The first V Levels should be delayed until 2028 to avoid a “rushed rollout” that damages the new qualifications’ brand, a survey has suggested. Research by the Edge Foundation found awarding organisations face a “tight turnaround” to develop subject materials ahead of the first three V Levels being taught from September 2027. The charity’s report, published today, said the current timeline fails to provide “sufficient scope” for meaningful consultation with the FE sector on the design of the courses. It also leaves a “very short timeframe” between the planned publication date for materials in spring next year and the start of teaching in September. Researchers warned that widespread delivery problems caused by a “rushed roll out” could damage confidence in the new qualifications. The report, ‘V Levels: Reflect and revise’, said: “Delaying roll-out by a year would allow providers a full academic year of dedicated preparation following publication of the first course materials. “This would allow time for key preparatory activities such as curriculum redesign, employer engagement, staff recruitment, assessment planning, and development of marketing materials.” The report also said the Department for Education needs more time to establish a “clear identity” for V Levels, while a large proportion of the college sector remains “unconvinced” about the case for scrapping applied general qualifications. The Edge Foundation’s survey of 27 practitioners included responses from principals and vice principals, assistant principals, curriculum directors, and heads of department. Representatives from eight colleges, Cambridge OCR and NCFE, the Federation of Awarding Bodies, the DfE, and the Treasury, attended the roundtable. While the sample size is “small” and should not be read as representative of the sector as a whole, the consistency of several themes suggested a “clear indication of the issues that matter most”, the report authors said. Survey responses showed there was “consistent concern” about the lack of detailed and timely information about the V Levels, such as who the typical learner would be, what gap they are designed to fill, and whether they are primarily a route to higher education, employment or apprenticeships. One anonymised respondent said: “We need to know the structure, and which qualifications specifically will be run, so we can work out how we can possibly package them into a study programme.” Four in five respondents said student recruitment and awareness was an anticipated delivery challenge, 74 per cent were worried about timetabling and curriculum design, and 67 per cent felt there is a lack of clarity on qualification structure. Other concerns included staffing and workforce capacity, destination options and progression, and funding and resources. Sector stakeholders also told the Edge Foundation that the DfE should publish sample subject combinations and progression pathways to help learners make “an informed choice”. The “clearest” finding was low levels of preparedness, with only three respondents saying they felt prepared to teach V Levels. Specific concerns included the lack of specifications, assessment information, teaching resources, or qualification combination rules. Reflecting on their experiences of introducing T Levels, there was “broad consensus” that at least one academic year of dedicated preparation is needed before the first teaching of V Levels to ensure providers can implement them “confidently”. Discussions from the roundtable also included questions about what problem V Levels are “trying to solve” amid uncertainty caused by the “rapidly evolving” level 3 qualification landscape. The report said: “While flexibility was widely welcomed, several participants cautioned that introducing another qualification without clearly communicating its distinctive purpose risks increasing confusion for learners, parents and schools.” College feedback included concern that offering programmes allowing V Level learners to combine with A Levels or other qualifications would require “substantial redesign” of their curriculum models. This includes large multi-campus colleges and those that do not currently offer A Levels. The feedback report comes days after the government’s update to its ‘post-16 pathways: implementation plan’, which delayed the planned defunding of three computing-related level 3 qualifications back by one year. The remaining 154 level 2 and 3 qualifications – many of which overlap with the soon-to-be introduced V Levels and level 2 foundation and occupational certificates – will be defunded at the end of this year as planned. The implementation plan has ruled out ‘partnering’ V Levels in the same subject area for at least the first two years, another key recommendation in The Edge’s report. Officials confirmed, based on “initial scoping”, that none of the 13 V Levels due to be rolled out in 2027-28 and 2028-29 meet its criteria for partnering, which is only likely to be permitted in a “very limited number of circumstances”. V Levels will have 360 guided learning hours (GLH) each, the same size as an A Level, while T Levels, which can be up to 1,360 GLH, will be the main level 3 qualification option allowing students to specialise in a single, occupation-focused subject. Three V Levels in digital, education and early years, and finance and accounting are due to be launched in September 2027, followed by a further ten in 2028. V Levels are the latest development in long running reforms to technical education at level 3 that include the introduction of T Levels in 2020 and their alignment with Skills England’s occupational standards. The DfE declined to comment.