T Levels could remain a “minority pursuit” if ministers fail to achieve a “critical mass” of student enrolments by clarifying career pathways and improving employer engagement, MPs have warned.
Parliament’s public accounts committee (PAC) recommended the Department for Education enter “campaign mode” and set out “publicly” how its flagship qualification fits with other qualifications and career routes.
In a report released today following its inquiry into T Levels, the PAC urged the DfE not to “lose focus” and detail a plan to improve employer awareness through local skills plans after finding only a third of businesses knew about the qualification.
The probe followed a National Audit Office report in March that highlighted doubts about the scalability of the technical education route for 16 to 19-year-olds after finding student number forecasts were missed in three-quarters of subjects.
PAC chair Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said: “T Levels have the potential to be a significant force for good in equipping young people with everything they need for their burgeoning careers.
“But without the wider awareness in industry and critical mass of student enrolments, T Levels may remain very much a minority pursuit, when they could become a natural and enriching step in many students’ lives”.
A DfE spokesperson said it would consider the PAC recommendations “carefully” and respond in due course.
Understanding college costs
The PAC made six recommendations, including speeding up updates to teaching content to “meet evolving skills gaps”, and gaining a better understanding of how awarding organisation fees and costs impact the T Level-related funding pressures faced by colleges.
The report concluded T Levels have a “risky” all-or-nothing assessment approach – a point raised by City & Guilds – where failing one part of the course leads to an overall fail, which deters enrolments.
The PAC also recommended the introduction of a workforce strategy to support colleges recruiting and retaining T Level teachers “especially given that T Levels themselves are addressing areas of skills shortages”.
Benefits of T Levels uncertain
Education civil servants told MPs in April that T Levels needed 60,000 to 70,000 students to enrol each year to be viable.
The NAO report said the DfE feared T Levels would be a major value-for-money risk if they failed to offer more benefits than other level 3 qualifications.
While the DfE’s best judgment is T Levels are 25 per cent more valuable than other level 3 qualifications and bring £23,000 more lifetime benefits to students who achieve them, the committee found this was “very uncertain”.
With permanent secretary Susan Acland-Hood’s estimation of 66,000 enrolments by 2029, the DfE expects T Levels to reap £8.10 of benefits for every £1 spent.
PAC members pointed out the DfE did not track two of the four benefits associated with T Levels: student earnings data and employer confidence.
It recommended the department refine its benefit tracking, update the estimated economic benefit for T level students, and define clear milestones to better understand whether progress, for example on pass rates, aligns with expectations.
“For these benefits to be realised, the department needs to ensure students enrol, complete and pass T Levels,” the report said.
Clifton-Brown added: “As well as providing true clarity on what T Levels can offer interested students and employers, government must allow far more flexibility for the qualification for it to be a tool that can swiftly meet needs where they arise.”
The PAC said of the DfE: “It expects pass rates to increase over time, as T Levels mature, but the proportion of students passing has fallen from 97 per cent in summer 2022 to 89 per cent in summer 2024. It does not have a target”.
One of the PAC’s main recommendations was the development of a “campaign approach” to raising student awareness of T Levels within six months.
It also recommended an examination of how curriculums could be tailored to appeal to a “diverse student group” including women, after it was revealed women were underrepresented on engineering T Level courses.
Industry placement pressure
The report also raised the risk of colleges not being able to secure enough industry placements. T Level placements are a mandatory 315 hours, or 45 days, and must be completed over the two-year course.
While the PAC noted recent changes, such as allowing 20 per cent of placements to be done remotely, and this week’s boost to employer financial incentives, it said colleges would need to find “significantly more” placements if student numbers increased in line with forecasts.
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