Ofqual launches BTECs delay review – but Pearson tight-lipped on number in limbo

Exams watchdog Ofqual has pledged a review to ensure BTECs are not delayed again – but Pearson is still refusing to say how many students have been left in limbo. 

Ofqual said this evening that it is currently making sure exam boards get results out to students but added it is “clearly important that we review what has happened to make sure students in future years receive results when they expect them”. 

It comes as Labour and sector leaders demand answers from government and exam boards on how long they have known there would be a problem and how many students are impacted.

Currently, some BTEC and Cambridge Technical students are still awaiting their grades – four days since results day. 

Pearson – which issues BTECs – is refusing to say how many students have been impacted in total, aside from an update this evening saying since Thursday it has sent out another 1,950 results to UCAS.

The board said a “tiny” percentage of the more than 200,000 students due to receive their grades were still waiting for their results. Pearson claimed that less than 1 per cent are still waiting for their grades as of this evening, but it’s not clear how many that is. It is also not clear if the issue will happen again this Thursday, when level 2 BTECs are released. Pearson also claimed its not a “systemic issue” with delays “unique” to each school or college.

A spokesperson said: “We will continue to issue results during the days ahead as new information becomes available to us. We are also working closely with UCAS and higher education institutions to keep them updated.”

OCR – which issues Cambridge Technicals – has also refused to say how many students are still waiting on results.

An update this evening only said over 30,000 have been issued before or on results day, with 2,000 more since. Of those 2,000 – more than 800 were sent to UCAS to support university applications.

A spokesperson said: “This remains our top priority and we are working to resolve it as a matter of urgency.”

Toby Perkins, Labour’s shadow minister for skills, said government “need to come clean about the numbers of students affected and make a public statement, instead of hiding in their offices”.

“The education secretary should be ensuring that the exam boards involved in this incident set out the steps they are taking to rectify it. It is vital that the government ensures that no BTEC student will lose out on their chance of higher education.”

More than 100 college leaders met with Ofqual chief regulator Jo Saxton in an online call on Monday to share their concerns.

David Hughes, chief executive at the Association of College, said thousands of students were still in limbo, adding: “ It is simply unfair that they must wait longer and for many they cannot progress onto their next course or job.”

He added: “We have a lot of questions about what went wrong and the timing and sequence of events. We need to know at what point the awarding organisations became aware of problems and why they did not act more swiftly. We need to understand why they have not yet released any statement on the numbers of students without results and why they have failed to put up any spokesperson for the media.

“Students deserve better than distant and incomplete statements from the awarding organisations who should show more care for the ultimate customers of their qualifications.”

An Ofqual spokesperson said it has asked boards to give “regular updates so that the public can be confident that awarding organisations are swiftly issuing valid results”. 

“We will continue to work across the sector, in addition to using our regulatory relationship with awarding organisations, to this end.”

Students deserve to see accountability over delayed results

Awarding organisations, education institutions and the exams regulator should be open and honest about what’s led to delayed qualification results, writes Bernie Savage.

Everyone remembers the day they got their exam results. It’s one of those occasions in our lives that everyone’s got a story about. Countless hours of studying, practicing, rehearsing and revising all culminate in that one moment. 

Hundreds of thousands of students had their moment on Thursday and, for the vast majority of them, they were able to share their news with friends and families in a way that most of us take for granted. 

For some though, the anticipation culminated in disappointment, worry and anger. Not because they didn’t get the grades they were expecting, but because they didn’t get any grades at all. 

Just imagine; after a restless night’s sleep you head off to college, you stand in line and wait your turn, only to find an empty box where your final grade should be. 

It’s no wonder the students affected, and their parents, reacted with outrage. 

They should have been spending the weekend planning their next steps – sorting out university accommodation or applying for jobs or apprenticeships – not spending hours on hold to an exam body just to be told they’ll have to wait. 

It’s of little reassurance to be told, as ministers and exams bodies keep saying, that universities will hold on to students’ places while this mess gets sorted. 

Because the reality for those students who do not get the grades they need for their first choice, is that they now go to the back of the clearing queue at least five days after it opened. We’ve all seen the headlines about how this year is the most competitive clearing ever.

For there to be any BTEC and Cambridge Technical students still waiting for their final results is a disgrace. 

And the response from the awarding organisations involved, Pearson and OCR, has been woeful. It even took Pearson 13 hours to issue an apology on results day.

To add insult to injury, Pearson and OCR are keeping quiet on the numbers of students affected. They won’t say exactly what happened, why they didn’t spot any data errors sooner or even how long it’s going to take to resolve.

Let’s be clear, these organisations are not some chronically under-funded public sector regulators. They are massive commercial operators turning over huge sums on profit margins that FE colleges can only dream of. 

This is yet another example of private companies within our education system letting students down. By persisting with its failed marketisation of education, the government is continuing to send the message that profits come before students.

The prime minister’s caretaker ministers at DfE have given students no reason to believe they are on our side. James Cleverly and Andrea Jenkyns should be using whatever time they have left at the department aggressively defending students’ interests and holding Pearson and OCR to account. Yet so far, they are missing in in-action. 

We can’t and shouldn’t have to wait for a new government to see some accountability. 

Firstly, Ofqual’s chief regulator, Jo Saxton, should immediately make a public statement ordering an investigation into what’s gone wrong. Awarding bodies, education institutions and Ofqual’s own oversight should all be under the spotlight. The inquiry should be swift and completely transparent. 

“I have been explicit, that, on my watch, all of Ofqual’s statutory powers, resources and focus, will be to regulate in the interests of students of all ages and apprentices. Students will be out true north, our compass” Saxton said at a conference earlier this year. 

Time to show us what that means, Jo. 

Secondly, UCAS, universities and student housing companies must ensure that anyone that is delayed from confirming their place in higher education because of this mess is not disadvantaged. Students that have not yet been able to access clearing because they’ve not received their final grades, should still get a fair shot at the higher education place they want. 

And thirdly, we have to make sure this doesn’t ever happen again. Parliament’s education select committee should run accountability sessions in the House of Commons and demand to see proof that Ofqual and the awarding bodies have the systems and processes to ensure every student gets their qualification results on time.

Former Conservative party adviser appointed in Ofsted board shake-up

A former special adviser to a Conservative education secretary is one of six new appointments to Ofsted’s board.

Jon Yates was previously policy adviser to Damian Hinds during his tenure in the role between 2018 and 2019.

Yates has been executive director of the Youth Endowment Fund since 2019.

Frank Young, editorial director at the Civitas think tank and a former Tory councillor candidate, has also joined the board.

The other new members are Felicity Gillespie, director at early education foundation Kindred, Christopher Hanvey, a Care Quality Commission adviser, David Meyer, executive director of Partnerships for Jewish Schools and former Marks & Spencer head of communications Joanne Moran.

They will each be paid £8,282 per year for around 20 days’ work a year. The role of the board is to ensure the work of Ofsted is carried out “efficiently and effectively”.

Yates, who tweeted that he was “honoured” to take up the new role, has worked within the youth and community sector for around 15 years, founding and developing a number of schemes.

These include The Challenge Network, aimed at helping young people gain employability skills. It provided the blueprint for the government-funded National Citizen Service – a personal and social development programme for teenagers – which Yates co-founded.

He is also one of 10 members currently on the children’s commissioner’s advisory board.

Yates’ role as special adviser (spad) to Hinds ended when Boris Johnson assumed office in 2019 and appointed Gavin Williamson as his education secretary.

Damian Hinds

Spad roles are not normally advertised, and those appointed to the role – as temporary civil servants – are often recruited through word of mouth.

Despite having the backing of former health secretary Jeremy Hunt, Young lost out on a contest to represent Godalming North in the Surrey County Council election last year after gaining 29.9 per cent of the vote.

The winning Liberal Democrat candidate Penny Rivers took a 59.6% share of the vote.

He joined Civitas as editorial director and lead researcher on children and families in 2021. He previously spent six years as a communications director at the Centre for Social Justice, which was founded by former Conservative work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith.

All six of the new board members were appointed on August 1. Gillespie, Moran and Yates will serve for four years, while Hanvey and Young will stay in the role for three years.

While the inspectorate’s board has grown from nine to 12 members with the new additions, three have departed.

These are former Conservative MP Julie Kirkbride, John Cridland, the former director general of the Confederation of British Industry and Venessa Willms, Ark Schools’ director of education.

Richmond College strike plans on ice as arbitration talks planned over ‘fire and rehire’ proposals

Planned strike action at Richmond upon Thames College over “fire and rehire” plans have been suspended to enable arbitration talks, the University and College Union has confirmed.

Union members at the college in June announced plans to picket over 14 consecutive days in August and September to coincide with the start of the new term.

It follows five days of industrial action in May after the UCU said management intended to “issue notices to sack every teacher at the college and force them to reapply for their jobs on worse terms and conditions if they wanted to stay.”

But the UCU late on Friday confirmed the latest walkout, which would have affected the enrolment of new students, has been put on ice for now so that talks through the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) can take place.

“This is a remarkable show of goodwill from committed staff facing the threat of fire and rehire, so it’s crucial that RUTC senior management seize this opportunity to work with us to resolve the dispute,” the UCU said.

“UCU members have always been prepared to work with the employer to reach a fair and just negotiated settlement, but industrial action short of a strike continues and we cannot rule out further strike action in the coming weeks if talks are unsuccessful.”

The dispute arose over planned changes to annual leave which would have seen the 64 days of current annual leave (including bank holidays and efficiency days) reduced to what the college said was “a level in line with other FE colleges”.

The UCU said that would mean staff losing 10 days of holiday, but the college said this was a net loss of eight days of annual leave with full financial compensation.

In response to the strike freeze, a Richmond upon Thames College spokesperson said: “Our priority from the outset has been to reach a fair agreement regarding necessary teaching contract changes which support improvements in the learning experience for our students and bring pay and holiday in line with other colleges.

“A significant majority of teaching staff have signed up to the new contracts, recognising that the new offer is a fair one that compensates staff fully for the reduction in annual leave, and thereby increases their salary during a time of cost-of-living rises.”

The spokesperson added that they welcomed the opportunity to reach a resolution “over the next few days” with the withdrawal of the planned strike.

We are working with a fraction of the prisoners we could be

The next prime minister must take radical action on prison education as evidence shows education providers face multiple barriers, writes Peter Brammall

“While talent is spread equally across our country, opportunity is not. Levelling up is a mission to challenge, and change, that unfairness. Levelling up means giving everyone the opportunity to flourish.”

So said the levelling up white paper, published to much fanfare back in February.

While the man behind the slogan, Boris Johnson, is living on borrowed time in Downing Street, the two rivals to be his successor – Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak – have both insisted that the mission of levelling up the UK continues.

But what none of the proponents of this policy seem to have grasped is that, if levelling up is to have any real meaning, it has to start at the bottom.

And this shouldn’t just be about “left-behind” provincial towns.

When we think of what education select committee chair Robert Halfon calls the “ladder of opportunity”, we must not forget those left behind and isolated – all too literally – from their communities. Prisoners.

Even by the time they walk through the prison gate for the first time, these individuals are all too often already at a disadvantage.

Many have had limited or negative previous experiences of education; Ministry of Justice data shows that 57 per cent of adult prisoners have literacy levels below those expected of an 11-year-old.

Prison education offers the best opportunity of providing prisoners with the support, training and skills they need to escape the cycle of reoffending by finding stable employment at the end of their sentence – not to mention a means of reducing the astonishing £18 billion-a year cost of reoffending to society.

So why does it receive so little focus from politicians and policymakers?

Analysis by Novus suggests that the funding rate for the male prison population stands at less than one fifth of the equivalent rate for students in community-based adult education.

Education providers in this most complex and challenges of contexts are, quite simply, expected to do more with less.

And it’s not just about money: insightful reports published this year by the education and justice select committees shine a light on the structural and cultural obstacles providers face in delivering the standard of education and support that prisoners so badly need.

But while it’s easy to look on in consternation at the list of issues which need to be addressed, there is no need to be despondent about the future of prison education.

As anyone who attended Novus’ ‘moving on’ Conference last month can attest, it’s impossible not to be caught up in the energy, enthusiasm and expertise which pervades the sector.

There is a real passion from those who are engaged with this cohort, helping to maximise their educational opportunity on a daily basis.

We are working with a fraction of the prisoners we could be supporting

As conference speaker Fred Sirieix, maître d’hôtel in Channel 4’s First Dates and founder of The Right Course, pointed out, there are myriad examples of outstanding practice which have emerged. That’s despite some of the systemic challenges and structures which exist.

Through its partnership with The Right Course, Novus helps to deliver professional hospitality and catering training using prison staff canteens as the vehicle for work experience.

We have many other innovative collaborations with employers across the country, including Green King, Willmott Dixon and Premier Waste Recycling.

But we are working with a fraction of the prisoners we could be supporting, often aided by relatively small pockets of discretionary funding, a bit of innovative thinking and leveraging the sector ‘nous’ and contacts of partners such as Fred and his team.

In pockets, this entrepreneurial approach works phenomenally well.

But with up to half of prisoners not having access to education in the first place, and many who are allocated to education regularly failing to find their way to the classroom, even the scarce resources in play are often not being used as effectively as they could be.

Collectively, we can, and must, do better.

As a national provider of prison education with a wealth of expertise developed through 30 years of supporting the hardest-to-reach learners, Novus is determined to be part of this conversation – and to contribute towards building a prison education service fit for the 21st century.

This is not the time for settling for how things currently are.

If things are to improve, we collectively have to make the case for ambitious change.

At our conference we were treated to valuable workshops from practitioners and employers, outlining what is working well and areas where real change is desperately needed.

We also heard insights by representatives from the likes of the Prisoners’ Education Trust, the Learning and Work Institute and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service.

We are all aspirational for the system and the potential for real change it could offer and believe it is time for a New Deal for prison education.

Together, we can achieve so much more – and create a movement for genuine levelling up that starts at the bottom rung of the ladder.

The first T Level results mark a milestone in level 3 qualification reform

Yesterday’s T Level results show the new qualification is off to a fine start, writes Jennifer Coupland, CEO of the Institute for Apprenticeships & Technical Education

I would like to say a massive congratulations to all the trailblazing students who found out how they did with their T Levels yesterday.

It took guts to invest their futures in something completely new but it’s fantastic to think of them being repaid with seriously enhanced career prospects. 

They have also of course paved the way for thousands of other people to follow in their footsteps.

We started intentionally small in terms of numbers taking the first T Levels launched in September 2020.

We now know that students have achieved a 92% pass rate and most who applied to university were accepted. T Levels are also proving to be a really good way into apprenticeships and skilled work. The thing that students we’ve spoken to have been most fired up about has been the substantial industry placements, typically lasting 45 days. It’s what makes T Levels stand out and has in many cases led directly to job offers.

T Levels must be a brilliant springboard onto even bigger and better things and we’ve worked with employers and industry experts to develop new progression profiles as a guide to where they can lead for the next generation of students. 

Feedback on these new qualifications has also been really encouraging from the FE sector – which I was delighted to read about in FE Week.

The next step will of course be to scale everything up and make sure there is good coverage of T levels across the country and that they are accessible for people from all backgrounds.

As of October 2021, there were around 100 schools and colleges providers offering T Levels. It’s widening out to many more from September 2022 which will obviously make a big difference.

Make no mistake, we want to get to a point where equal numbers of young people take T Levels as A Levels. I know that’s a long way off, but we have made a fine start and it can be done.

With regards to defunding of alternatives, the reform process isn’t about targeting a particular type of qualification, it is about making sure all the qualifications available are really high quality and match up to employers’ skills needs. That’s best for students because it will ensure they are taught skills that are relevant and truly needed by employers. 

Only a small number of qualifications that overlap with T Levels are being retired at present and IfATE will introduce a new employer-led approval system for upholding the quality of technical qualifications in future.

A provisional list of 160 level 3 qualifications up for retirement was published in May. This is a small proportion of the qualifications available at this level – so does not represent the cull feared in some quarters. What it does amount to is recognition of the vital importance of T Levels and setting a higher employer-led quality bar for all qualifications which will benefit everyone.

So, the first T Level results day has been a massive positive, but it is just the beginning and must point the way to even better things ahead. 

Let’s capitalise together on all the goodwill and positivity around what they have delivered to date, the dedication and hard work of providers, and the wonderful young people who made up that first cohort. We can and will ensure that the wider rollout of the programme is a big success.

T Level results are welcome but need further scrutiny

Almost a third of T Level students did not receive their university offer which merits closer investigation, writes Lisa Morrison Coulthard

We are delighted to see the results for the first three T Levels in construction, digital and education and childcare. They offer the first insights into the impact of the government’s flagship technical alternative to A-levels.

With an overall pass rate of 92.2 per cent (compared to 98.4 per cent for A-levels), we congratulate this first cohort – not just for taking the new qualification but for overcoming the challenging impacts of Covid-19.

However, in addition to the actual results achieved, we feel it is important to reflect on the view of the students completing these qualifications.

The findings of the first Technical Education Learner Survey, commissioned by Department for Education and undertaken by NatCen and NFER, provide unique perspectives and rich data from over 700 students.

Students’ views were positive with high levels of satisfaction reported both overall and with different course elements, including the industry placement, despite the impact of Covid-19 on programme delivery and securing placements.

The results published by DfE show that, despite the difficulties arising from the pandemic, 94 per cent of learners successfully completed their industry placement.

Our research also showed that most students found the workload to be manageable and their course suitably challenging.

The results published by DfE for both the core component and occupational specialist elements of the course are promising – with 99.5 per cent achieving an E or above (for the core component) and 97.5 per cent a pass or above for the specialist course elements.

More than 34 per cent of T Level students receiving results today were awarded a Distinction or Distinction* overall.

It will be important to evaluate whether students’ positive experience of T Levels carries through to successful progression into higher education, apprenticeships and employment.

It will also be crucial to see how valuable they are perceived to be by industry and HE.

The news from UCAS today is that 71 per cent of T Level university applicants have received their places.

This suggests that 29 per cent of T Level students did not. The reasons for this require some investigating.

We also note that around a fifth of learners did not complete their T Level course and this also merits further scrutiny.

We note that a fifth of learners did not complete their T Level course and this merits further scrutiny

In considering the experience and grades achieved by this cohort, it is important to be mindful of the unique characteristics of this first intake and remember that the first two years of T Levels have been far from “normal”.

Covid-19 aside, the cohort size was quite modest (around 1,300 students in 2020 compared to 5450 in 2021), in turn, class sizes were much smaller than would be anticipated for future intakes.

All providers were rated good or outstanding by Ofsted and, due to the smaller intake, there was less competition for industry placements than will be the case in the future as T Levels are rolled out.

So, it would be reasonable to consider the experiences of the 2020 cohort to not be representative of those of subsequent intakes.

It is, therefore, still early days for T Levels and how well they are received and valued both by industry and higher education needs to be carefully monitored.

The longitudinal Technical Education Learner Survey which NFER is working on with NatCen will continue to provide decision-makers with survey-based evidence capturing T Level students’ experiences, journeys and outcomes until 2024.

Nevertheless, this year’s results are testament to the hard work and dedication of both students and providers during a very difficult and unique set of circumstances.

We wish these students every success in their next steps, whether in higher education, an apprenticeship or employment.

A-level results 2022: 6 key trends in England’s data

Results from the first formal A-level exams held since 2019 have been published.

Here’s what we know…

1. Overall performance in England

The proportion of A* and A grades has dropped this year compared to 2021 (when teacher-assessed grades were used) from 44.3 per cent to 35.9 per cent. However, this is still way above the 25.2 per cent getting top grades in 2019. 

For grade C and above, 82.1 per cent achieved this this year compared to 88.2 per cent in 2021 and 75.5 per cent in 2019.

However, the number of A-level students who achieved 3 A* grades has remained high at 8,570 but dropped a third from 2021 at 12,865. It’s still higher than 2020 – 7,775 – and much higher than 2019 – 2,785.

2. A-level grade distribution: 2019 to 2022

3. North-south divide widens

London has seen the sharpest rise in top grades since 2019 – rising 12.1 percentage points from 26.9 to 39 per cent. However, the north east has only seen a 7.8 percentage point increase from 23.0 to 30.8. 

It is bound to raise questions about whether this was down to the pandemic, which hit some areas harder than others.

4. FE colleges see biggest drop in top grades

Ofqual data shows private students in FE establishments saw the biggest drop in top grades following the reintroduction of summer exams.

The proportion of candidates awarded an A and above in all subjects fell by 12.7 percentage points. Independent schools saw the next biggest drop – 12.4 percentage points.

Despite this, the proportion of top grades awarded was once again highest in private schools. This year, 58 per cent of grades issued to private school pupils were As or above, down from 70.4 per cent last year but up from 44.7 per cent in 2019.

In comparison, the proportion of top grades was 50.4 per cent in grammar schools, 45 per cent in free schools, 35 per cent in academies, 31.9 per cent in sixth form colleges and 30.7 per cent in comprehensive schools.

The lowest proportions of top grades were issued in secondary modern schools, which are non-selective schools in selective areas, at 27.8 per cent, tertiary colleges (27.5 per cent) and FE establishments (16.5 per cent).

5. Which subjects are gaining/losing popularity?

Across the UK, there has been no change to the top five most popular subjects. But some subjects have increased in popularity while others have fallen.

Design and technology saw the biggest increase in entries, up by 14.3 per cent this year, closely followed by computing (13.5 per cent), PE (11.4 per cent) and political studies (11 per cent).

English literature saw the biggest decrease, with entries falling by 9.4 per cent. It dropped out of the 10 most popular subjects for the first time, replaced by geography.

English language and literature entries dropped by 5.8 per cent and French fell by 5.4 per cent. Entries to further maths also dropped by 3.8 per cent.

6. Which subjects have the biggest gender gap in entries?

JCQ has published data on the differences between boys’ and girls’ A-level subject choices, which as ever makes for interesting reading.

Computing continues to have far more entries from boys, who make up more than eight in 10 entrants, while physics, further maths, ICT and design and technology are also much more popular among boys than girls.

At the other end of the scale, performing and expressive arts, English literature, sociology and art and design subjects had much higher entries from girls than boys.

a-level

A passport into industry: First T Level graduates praise flagship qualifications

As the first ever T Level graduates collect their results on level 3 results day, senior reporter Jason Noble went along to City College Norwich to find out how students fared in the inaugural – and pandemic-impacted – years…

When the T Level qualifications were first set up two years ago, one of the biggest selling points was the 45-day industry placement to help students get a foot in the door of their future industries.

And as buoyant students wander through the reception doors at City College Norwich to collect their results, the impact that work has had on their next steps becomes abundantly clear. Some of the graduates for the design, surveying and planning for constriction T Level – dressed in employer-branded polo shirts – can’t even hang around because they are heading straight off to work with the employers they did their placement with.

“The bit of paper and grade is important, but it is only a passport to the next stage of your life,” said new principal Jerry White, who served as deputy since 2013 before taking on the top job over the summer.

“When I see young people going off into brilliant degree apprenticeships, or great work, the doors have been opened by their placement as part of their T Level, or going off to universities with them being prepared to embrace T Levels, that is brilliant.”

Libby Smith, who passed her education and childcare T Level and is eyeing a career in teaching, added: “The experience has helped me a lot because I have not really done much around the school environment, but getting that practise in was really helpful because I have now got a part time job at Busy Bees [a local nursery] and that’s really boosted my confidence a lot working with children.”

Jerry White, principal at City College Norwich

Nationally, around 1,300 students signed up for the first three T Level courses two years ago – the aforementioned education and childcare and construction qualifications, as well as digital production, design and development – with just over 1,000 completing courses.

City College was among a handful to go for all three courses from the start. It had 70 students across the three qualifications, with nearly three quarters (73 per cent) achieving a merit or higher and 34 per cent getting a distinction.

Its overall pass rates were 94 per cent for construction, 96 per cent for education and childcare and 100 per cent for digital.

Interestingly, the digital course was the one with the lowest pass rate nationally at 89.7 per cent, meaning Norwich students performed above average.

White said the college was keen to be a trailblazer for the new qualifications, and even now the leaders for the new T Levels which launched last year or will do this September are learning from the experiences of the first cohort.

“We supported the vision for T Levels which was around challenging the dominance to A-levels, and trying to bring a parity of esteem to technical and vocational education,” White said.

“The T Level does offer us the ability to have a conversation with a parent, a school, a young person , that says you have got a real choice and they are both really well recognised.

“We thought that by being at the forefront of that we would firstly be able to help shape how they developed, and perhaps add something to that, and secondly we felt that for a large general further education college like this, the implications of T Levels for when they are all rolled out it’s worth getting in early and understanding how to do them well.”

Given the natural feet-finding with new courses coupled with the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic, it hasn’t been without issues.

Some more clarity between the colleges and awarding bodies on assessments is one area for development, White says, after some confusion with the final digital exams.

Some digital T Level students also had to quickly switch to online industry placements as offices closed down during the pandemic.

Elsewhere, second year construction students faced teaching disruption in the first term when two of the course delivery staff left, resulting in some students saying they had more of an onus on their own learning and a greater reliance on the industry placements during that time.

Going forward, more employers will need to be recruited to fulfil the placements, but staffing may also be a barrier under the current funding arrangements where more competitive salaries can be offered in their industries of expertise or higher education.

City College Norwich T level graduates Libby Smith, Josh Demark, and Brad Reese

“It could quickly become the limiting factor on what T Level colleges can offer,” White said. “We may find we can’t meet the demand for T Levels from students because we haven’t got and cannot retain the highly qualified industry experts to deliver the courses.”

But for now, despite the challenges – which like the A-levels did result in a level of generosity in grades at the request of the Department for Education for this year – the outcomes for students have been largely positive.

Their future destinations appear to be a wide mix of university courses, apprenticeships, further study or employment, depending on career preferences and modes of study.

“The course as a whole was a pretty decent course considering you get an industry placement, which is now leading to the fact that I get a contract on Monday. It opened a lot of doors within one industry, I am ready for a career in construction and the T Level has allowed me to move forward,” said Brad Reese a construction graduate.

Fellow course-mate Josh Demark added: “I think it is the way forward. I have got a route into industry that doesn’t involve university, which I am quite glad about.”