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Colleges will begin teaching T -levels in September 2019, but with so many questions about them yet to be answered, the most important one is: are they deliverable?
WORDS SALLY GILLEN
n less than two years, colleges will start delivering a new qualification billed by the Government as the technical equivalent to A-level. The T-level, announced by the Government in its Post-16 Skills Plan in July 2016, will be available in 15 pathways, with the first three - digital, construction, and education and childcare - on offer from September next year. "There is a lot to sort out by then," warns National Education Union policy adviser Janet Clark. "Colleges just aren't ready for this. They have had funding cuts, big recruitment and retention issues, and there needs to be a long lead time to get people to design the programmes and trained up to deliver them." Announcing the first tranche of T-level subjects last October, former education secretary Justine Greening said: "As part of making sure that the technical education ladder reaches every bit as high as the academic one, I want to see I-levels that are as rigorous and respected as A-levels." At 16, students will choose A-levels or I-levels, both level 3 qualifications. That is the first, fundamental problem that the National Education Union has raised about the new qualification. Laudable though the ambition is to 8 ELM I APRIL 2018
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give vocational and academic study parity of esteem, there will be many 16-year-olds who are not ready to study at level 3 and for some learners this will never be appropriate, says Clark. Even with the proposed transition year for those below level 3 when they finish school, some have no realistic prospect of ever reaching it. "It will be like you're giving false hope to some students," says City of Bristol College hospitality lecturer and FE representative on the ATL Future steering group Amy Woodrow. "There are a lot of learners for whom level 2 is their ceiling, so if they don't pass that transition year what happens? They might just drop out at 17." She adds: "There are also a lot of occupations where level 2 is an average, acceptable standard. In hairdressing and beauty, for example, you go in at level 2 and that's appropriately qualified. Level 3 isn't always necessary."
What if neither are suitable?
The National Education Union has raised the same concern, asking what will be left for students, if neither A-levels nor I -levels are suitable. By 2022, all colleges are expected to offer T-levels. At the same time as preparing for I-levels, the Government is also carrying out a review of all qualifications at level 3 and below. AMiE president and interim
FE manager Josie Whiteley says it is not clear if I-levels will replace the BTEC, a well-established, recognised and respected qualification. Perhaps most fundamentally, it's not clear to many, including Whiteley, why we need I-levels. "BTEC is a quality vocational qualification with a strong academic core, so what gap will I-levels be filling?" she asks. "Nobody seems to know why we need to cut thousands of qualifications and make them into 15 paths, and I really think that is a key question." Woodrow suggests creating 15 pathways may result in a clearer structure. "In catering and hospitality there are so many different routes that for some parents and some learners it's not very clear what you need to do to become, say, a head chef or a restaurant manager," she says. "That's where this idea has plus points. It gives clear routes and a structure to access certain occupations."