Students ‘misled’ and teachers struggling: Ofsted’s verdict on T Levels

“Many” students have dropped out of T Levels after being “misled” onto the flagship qualifications, while experienced teachers struggle to teach the “complex” courses, a damning Ofsted review has found.

Employers are also being left “disappointed” and “poorly informed” about the mandatory 315-hour industry placements for T Levels, as the inspectorate warns that some placements are “not appropriate” for the subjects learners are studying.

Students and teachers also reported feeling “let down” by the early rollout, as universities refuse to accept the qualifications as valid entry courses, adding that they fear the T Level brand has already been damaged.

Ofsted laid bare the “range of shortcomings” in a government-commissioned review of T Levels published today, which concluded there “remains considerable work to do” to make sure the courses, which are the new technical equivalent to A-levels for 16- to 19-year-olds, can be offered at scale.

The watchdog even urges the Department for Education to rethink its wider level 3 reforms, which involve axing most alternative qualifications, like BTECs, from 2025, in light of the findings.

Sector leaders said Ofsted’s verdict shows that ministers need to “drop the rhetoric, face the reality and rethink their plans for qualification reform”.

The DfE admitted there is “further action is needed” to make T Levels a success.

Students ‘misled’ as teachers ‘struggle’

Ofsted has conducted a thematic review of the implementation of T Levels since the courses launched in September 2020. The qualifications aim to combine high-quality study of theory with development of practical skills.

The watchdog’s research involved interviews with employers as well as almost 700 teaching staff and more than 2,100 students and focused on courses in construction, digital, education, and health and science, along with the T Level transition programme.

The inspectorate will inspect T Levels as part of regular inspections from September 2023.

Today’s report said confidence in teaching the qualifications is on the rise but warned the courses are “not at all what students expected” in some cases, adding that “many” learners reported “being misled and ill-informed about their content and structure”.

Students on the health and science T Level were particularly “surprised” at the complexity of the science content and the academic nature of the course. FE Week revealed last year that around 1,100 students on this course had their results regraded after Ofqual found the exams were not fit for purpose. 

One student told Ofsted: “The exams took all of our joy out of everything and really shook our faith in the course.”

Most providers set the entry criteria for T Levels as five GCSEs at grade four or above, but the watchdog found the initial assessment of students’ abilities at the start of their courses is “often weak”.

Inspectors said the practical aspects of courses are “generally taught well” but experienced vocational teachers “often struggle to teach theoretical content in sufficient depth or to set work that is appropriately challenging”.

“Many” providers have experienced difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff who have the required experience and expertise, the report added.

‘Disappointed’ employers

T Level students are required to complete a 315-hour industry placement to achieve the qualification – a policy feature often lauded by education ministers as the main reason why their new “gold standard” technical qualification stands above other level 3 rivals.

Ofsted said that “most students enjoy their industry placements and gain valuable insights into what it is really like to work in the sectors they are studying”.

But finding suitable placements, even after the Covid-19 pandemic, is a “barrier to increasing the number of T Level places available in many providers”.

Employers are also often “poorly informed” about the content and structure of T Levels, with Ofsted finding instances where industry placements “are not appropriate for the pathway that students are on”.

The report said digital placements were particularly difficult to find suitable placements for, adding that there have been instances where employers are “disappointed with the students’ skill level”.

Some students were left to arrange their own placements, while other placements involved “considerable travel, and students did not have the means to get to them”, namely in construction.

High drop-out rate 

Around 17,000 students have started a T Level since 2020 but the DfE has so far refused to release data that shows how many stay on for the full two years.

Ofsted reported that “many” leave before the end of the course. At a few providers, no students moved on to the second year “because of their poor experience in the first year”.

The watchdog also flagged concern that the struggling T Level transition programme, a one-year post-GCSE course aimed at students who would like to do a T Level but are not ready for its academic and technical demands, is only pushing a “low” number of students on to a full T Level.

Unis reject T Levels despite minister promises

While T Levels were designed so that students can enter work straight after completing their course, ministers have repeatedly made clear that the courses are a viable entry route into university.

But Ofsted found cases where students who wanted to go to university were “surprised and disappointed that T Level qualifications are not always accepted as a valid entry qualification”.

It echoes a previous FE Week investigation that revealed less than half of all UK universities refused to accept T Level learners.

One digital T Level student told Ofsted: “I was initially planning to go to university and was told by my college that it should be no issue after doing the T Level. But of all the universities I applied for, I only got one offer, with the reasons for rejection being that I went with the T Level and not traditional A-levels.”

Skills and universities minister Robert Halfon wrote to vice chancellors in January, ordering them to publicly clarify whether they accept T Levels as valid entry qualifications for their universities.

‘Carefully consider’ bonfire of other level 3s

Ofsted found that providers have often introduced T Levels because they are expecting that other, similar courses will not be eligible for public funding in the future, as proposed in the DfE’s consultations on qualification reform.

A key recommendation the watchdog makes to the DfE is for officials to “carefully consider the implications and impact of the planned withdrawal of funding for other similar courses to ensure that students are not disadvantaged”.

James Kewin, deputy chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association which leads the Protect Student Choice campaign, said: “Today’s report is clear that T Levels are not yet the gold standard, mass market replacement for BTECs the government believes them to be.

“Ministers need to drop the rhetoric, face the reality and rethink their plans for qualification reform. We all want T Levels to succeed, but not at any cost, and leaving tens of thousands of BTEC students without a pathway to higher education or employment is not a price worth paying.”

David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said Ofsted’s report “exposes a programme which is complex and therefore running into understandable implementation issues and glitches”.

He added: “The risk is too great to shut down funding for qualifications which are working well for learners now in the hope that the new T Levels will be better because we want them to be.”

Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman said: “As with many new qualifications, there are some teething issues with T Levels, but in most cases providers and employers seem to be working well together to address them. However, we saw a range of shortcomings which providers and the DfE will want to address.”

A DfE spokesperson said: “We welcome the recognition of these high-quality qualifications as a strong technical pathway for young people when delivered effectively.  

“We have already made good progress to address many of the areas highlighted in the report, but we know further action is needed.”

DfE renames struggling T Level transition programme

The T Level transition programme has been renamed to encourage more young people to progress to T Levels. 

The Department for Education (DfE) will now call the programme the T Level foundation year, though providers are not expected to use the new name until the 2024/25 academic year.

The announcement was made in the department’s response to its consultation on level 2 qualifications that support progression to T Levels.

“We are making this change to strengthen the relationship with T Levels and signal clearly that this is the first step on a three-year path to achieving a T Level, for those students who need to take a foundation year,” the report said.

Other future qualifications that are designed to support T Level progression will be called T Level foundation qualifications. Ofqual is now consulting on its plans to regulate those qualifications before teaching begins in 2026.  

A series of national technical outcomes (NTOs) documents, one for each of the 12 T Level routes, has now been agreed which set out the knowledge and skills the new foundation qualifications should deliver for students.

Qualifications as part of the transition programme/foundation year will still be optional, though most providers are choosing to include them.

Destination unknown

To date, nearly 9,800 students have taken part in the T Level transition programme, but it’s not known how many of those have completed and progressed to a full T Level.

Last year FE Week revealed that just 14 per cent of the 847 transition programme students in 2020/21 progressed to a full T Level, the first year the programme was introduced. 

English and maths requirements, a lack of suitable industry placements and more attractive qualification offers were all cited as factors in the low transition rate.  

FE Week understands there is concern among senior officials that progression from the programme to T Levels has continued to be low.

Participation numbers have grown as more T Level routes have come online and the number of providers delivering T Levels increases. 

The number of transition programme students increased to 3,348 in 2021/22 and 5,600 in 2022/23. Progression data, such as how many of them dropped out, switched to a different level 2 qualification, progressed to a T Level or progressed to a different level 3 qualification, has not been released.

£50k minister pay-offs, and 6 more DfE accounts findings

The Department for Education’s ministerial merry-go-round last year saw £50,000 severance fees paid out to politicians – with some pay-offs four times what they earnt in salary.

The DfE’s annual accounts for 2022-23, published yesterday, also show a staggering £20 million was paid out to civil servants in the voluntary exit staff shake-up. More than 200 pay-offs were between £50,000 and £100,000.

Here’s everything you need to know …

1. £50k severance in ministerial merry-go-round

As FE Week first revealed in November, last year’s ministerial merry-go-round at the department cost a pretty penny in severance fees.

Ministers are entitled to severance pay no matter how long they serve – providing they don’t get another government position within three weeks.

Five secretary of states worked at the DfE across the year, with five minsters of state and six parliamentary under secretaries.

Education secretary Kit Malthouse, who served for just 49 days, got a £16,86 pay off – four times the £4,355 he actually earnt as a salary.

Kelly Tolhurst, schools and children’s minister for 50 days, got £7,920 and schools standards minister for 51 days Jonathan Gullis got £5,593.

Skills minister Andrea Jenkyns, who served 111 days, received a £5,593 pay off.

Michelle Donelan, education secretary for just under two days, waived her severance payment. She was paid £9,048 in salary, but this is likely for her previous role as universities minister.

Meanwhile, DfE directors also got bonuses totalling between £40,000 and £70,000.

Julia Kinniburgh got the largest – between £20,000 to £25,000. She was director general for strategy group but since December has been leading the skills group.

2. £20m in voluntary exit pay-offs

The accounts reveal the full scale of the voluntary exit scheme run by the DfE and its agencies from earlier this year.

This totalled 384 exit packages at a cost of £20.4 million. A staggering 215 of these severance payments were between £50,000 to £100,000 (compared to just three in this category last year).

The department’s turnover remained at 11 per cent this year – which is more than double the five per cent civil servant average. “Most employees leave to transfer to another government department,” accounts stated.

3. £2m college merger write off, £2.8m NFF mistake

The department and its agencies clocked up £39 million in cash losses and abandoned claims in the last financial year. Accounts must show where those individuals losses amount to over £300,000.

An error in “the complex allocation calculation” for the schools national funding formula resulted in an overpayment to a “small number” of local authorities. The largest overpayment was to Surrey County Council which lost the DfE £1.5 million, nearly half the total of the department’s cash losses (£2.8 million). An overpaid grant to Steiner Academies worth £580,000 was also written off.

The largest category for departmental write-offs though was for waived or abandoned claims for funding, totalling £18.6m.

Debts owed to the department by Challenger Multi Academy Trust and Greater Brighton Metropolitan College, worth £2 million each, were waived in re-brokerage deals.

A further £1.2 million linked to the T Level professional development programme, which is run by the Education and Training Foundation, was also written off.

A £400,000 out of court legal settlement is also reported but no further details provided.

4. ‘Financial failure’ likely from high needs deficits

The report sets out six “significant risks” – industrial action, education recovery, school buildings, looked-after children placement market failure, high needs cost pressures and cyber security.

The risk of high needs cost pressures is “critical – very likely”, and the DfE said such pressures were “forecast to continue to increase leading to LAs’ financial failure”.

Despite “substantial cash increases in high needs funding, in the medium term (2-5 years) high needs costs continue to rise significantly”.

This will “threaten the overall financial stability” of councils once rules allowing deficits to sit off balance sheets expire in April 2026 and “undermine efforts to improve educational outcomes for pupils with SEND and improve parental confidence in the SEND and AP system”.

Given the need for “systematic, long-term change to the delivery of support for children with SEND”, the risk is “likely to remain at its current status for the next two years”.

5. ‘Insufficient understanding’ of DfE recovery schemes

The risk to education recovery remains “critical-very likely”, with evidence of “disparities between different groups or pupils with certain characteristics”.

An ongoing risk “therefore remains that recovery is not taking place at the same pace across these groups, potentially maintaining or widening attainment gaps, particularly for disadvantaged pupils”.

The report also warned there “may be insufficient demand for or understanding of education recovery interventions in the sector, causing a lack of engagement on recovery programmes and creating programme underspend”.

6. DfE shielded from energy woes (for now)

The DfE’s energy is bought by the government’s Crown Commercial Service on its behalf.

The report states that CCS “hedging activity” took place before prices started rising last year, “meaning that lower prices were locked in, and the long-term hedging strategy allowed CCS to manage costs during the exceptionally volatile trading conditions seen last summer”.

“By purchasing almost all of 2022-23 energy before the spike, the CCS and the Department was protected from the energy price crisis. It is likely the impact from the energy price crisis will be realised in later financial years.”

7. 1.5k staff data caught up cyber attack

The report noted that two “personal data breaches” were reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) over the financial year.

Last July, a DfE supplier was “subjected to a cyber-attack by a malicious third party”. Department data was “included within information encrypted by ransomware”, prompting concerns 1,451 people could be impacted.

A “personal laptop belonging to a member of staff was lost on a train” in the same month.

But “further updates [provided by DfE] confirmed no personal data was held” on the computer itself – which meant “the likelihood of a risk materialising was considered to be unlikely/low”.

Papers showed another supplier “of a number of contracted services to the department” was targeted by a cyber-attack. It is said to be “an ongoing incident”.

“Departmental data was included within information encrypted by ransomware,” the report added.

“Details were not provided of any departmental impact until late April 2023, at which point an initial referral to the ICO was made.”

Council launches investigation into college amid ‘serious allegations’

Several leaders of a council-run adult education college will remain “away from the workplace” after the council launched an independent investigation following “serious allegations”.

City College Peterborough will be without executive principal Pat Carrington, who is also chair of adult education network HOLEX’s board, plus two unnamed senior members of the college “until further notice”.

Peterborough City Council, which runs its adult and community learning provision through the college, said the college will remain open as normal during this period.

A city council spokesperson said: “As a result of the council receiving some allegations in relation to City College Peterborough, executive principal Pat Carrington and two further senior managers at the college will be away from the workplace until further notice.

“An independent investigation will now commence and as a result we are unable to comment further.”

The council would not name the other two senior members or clarify the college’s interim management at the time of publication.

No further information about the nature of the allegations has been released.

City College Peterborough is a registered charity and has around 120 employees who offer training to 16- to 19-year-olds, adult education courses like English for speakers of other languages, and apprenticeships.

Its last Ofsted report from 2017 rated the college as ‘good’.

According to its annual accounts for the period ended March 30, 2022, the college recorded over £3.7 million in income from donations and other charitable activities. It had a fund balance of nearly £5 million at the end of the financial year and achieved a surplus of £133,000.

Pat Carrington became executive principal in 2017, but has worked at the college since 2007. She has been part of the Holex board since 2014, becoming its voluntary chair in 2017 when she was also awarded an MBE for services to the community of Peterborough and further education.

She forms part of a four-strong executive team, plus six governors.

Carrington was approached for comment.

City College Peterborough declined to comment.

Pepe Di’Iasio nominated to succeed Barton as ASCL general secretary

The executive of the Assocaiation of School and College Leaders has nominated headteacher Pepe Di’Iasio to be its next general secretary.

The former ASCL president, who also previously worked for Rotherham council, is the union council’s pick to succeed Geoff Barton following a selection process.

Union members will also have the chance in September to nominate their own candidates, which is how Barton ended up on the ballot in 2017.

But if no further nominations are received, Di’Iasio, the head of Wales High School in Rotherham, will be elected uncontested. If anyone challenges him, an election would then be held.

John Camp, ASCL’s vice-president and member of the general secretary selection committee, said Di’Iasio was “an exceptional leader with an optimistic and ambitious vision for the future of the association”.

“He possesses the skills and ability to represent our members very effectively with policy-makers, the media, and all our stakeholders.

“We are absolutely confident that he will take our association from strength to strength and build on Geoff’s outstanding record as general secretary.”

Barton, who last year announced his intention to step down in 2024, said it was the “right time for our association to have a new leader with a fresh approach, and I am delighted that Pepe is council’s nominated candidate”.

“He has a wealth of experience and expertise in education and a deep sense of moral purpose which equips him to do an excellent job on behalf of our members and the children and young people they serve.”

ASCL has around 24,000 members, 500 of which work in colleges.

John McNamara returns as Federation of Awarding Bodies interim CEO

The Federation of Awarding Bodies has appointed John McNamara as its interim chief executive ahead of the departure of Tom Bewick.

This will be McNamara’s second stint as interim boss of the membership body, having held the role for five months in 2018 during its last leadership switch. He was also the founding chair of the federation from 2001 to 2009.

McNamara will become interim CEO again from September 1 until a new permanent chief is found.

Bewick will leave on September 29 after five years at the helm. He is moving to Ecctis, an international qualifications body, as chief executive.

A statement from FAB said McNamara, currently chair of Innovate Awarding, brings a “wealth of strategic leadership experience from the commercial banking services, skills, and vocational education sectors”.

It added that FAB’s board of directors will commence the recruitment process for a permanent CEO “in the summer”.

12 ESFA staff get £50k+ exit packages amid restructure

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) handed out 12 “exit packages” of more than £50,000 last year amid a restructure that halved its staff.

The revelation is one of the main findings from the ESFA’s annual report and accounts for 2022-23, which has been published today.

Here’s what you need to know…

1. Dozens of pay-outs as ESFA cuts jobs

The Department for Education approved Sir David Bell’s recommendation to more than halve the number of officials working for the ESFA more than 12 months ago.

And the annual report showed its average headcount stood at 829 in the last financial year, down from 1,779 in 2021-22. This brought total staffing costs down from £104 million to £49 million.

Although many staff moved to the Department for Education as part of the restructure, the documents revealed 28 exit packages – totalling £1.38 million – were agreed over the last year. None were approved in 2021-22.

Of the payments signed off, 11 were between £25,000 and £50,000, and 12 were between £50,000 and £100,000.

The ESFA’s spend on consultants was also slashed from £726,000 to £345,000 during the year.

2. College merger cost £2m

There were five claims for funding waived or abandoned by the ESFA last year, totalling just over £5.75 million.

Greater Brighton Metropolitan College received the biggest waiver of £2.1 million. The college was forced to join Chichester College Group in August 2022 after being propped up by the government for several years due to deteriorating finances.

Elsewhere, the ESFA abandoned £459,000 paid to Health Futures UTC. The university technical college was taken over by the Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust in April 2022 and became Shireland Biomedical UTC following years of under-recruitment.

The ESFA’s accounts explained that balances owed by academies and colleges “may in some circumstances be waived to facilitate the re-brokerage of the academy or college to a more sustainable academy trust or college, or support closure”.

3. Ombudsman probed four complaints against ESFA

During the last financial year, the ESFA said it was made aware of four complaints against it being lodged with the parliamentary and health service ombudsman.

The watchdog declined to probe two of the cases. Of the others, one was upheld and the other is “still with the PHSO to decide whether it will be accepted for full investigation”.

No further details of the probes were given in the document.

“PHSO reports full data with a year delay and the ESFA is not always made aware at the time that a complaint has been made,” the report added. “This figure represents a small proportion of total complaints made to ESFA and the department.”

4. Majority of funding audits were for FE

The ESFA conducted 155 funding audits in total during 2022-23 to “test the accuracy and completeness of the data driving funding allocations”.

Most of the audits (95) were carried out in either FE colleges (33) or independent training providers (62). The 60 other funding audits were for academy trusts.

Academies make up 27 per cent of the ESFA’s total budget, while FE providers make up just 8 per cent.

5. Up to £25k in exec bonuses

Three executive staff members received a bonus, down from ten the year before.

Warwick Sharp, who served as director of schools financial support and oversight as well as interim chief executive until August 2022, received a bonus of between £5,000 and 10,000, as did Owen Jenkins, who served as interim director of funding.

David Whitey, who became ESFA CEO in August 2022, was the only other executive staff member to receive a bonus, which was between £0 and £5,000.

The accounts show Whitey’s annual basic salary amounts to £125,000 to £135,000. This is below the salary of the previous permanent CEO Eileen Milner who was on £150,000 to £155,000.

Roaring success for Derby apprenticeship provider in first inspection

An apprenticeship training provider in Derby has received top marks from Ofsted in its first full inspection.

Inspectors praised Blue Lion Training Academy’s experienced staff and its “outstanding provision” across niche sectors in a grade one report published today following a visit last month.

The independent training provider started offering apprenticeships in 2020 across levels three to six and had 47 apprentices mostly aged over 18 at the time of inspection.

Most apprentices were enrolled on the level 4 improvement practitioner course and level 4 associate project manager apprenticeship. The remainder were on courses for content creators, digital marketers, and assistant recording technicians.

The company’s early monitoring visit from 2021 found reasonable progress was being made.

During the full inspection, the watchdog found apprentices were benefiting from a well-structured apprenticeship and were able to progress significantly within their studies and workplace.

The report also praised Blue Lion Training Academy trainers’ partnership with employers to help apprentices apply theoretical approaches to their workplace, such as spotting inefficiencies to improve working practices or cost savings. 

Apprentices said they feel safe and aware of raising issues. Inspectors said that learners felt supported by trainers, helping to build confidence and resilience.

Most of the courses blend online and in-person learning and the inspection found that the provider had invested heavily in “highly-experienced trainers” and bespoke learning resources.

“They rightly made the strategic decision to offer only courses in the niche sectors in which they are confident of delivering outstanding provision,” the report said. “As a result, employers, apprentices and staff hold the company in exceptionally high regard.”

Inspectors also commended the company’s dedication to “extensive” analysis for each employer offering apprenticeships to determine its organisational and training needs.

The report added that the provider’s assessment practice was “outstanding” from detailed and constructive advice and guidance on assignments. Staff also provide recap activities to help apprentices consolidate learning from previous modules.

Managing director and chief executive Harj Dhanjal said: “A big congratulations to the team at Blue Lion Training Academy.”

“Walking the talk, our tutors have years of industry experience in Lean Six Sigma and have formed a solid foundation for the growth of Management, Marketing and Media provision. The industry insights the tutors provide their learners is invaluable,” he added.

‘Excellent’ quality improvement measures

The report said that Blue Lion leaders provide a quarterly forum for all staff to review the apprenticeship provision, assess areas for improvement and share good practice. Inspectors said that staff at all levels now understand what they have to do to continue the company’s objective of being the “best in the business”.

Leaders also use a range of performance measures to assess the company’s performance, which inspectors said its quality improvement arrangements were “excellent”. Leaders identify barriers to performance, carry out a strategy to improve, implement a standard, monitor noncompliance and improve apprenticeship outcomes.

Meanwhile, Blue Lion’s governance is “effective,” the report said.

Blue Lion has a chief executive officer and one external partner which comprises the governance team. At the time of inspection, they had met twice.

“Governors consider a range of key performance measures, and they understand well the company’s strengths and areas for improvement. They plan to further strengthen governance and are in the process of appointing additional members,” the report said.

‘Rip-off’ HE student cap a ‘worry’ for colleges

Plans to restrict student numbers on higher education courses with poor student outcomes could disproportionately hit non-traditional students, the Association of Colleges has warned. 

Ministers today claimed that “too many” young people are taking university-level courses that have high drop-out rates and don’t lead to high-paid jobs. They have asked the Office for Students (OfS), the higher education regulator, to restrict how many students universities, colleges and other HE providers can recruit to courses with “poor” outcomes. 

Government figures show that nearly three in ten graduates do not go on to further study or get a highly skilled job 15 months after graduating.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak said: “Too many young people are being sold a false dream and ending up doing a poor-quality course at the taxpayers’ expense that doesn’t offer the prospect of a decent job at the end of it.

“That is why we are taking action to crack down on rip-off university courses while boosting skills training and apprenticeships provision.” 

This is the latest policy response to the review of post-18 education and training, led by Philip Augar, and comes four years after the landmark review published its recommendations.

But David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges (AoC), told FE Week he is “worried” the government’s plans to clamp down on recruitment will hit courses with non-traditional intakes.

“I think the potential for these proposals to hit older learners and part-time learners is high, and that’s because of the way outcomes are measured. We all want really good outcomes for all learners at all levels. It’s how you measure those outcomes fairly taking into account context, geography and labour markets that’s the real difficulty here.

“I am worried about what this might do for some providers, universities and colleges, and for certain groups of learners, particularly those who are less likely to progress into very high-paid jobs.”

Existing powers

The OfS already has some powers to investigate and intervene in HE providers that underperform against its student outcome thresholds. These cover measures for continuation, completion and progression. 

If the regulator isn’t satisfied, it can impose conditions on the provider’s OfS registration and demand monitored improvement plans and, as has happened in several FE colleges already, impose recruitment restrictions. 

The Department for Education confirmed that the OfS will be issued with statutory guidance directing it to impose recruitment limits on providers with provision found to be in breach of its student outcomes registration condition (B3). 

It also confirmed that the OfS will continue to publish the outcomes of investigations where B3 is breached.

‘Boosting’ uni alternatives

The government also said today it will cut the steps employers currently need to take in order to recruit an apprentice “by a third” and allow “expert” providers to take on more of the admin burden. Small employers will also be able to backdate apprentices’ start dates by up to one month.

It pointed to its rollout of new higher technical qualifications, Institutes of Technology and the upcoming lifelong loan entitlement as “high-quality” alternatives to degrees, alongside apprenticeships. 

Employers and prospective students will be able to access a single source of information on apprenticeships, T Levels, bootcamps and other skills courses. 

The DfE said its new website, which will be developed in-house within existing budgets, will signpost users to existing information and services. 

Foundation year fee cut

The Augar review was critical of the use of foundation year programmes to recruit students, often in competition with Access to HE courses which it argued offered students better value for money. 

“It is hard not to conclude that universities are using foundation years to create four-year degrees in order to entice students who do not otherwise meet their standard entry criteria,” the review said.

In response, the government has announced it will slash to the tuition fee cap that universities can charge for foundation years from £9,250 to £5,760. 

Alison Wolf, who served on the post-18 review panel, said she was “delighted that the government has introduced reforms for foundation year courses, whose current meteoric growth is hard to justify educationally or in cost terms”.

“Aligning their fees explicitly with college-based access courses should also promote the greater alignment of further and higher education to which the government is, rightly, committed,” she added.

Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, described today’s announcements as “an attack on the aspirations of young people and their families.

“The Conservatives’ appalling record on apprenticeships means it can’t be trusted to deliver the overhaul that our young people need, and the new role for the Office for Students will be to put up fresh barriers to opportunity in areas with fewer graduate jobs.”