T Level results 2022: 6 key findings

The first T Level results are out – here’s what we know.

1. Overall performance

The total number of T Level students receiving results today was 1,029. A 92.2 per cent pass rate was achieved overall.

Overall T Level grades are calculated from core component grades, occupational specialism grades and industry placement completion status.

The proportion of students receiving a Distinction or Distinction* was 34.6 per cent, while Merit was 39.8 per cent and Pass was 17.8 per cent.

The data shows that 7.4 per cent (76 students) “partially achieved” at least one component of their T Level but not yet all three. These students will receive a “statement of achievement” listing the components and grades they have achieved, but it will not include an overall grade. The government said it will still have “value to employers, higher education providers and others”.

The remaining 0.4 per cent (four students) have been marked as “unclassified” because they have attempted at least one at least one component but not yet achieved any.

So as of today, there are 949 people with a T Level.

2. Digital was the toughest subject

The first T Levels were available from September 2020 in three subjects: education and childcare; design, surveying and planning for construction; and digital production, design and development.

Today’s data shows that 89.7 per cent of the 340 students on the digital pathway passed, compared to 93.4 per cent of the 482 learners on education and childcare, and 93.7 per cent of the 207 students on construction.

The proportion receiving top grades – Distinction or Distinction* – in digital was 25.9 per cent, compared to 35.8 per cent for construction and 40.2 per cent for education and childcare.

3. Uneven gender split

Of the 1,029 T Level students receiving results, 523 were women and 506 were men. But the figures show participation was skewed by gender stereotypes.

A huge 97 per cent of education and childcare students were women, while men made up 90 per cent and 89 per cent of construction and digital T Level learners respectively.

Overall, across all three subjects, 93.5 per cent of women achieved at least a Pass compared to 90.9 per cent for men.

Women also out-performed men in achieving the top grades, with 41.1 per cent of women getting a Distinction* or Distinction compared to 27.9 per cent of men.

4. 6% didn’t complete an industry placement

A 45-day industry placement must be completed by each student in order to achieve a T Level. This first cohort of students were, however, allowed to spend up to 40 per cent of their placement hours remotely after the Department for Education temporarily watered down the policy to reflect the impact of Covid-19.

Today’s data shows that 62, or 6 per cent, of the 1,029 T Level students did not complete an industry placement.

Construction had the highest rate of industry placement completion at 94.2 per cent, followed closely by education and childcare at 94 per cent. In digital, 93.8 per cent of students completed an industry placement.

Women in digital had the highest rates of industry placement non-completion, 8.3 per cent, but it is worth noting that only 33 of the 304 digital T Level students were women.

There was a 100 per cent completion rate for women that passed the T Level in construction, however this only amounted to 20 students.

5. A fifth appear to have dropped out

The Department for Education previously said that around 1,300 students started a T Level in autumn 2020.

But today’s data shows that 1,029 students received T Level results – suggesting that a fifth dropped out.

The DfE refused to share the exact drop-out figure.

6. Over a quarter that applied for uni got rejected

UCAS said 370 students have been accepted onto a university course following their results. This is 71 per cent of all T Level learners that applied for a higher education place, however.

It means that more than a third (36 per cent) of the T Level students receiving results today will be going to university.