assessment is a “significant barrier” to both developing new courses and expanding existing provision.

The DfE said it will therefore make “further changes” to assessment and industry placements to support growth. New industry placement guidance will be published by June 2026.

The minimum 315-hour industry placement will remain. But officials signalled further watering down of the mandatory requirement, including enhancing current placement flexibilities such as conducting them across multiple employers, group projects or remote working.

For newly created T Levels, the technical qualification will be capped at 1,080 guided learning hours (GLH) in the classroom, alongside the 315 placement hours and time for employability, enrichment and pastoral support.

Currently, the smallest T Levels require a minimum of 1,180 classroom hours and attract £11,154 funding per learner over two years. The largest require a minimum of 1,730 hours and are funded at £15,430.

The new cap suggests funding levels could fall.

Alongside the hours cap on new courses, the DfE said it will continue reducing the size of existing T Levels where content and complexity are deemed unnecessary.

To make T Levels “more manageable for providers to deliver at scale”, the DfE and Ofqual will remove content “not absolutely necessary to demonstrate threshold competence” and cut the assessment burden, particularly the staff time required to administer exams.

Ofqual will also consult on allowing students to retake individual core exams, instead of resitting a full exam suite if they fail one element.

Officials began a route-by-route review of T Level content in April 2024.

In March 2025, the National Audit Office warned that T Levels may struggle to scale after student number forecasts were missed by three quarters, leaving a near-£700 million spending shortfall.

Latest 2025-26 starts data, published today, shows the DfE missed its revised recruitment target by almost a fifth.

Timeline for the 8 planned new T Levels

2028-29:

– Care Services 

– Sports, Fitness and Exercise Science  

2029-30:

– Catering and Hospitality

– Expansion of creative and design 

– Hair and Beauty

– Protective Services 

2030-31:

– Art and Performing Arts 

– Travel and Tourism

DfE misses 2025-26 T Level starts target by nearly a fifth

Just over 27,000 students began T Levels this year, leaving ministers short of their revised recruitment target by nearly a fifth.

Statistics published this morning showed starts on the two-year technical qualifications rose 7.6 per cent from last year to 27,446 in 2025-26.

But the entry figures still failed to meet the Department for Education’s expected 33,400 starts, according to its latest estimates.

It means that recruitment targets for the government’s flagship technical qualifications have been missed for the sixth consecutive year since their rollout in 2020.

DfE revealed to the National Audit Office last year that it initially expected 106,500 starts for the 2025-26 academic year, according to an original estimate in May 2021.

Officials made subsequent revisions, reducing its target four times between January 2022 and October 2023.

The NAO warned the DfE about the scalability of T Levels after finding original student number forecasts were missed significantly, resulting in a near-£700 million spending shortfall.

Early years, health and business remain popular

Starts on the education and early years T Level, which was introduced in 2020, jumped 4 per cent in 2025-26, making it the most popular of the 21 T Levels available with 5,723 entries.

Meanwhile, the health T Level, introduced in 2021, cemented its position as the second most popular T Level, logging a 17 per cent increase in starts from 3,772 in 2024 to 3,921 in 2025.

In its second year of delivery, the animal care and management T Level recorded 1,873 entries in 2025, up from 1,281the year before, making it already the seventh most popular course. 

Though it remained another popular T Level, the number of starts on the business and administration course dropped from 2,399 starts to 2,194 this year.

Starts on the building services engineering for construction T Level nearly halved to 870, a 45 per cent drop from 1,576 in 2024-25.

Take-up of the digital software development T Level (formerly known as digital production design and development) edged down 4 per cent to 1,966 starts this year.

Meanwhile, the new marketing T Level attracted 368 starts this year. 

Accessibility on the rise

More students with lower GCSE prior attainment are starting a T Level, according to new analysis from DfE.

The proportion of T Level entrants who do not hold a grade 4 or above in both English and maths sat at 8.1 per cent in 2022-23, this increased to 11 per cent in 2023-24 and then rose slightly to 11.3 per cent in 2024-25.

The DfE said a breakdown of this characteristic was not yet ready for 2025-26.

By comparison, 32.5 per cent of students who enrolled on a large vocational technical qualification did not pass their GCSE English or maths at school.

More non-white and SEND learners

The data also found increasingly more non-white students and SEND learners taking up T Levels.

DfE used the young person’s matched administrative database to analyse GCSE prior attainment in English and maths, ethnicity, special educational needs (SEN) provision and free school meal (FSM) eligibility up to the 2024-25 academic year.

The proportion of non-white students starting a T Level was 19.1 per cent in 2022-23. This rose to 20.8 per cent the following year and to 22.1 per cent in 2024-25.

By comparison, 43.5 per cent of students taking a VTQ last year were non-white, while the population census showed 26.9 per cent of 16-year-olds were from an ethnic minority background. 

Meanwhile, the proportion of T Level entrants receiving SEN support increased from 8.8 per cent in 2022-23 to 10 per cent last year.

According to individual learner record (ILR) and school census data, total T Level entrants were “almost evenly split” between male and female learners last year.

However, courses such as early years, craft and design and health had over 90 per cent of female learners.

In contrast, building services engineering for construction, onsite construction, and digital support and security (formerly digital support services) had mostly male students (over 90 per cent).

Foundation year starts down a fifth

Starts on the troubled T Level foundation year reduced to 7,344 in 2025-26, a 20 per cent fall from 9,228 in the previous year.

DfE explained the decline was due to a small number of large, high-volume providers reducing the number of routes they deliver. A total of 96 providers were recorded as providing the TLFY this year, down from 99 last year.

Health and science remained the most popular route with 2,075 taking the foundation course this year.

The construction route showed the largest decrease in entrants, a 70 per cent drop. Just 324 started a foundation course in 2025-26 from 1,104 the previous year.

DfE said the decline coincided with the scrapping of the onsite construction T Level and no new enrolments to this pathway this year.

Next year, the TLFY will be renamed ‘foundation year’ and will be gradually replaced by a new level 2 ‘further study’ pathway.

DfE agrees to BTECs defunding delay

Popular BTECs and other applied general qualifications have been granted another funding extension as part of a “sustainable” transition to new V Levels, the government has announced.

Ministers have agreed to extend funding for all level 3 diplomas and extended diplomas into 2026-27, giving colleges and sixth forms a significant reprieve with just six months to go before the start of the new academic year.

Defunding will now begin from autumn 2027, instead of this year, in finance, digital, education and early years – the subject areas chosen for the first V Levels (click here for full story and click here for the full list of courses to be defunded in 2027).

Further defunding will follow in 2028 in business and administration, care services, construction and the built environment, engineering and manufacturing, health and science, legal, sales, marketing and procurement, and sport.

It means popular courses like the BTEC extended diploma in health and social care will continue to be funded for another two years.

A transition document is due to be published today to clearly set out the arrangements to the new qualifications system, including the new defunding timeline for specific courses.

Skills minister: ‘We have listened’

Until now, the Department for Education’s position has been that “funding for all qualifications 720 guided learning hours (GLH) and over in T Level areas will be removed in 2026 and 2027”.

This timeline had prompted warnings from the sector that tens of thousands of students would face a qualification gap from September 2026 as removing large applied general qualifications, such as BTECs, before replacement routes were ready would leave many learners without suitable options.

A DfE spokesperson described today’s decision as a “phased, sustainable approach for providers to transition to the reformed system”.

Writing for FE Week, skills minister Jacqui Smith said: “You told us that the transition arrangements we originally proposed were too aggressive, putting providers’ ability to prepare for the reforms to come at risk. 

“I appreciate that and so, to give providers space and certainty, we are setting out that large qualifications the size of three A Levels or bigger in T Level areas will have funding approval removed from 2027 instead of 2026, apart from health and social care qualifications which will follow in in 2028. 

“Smaller legacy qualifications will retain funding approval until the relevant T Level and V Level is available in that subject area from 2027.”

It marks the third pause to defunding since the start of the Protect Student Choice Campaign in 2021, led by the Sixth Form Colleges Association.

Bill Watkin, chief executive of the SFCA, said: “Our members will warmly welcome the government’s decision to retain existing qualifications while the new suite of V Level qualifications is phased in.

“Colleges and schools can now make the most of this period of stability and certainty to ensure that tens of thousands of young people have an uninterrupted educational experience, while also engaging constructively and with focus in the design and rollout of V Levels.”

V Levels will sit alongside A Levels and T Levels, and will be equivalent to one A Level, allowing students to mix and match academic and vocational subjects if they are unsure where to specialise.