T Levels for adults ‘under review’ amid ‘very little interest’

There are no plans to roll out T Levels to adults after a pilot scheme attracted just 14 people, FE Week understands.

Former education secretary Gavin Williamson made an “absolute guarantee” to Parliament in 2020 that the flagship two-year technical qualifications, designed for 16- to 19-year-olds, would be available to adults in the future.

A trial of the idea was launched in 2022 with a target of recruiting 150 adults at 11 FE colleges.

But only 14 were enrolled due to “very little interest.”

The Department for Education hoped to learn “valuable lessons” about supporting adults to access T Levels before a potential wider rollout from September this year.

Final adult education payments to providers for 2022-23, published this week by the DfE, showed three colleges out of the 11 that initially volunteered for the pilot received £97,000 between them, with no further funding allocated the following year.

The DfE told FE Week it was keeping the T Levels for adults idea “under review” while being “focussed on ensuring the programme succeeds for learners.”

Adults prefer ‘intensive’ learning

One principal told FE Week adult students at their college preferred courses tailored for older people and delivered in more “intensive” time frames than T Levels.

Only Exeter College recruited a full group of adult learners – 12 in total – who were taught separately from their 16- to 18-year-old cohort between 2022 and 2024.

They studied the digital production, design, and development pathway.

Principal John Laramy said: “Exeter College did pilot an adult T Level.

“It was a discreet group and the pilot came to an end and was not continued.”

East Sussex College Group (ESCG) recruited only one learner who joined its wider cohort of younger students that year.

A spokesperson said: “East Sussex College opted to be part of the T Level adult pilot in 2022, but this unfortunately attracted very little interest and only one adult T Level student was recruited.

“The T Level funding we retained as part of this pilot covered the programme delivery costs for this one student.”

ESCG’s principal and chief executive Rebecca Conroy previously told FE Week low recruitment was partly due to the small number of subjects offered and the limited time the DfE gave to promote the pilot.

A single rate of £10,000 per learner was available, split over two years, with an additional £1,000 provided for learning support.

TEC Partnership, the third college involved in the pilot and which only claimed £5,000, did not respond to requests for comment.

The adult T Level recruitment and payment figures suggest some of the 14 participants did not complete their course.

No demand

The aim of the pilot was to understand adult learners’ appetites for T Levels and whether any flexibilities would encourage them to enrol.

A DfE spokesperson failed to respond when asked about the findings of an “evaluation” that officials were understood to have made following the pilot.

T Levels gained national attention in recent weeks after the DfE axed three more of the courses due to low demand.

The National Audit Office also last week revealed the enormity of the take-up failure for the qualifications, which are designed to be the technical equivalent to A-levels.

The NAO found that student number forecasts for 16- to 19-year-olds were missed by three quarters – resulting in a near-£700 million spending shortfall.

MPs on the Public Accounts Committee warned the DfE it had “much to do” to convince people of T Levels’ “worth as a desirable and valuable” qualification.