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Technical and Vocational Professional Development Programme

On behalf of the Department for Education (DfE), the Association of Colleges (AoC) is delivering a national Technical and Vocational Subject Teaching Professional Development (TVPD) programme to support the effective implementation and successful delivery of technical and vocational qualifications across the further education sector.

The programme sits at the heart of post-16 education reform, supporting providers to deliver quality T Levels, V Levels and Level 2 pathways with confidence, and consistency. It is designed to strengthen teaching practice, develop subject expertise and ensure learners across the country benefit from high-quality technical education.

High-quality professional development (PD) is critical for driving continuous improvement across the sector. Within this programme, PD goes beyond traditional training. It is evidence-informed, collaborative and rooted in current industry practice, enabling teachers and leaders to continuously develop their subject knowledge, pedagogical expertise, innovation and understanding of employer expectations.

The programme is structured across four interconnected strands:

Objective one: subject-specific professional development, focused on building teaching capability, confidence and subject expertise across all pathways
Objective two: industry engagement, ensuring teaching practice reflects current employer practice and workforce needs
Objective three: collaboration and networks, supporting peer learning and sharing of best practice across the sector
Objective four: organisational and leadership support, strengthening planning, provider readiness and long-term capability.

These strands work together to create a coherent national approach to workforce development, while remaining responsive to regional skills priorities.

An advisory board of sector experts and membership bodies will ensure that all provider types, employers and awarding organisations (AOs) are properly represented and included in the programme. To date, members of the board include the Association of School and College Leaders, the Confederation of School Trusts, Baker Dearing Trust, the Federation of Awarding Bodies, and the Skills Federation.

Technical and Vocational Excellence (TVE) Hubs

Nine provider-led Technical and Vocational Excellence (TVE) Hubs will co-design and deliver PD, leading, influencing and driving engagement within each region.

Supported by AoC and working in collaboration with AOs, industry, and sector specialists, TVE Hubs will be funded to design subject-specific courses aligned to qualification rollout, ensuring full subject and qualification coverage.

The hubs will recruit ‘learning leads’ from providers within their region, who complete an accredited ‘train the trainer’ course and are then able to cascade learning to teachers within their organisations. In-house delivery will be supplemented with regional workshops and online learning programmes, alongside collaborative, practitioner-led, action research projects.

Invitation to Tender (ITT) Launch TVPD Hub Webinar took place on the 17 June 2026 - you can watch the recording of the event here.

Please note that the application guidance document was updated on 17 June. Any versions downloaded prior to this date may no longer be current. We strongly recommend that you refer to the latest version provided below to ensure you are working from the most up-to-date information.

TVPD Technical and Vocational Excellence Hubs ITT Guidance for Applicants V2 TVPD Technical and Vocational Excellence Hub application form

FAQs

Please can you confirm the maximum word count permitted for question 8.1 Subject Area Expertise?

There is no word count for this section.

Is there a definition of the geographical areas? We are within the South West region but wondered about coverage or boundaries to ensure consultation with all relevant providers takes place.

We are working with the AoC regions, which are outlined here.

Is there a list of subjects for T and V Levels that will need to be covered across the regional hubs at this stage, although we appreciate this may flex with reform announcements?

We require coverage of all current and future T Levels as well as new subject areas for V Levels and Level 2 pathways. More information can be found on the government website.

Would there need to be a nominated learning lead at each provider per subject area?

We don’t anticipate that there will be a learning lead required per subject but rather per provider. The course delivered via the learning leads will be at the qualification level rather than the subject level. For example, ‘how to teach V Levels’. To clarify, one learning lead per provider is required only.

Would the hub be expected to cover the full range of V Level subjects?

No, you can nominate which subjects you would like to cover. You can put forward as many as you like. AoC will manage fair distribution of subjects among the hubs.

Are universities eligible to be involved as a partner in a consortium or as a lead?

We are seeking to work with post-16 providers who will be delivering the relevant post-16 pathways. If a university will deliver the qualifications, they are eligible.

We, as a group, work across two regions. How does that impact?

You should make it clear in your application which region you would be best to serve. Each application should be for one region.

Is the funding amount consistent or dependent on the number of subjects covered by a provider?

There is a consistent amount of funding per hub, but AoC will ensure the fair distribution of work across the group of nine provider-led hubs.

Are curriculum managers and leaders in scope to receive support from the TVPD programme?

AoC will work with senior leaders and managers through strand 4 - organisational support. We will also provide specific networks for managers and leaders to connect, share and jointly develop practice.

Can I ask a question around sector scope? As I understand it, we can put ourselves forward to develop professional development materials for as many sectors as we feel we can best support. Once these materials are developed and presumably shared across the nine hubs, does it then become the duty of the hub to deliver these materials to all sectors in their region, or do we continue to work solely with the sectors we have put forward in our application?

The subject-specific content will be delivered via self-directed online learning modules, so there is no requirement for the hubs to deliver. Once the hub has created the subject-specific session, AoC will upload it to our central platform for teachers to access. It is the broader, qualification level content (How to teach a V Level, for example) that the hubs will deliver, which is not subject specific.

Would developing a consortium be required for the regional engagement element of the programme and do other providers need to be named in the application?

All Hubs will be expected to engage the providers in their region and so no formal consortium, or partnership needs to be included in the application for that element only. If an applicant chose to work with another organisation to help develop and deliver professional development, then details of all partners and your approach to this must be stated in the application.

Are Hubs responsible for the KPI targets of 60% of providers in their region and 80% of teaching staff within those providers engaging in Hub activity?

No. To be clear, these are AoC KPIs and Hubs will not be responsible for achieving them. All Professional development activity delivered by Hubs and AoC (subject specific PD, industry led PD and networks) will count towards these KPI targets.

Will Ofsted inspection be judged?

The statement regarding "good organisational performance and financial stability, with no concerns relating to quality, governance or compliance" is intended to provide assurance that applicants have the appropriate capacity and capability to successfully deliver the requirements of the programme. Applications will be judged against the ITT outline and the evidence provided within the application. An Ofsted inspection outcome will not be assessed. We would encourage applicants to provide any relevant context around their Ofsted findings, including any actions being taken and evidence of ongoing improvement, where applicable. The assessment panel will consider the overall position based on the information available.

Is PD content for T-Levels to be focussed only on new subjects or on all T-Levels?

There may be some gaps in current T Level subjects. This will be confirmed in September, but we anticipate the work will mainly focus on new T Levels and then on a review basis to ensure content specification requirements are met.

Does a provider have to be planning to deliver V's, T's and Level 2 courses in a particular subject in order to lead on that subject area?

No, this is not a requirement