Government response to the T Level Consultation: AoC responds

Speaking about the Government’s response to the T Level consultation, David Hughes, Chief Executive of the Association of Colleges, said: “Colleges will welcome the greater clarity that the Government’s response to the T Level consultation brings. We are also pleased to see that English and maths will be funded in addition to the T Level and it is good that DfE is exploring ways that students can combine T levels with further academic study such as A level and core maths. Colleges will receive targeted support for work placements which will hopefully address concerns about the challenge of providing meaningful work placements for large numbers of students by targeting support in this area. We also welcome the focus on meeting the needs of all students, including students with special educational needs. It is important that these students can access T Levels and are not disadvantaged because they fail to gain a full Level 2 in English and or maths. “There are still, of course, many questions such as how the grading system will work in practice and the impact on other qualifications. Further details are needed of how the transition offer for students might work. However, it is positive that the overall funding for T Levels seems to acknowledge that young people need a well-designed and robust programme of study post-16 and that this will positively impact on their future life chances, so we are hopeful that this principle will eventually have a positive impact on the breadth of study programme available for all 16-18 students.”