Are T Levels Struggling?

What exactly are T Levels for?
In October 2007 at the CBI , flanked by Richard Lambert of the CBI, Mike Tomlinson ,the former head of Ofsted and Steve Smith VC of Exeter University, Ed Balls, the then Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, pronounced , with much brio ,that the” Diploma range could become the qualification of choice over the next decade.”
He intoned “If Diplomas are successfully introduced and are delivering the mix that employers and universities value, they could become the qualification of choice for young people. But, because GCSEs and A-Levels are long-established and valued qualifications, that should not be decided by any pre-emptive Government decision, but by the demands of young people, schools and colleges.”
It turned out to be a big ‘ if’. The demand simply wasn’t there. Designed by a committee of ‘experts’, they were neither academic nor technical qualifications, but a hybrid instead . It was a qualification, moreover ,that no employer had ever asked for. Nobody ever said that ‘the one thing we really need now is a qualification that is neither academic, nor technical but somewhere in between? Yet that is what the Diploma was. With the demand not there, aswell as being expensive to deliver, Diplomas quickly disappeared from the qualifications landscape. The fear now must be that T Levels may well go the same way, unless some radical action is taken.
The government wants level 3 BTECs, which are taken by around a quarter of a million students each year, to be largely replaced by T Levels. So that we have a binary system either A levels or T Levels.
In late 2021, ministers asked universities “to accept T Levels for entry to, at a minimum, all courses of study for which you currently accept other technical qualifications”.
But as FE Week revealed last week, not all universities have responded positively to this .Indeed, less than half of all UK universities so far have confirmed they will accept T Levels for entry this year, with most Russell Group universities opting out. The most obvious reason why universities are not opting in, at the moment ,is fear of the unknown. T Levels are untested. It takes time for any qualification to bed in and demonstrate its relevance, and robustness. Universities will be concerned that the T Levels on offer may not adequately prepare students for their courses. As things stand students with BTEC qualifications are more likely to drop out of courses than those with other’ academic’ qualifications. The fear must be that the T Level students carry the same, if not greater, risk for universities. The Office for Students, which is taking a more robust stance on drop- outs and value for money in HE courses, will be all over any university like a bad rash, that is seen to be failing in these areas. So, universities are being entirely rational in showing some caution.
Mary Curnock Cook argued, last week in FE Week, that three things need to happen. First, they should make things much clearer to T Level students – many of whom might have expected a wealth of HE course opportunities on the back of the fanfare about UCAS points being awarded. Second, if universities have doubts about the suitability of T Levels, they should engage with the DfE to ensure that future waves of T Level development take those concerns into account. And finally , all of this would be easier for universities, she says , if the government were clearer about exactly what and whom T Levels are for. A qualification highly specified against occupational standards and clearly tilted towards specific job roles might never do well in supporting pathways to higher education.
Curnock Cook added that ‘Positioning T Levels as all things to all pathways is unfair to students when the choices they make at 16 are so critical to their future working lives’
HEPIs Nick Hillman suggests that Ministers should now discuss with universities whether there are enough resources to ensure applicants with T Levels will thrive on degree courses. In return, universities should, wherever possible, give the benefit of the doubt to those applicants who are , what he terms, ‘T Level guinea pigs’ .( I think we should also remember, at his juncture and with some sympathy, the Diploma Guinea Pigs! )Young People are adversely affected by these policy errors and there is also much waste of taxpayers money. (although one wonders given how much money is being written off by the Treasury in the wake of the Covid 19 Furlough scheme whether getting value for money for us taxpayers is a government priority anymore)
Hillman also shares others concerns over government attempts to create a simple binary qualifications scheme in the complex interconnected landscape that has evolved over the years, ie either A Levels or T Levels. It is premature, he argues (FE Week 25 Jan), to start shutting down the proven BTEC route. In this many would agree.
The Times Education Commission has just issued some interim findings of its Inquiry, (its full report is out this summer) which provides a depressing picture of the inadequacies of our education system and how it is failing both our children, and employers. On the vocational side it says that ‘ Despite government promises to boost technical education, there has been a 36 per cent drop in apprenticeship starts over the past five years. The new vocational T-levels are proving problematic in areas where it is hard for students to get the work placements that are required and many universities are not accepting the untested qualification.’
What is clear is that there are a number of issues that need to be addressed, short term, that require action and collaboration between the government, HE providers, FE Colleges ,trainers , UCAS and the Regulator too , if these teething problems are to be sorted out . At the moment the drop in Apprenticeships available , the drive to end BTECs , and the problems with T- levels and universities, paint a picture of some chaos in our technical and vocational education landscape , presenting a massive challenge for the new education secretary. It is far too important for this particular Can to be kicked down the road, yet again.

VOCATIONAL ROUTE-COMPLEX AND TOO MUCH VARIATION IN QUALITY

VOCATIONAL ROUTE-COMPLEX AND TOO MUCH VARIATION IN QUALITY

Are schools choosing the easy options for pupils for league table positioning?

Comment

The media  over the last  two weeks has looked to vocational qualifications and routes to  help address the shortfall in university places.  Some six applicants are going for each  university place and the  head of the university admissions service has warned that at least 150,000 students will miss out on a degree place this year. The Ucas chief executive, Mary Curnock Cook,  added there was evidence of a “very large number” – up to 70,000 – who were opting out of the system. One wonders exactly what these 70,000 will do.  Some critics believe that far too many school leavers are being encouraged to go to university when it is not appropriate for them. A vocational route into employment could be much better for not only them but probably the economy too. We know too that there are structural problems in the job market. Even at the height of the boom, one in 10 of our young people were becoming Neets [not in employment, education or training]. This figure  will, if anything,  rise over the short term.  This year, University Technical Colleges – pioneered by Edge chairman Lord Baker and the late Ron Dearing – have propelled vocational education to the top of the political agenda and there are real on –going  efforts to raise the status of vocational qualifications and to close the divide between them and academic qualifications. Over 4 million vocational qualifications (VQs) were awarded last year, according to new figures released  recently to mark VQ Day, the annual nationwide celebration of vocational qualifications.  The overall number of VQs achieved has risen over 11 per cent from last year.  However raising the status of vocational qualifications is made more difficult   by the sheer complexity of the system and the myriad qualifications on offer. Some are  much  more valued by employers than others and with  only patchy careers advice available  many young people are not making informed choices, and do not have the  support to help them navigate through the various options and routes into training and employment.

David Willetts, the universities  Minister, made it clear recently that he had much more respect for BTECH qualifications than GNVQs as the former were closer to employers requirements and needs.  He said on 24 August “We have let down people with vocational qualifications that have not always been valued by employers. But there are qualifications that employers do value, such as HNCs, HNDs, City & Guilds and BTECs. We will be backing qualifications, like those, which command a premium in the labour market.” His comments served  to highlight the mixed messages about vocational qualifications being given to young people  which serves to sow  confusion  and is  hardly helped by the fact that many low level apprenticeships are also criticised by experts as being of little worth.

Diplomas, although not strictly speaking vocational qualifications, were supposed to attract more practically- minded pupils but have failed  thus far  to  establish their robustness , credibility, or relevance , with too little take up . Universities , employers and  independent schools   are still not sure about Diplomas and this has hardly helped inspire confidence in the new qualification.

As far as HE is concerned there seems to be too many graduates for too few jobs and too few places this  year to  meet rising demand.   A growing number of graduates are not in jobs that  require a degree. Although  it remains true that  figures suggest that graduates are half as likely to be unemployed as the average 18- to 24-year-old.

And what about schools and vocational qualifications? A  2006 study by the London School of Economics suggested that the most disadvantaged pupils were five to six times as likely to enter exams other than full GCSEs.  A report this week  from the centre right think tank Civitas ‘Unqualified Success: Investigating the state of vocational training in the UK,  carries a warning  about  some vocational qualifications. Many vocational qualifications in schools are  not, it claims,  ‘ fit for purpose’.  The number of vocational qualifications (VQs) taken by school-aged students has risen dramatically, the most commonly taken known as ‘vocationally related qualifications’ (VRQs).

Civitas says ‘ As Edge, the vocational training campaign group states: ‘Vocationally-Related Qualifications (VRQs), such as Edexcel BTECs, City & Guilds and OCR Nationals. VRQs generally test knowledge of (or gained in) an occupational area rather than the full range of skills needed to do a particular job.’

Civitas found  that: Students are being led away from basic academic subjects to learn how to serve drinks in Hospitality BTEC Firsts and to identify airport facilities in Travel and Tourism OCR Nationals. Even in compulsory academic subjects e.g. science, students are being entered for lower-level ‘vocational’ versions. So, Civitas concludes ‘ The reputation and worth of vocational training is being heavily undermined as ‘practically irrelevant’ qualifications are mis-sold as ‘vocational’.  Evidence suggests that an educational apartheid is underway as lower-income students are considerably more likely to be entered for sub-standard qualifications, Civitas claims. It goes on-‘It’s imperative that we put an end to the bogus versions of vocational qualifications in schools which are harming both vocational training and the education of an increasing number of students.’  In 2008, 311,000 VRQs were taken by 14-16 year-olds. The current system of ‘equivalence’ at GCSE means that one of these vocational qualifications can be worth up to four A*-C GCSEs in the league tables. The conclusion is  that  this  greatly incentivises  their uptake in schools, with one eye firmly focused on league tables. Civitas believes  that  all too often a bogus vocational training route is being used simply as a way to take lower achievers off academic subjects.  This is not the first time that Civitas has highlighted this issue. A recent report from them on Academies suggested that much of the perceived   progress made by Academies might be put down to them choosing softer vocational options for their pupils , although it is hard to tell because few publish details of what  exams their pupils  are sitting.

This is changing as Academies  are now subject to the Freedom of Information Act (unlike the quango that supports them-the SSAT-work that one out!)

What is clear is that the vocational/ academic divide is a complex area, and while some vocational qualifications are highly valued  by employers  some are not. Young people are getting mixed messages. There is a danger that schools encourage pupils to take qualifications that  help the school in terms of league table positioning but  which are not in the longer term interests of pupils. It is in all our interests  firstly to ensure that vocational qualifications are robust and valued by employers, secondly that they are properly resourced and taught,  and thirdly  that young people receive impartial advice as early as possible in school to ensure that they make informed choices ,that best suit them.  None of this is happening as often as it should.

DIPLOMAS-GOOD NEWS AND BAD

DIPLOMAS

 GOOD AND BAD NEWS

 Comment

 First, the good news. The number of pupils studying for the new diploma will more than triple this September, according to estimates that suggest the qualification is making progress despite criticism from education experts and business leaders.

Diploma students are likely to number 40,000 this September, according to the Department for Children, Schools and Families, up from 12,000 when they were introduced last autumn but still not up to the 50,000 target initially envisaged at their launch. In addition, a new report for the Government, released this week, says that HEIs of all kinds are well-informed about Diplomas and moreover largely sympathetic to them. The Diplomas reputation should be strengthened by the clear finding that HE senior managers in all types of institution are according applicants holding Diplomas at Level 3 the same status as A level students. With the exception of one, a ‘research-intensive’ university, senior managers in all institutions indicated that they expected to follow the UCAS tariff in regarding an Advanced Diploma as equivalent in ‘size’ and ‘status’ to 3.5 A levels. In addition, most managers and admissions tutors saw the nature of the Diploma qualification as both a specialised pathway into undergraduate study and as suitable for a wider range of courses.

Now for the bad news .Although many second tier universities will welcome the Diploma as it stands the higher echelon research universities are less sure. The report by NFER and Exeter University found that ‘ The ‘research intensive’ institutions are more likely to examine closely the academic rigour of Diploma content and less likely to assume that Diploma study will turn out to have been adequate preparation for HE entry . The report also found that ‘The ‘research-intensive’ universities are more likely to examine closely the academic rigour of Diploma content; linked to this, comparatively lower levels of support for Diplomas among academic staff at this early stage were also noted in these universities. By contrast, in ‘teaching-led’ institutions it was reported that there was generally strong internal support for Diplomas. There are clear danger signs here with top universities apparently hedging their bets on the Diploma Moreover the research showed most universities will demand that students take at least one A-level on top of the diploma before being considered.

So, The fact is the best Universities don’t yet buy the Diploma. Pupils taking an engineering diploma will be required to take an A-level in mathematics before being allowed onto a maths degree course at most institutions, the study said. Almost all universities said students would have to take an A-level to top-up the diploma course. It comes despite the fact that one diploma is already said to be worth three and a half A-levels. One university said students taking the new health diploma would also be required to take an A-level in human biology before being considered for a nursing degree. A teenager taking a diploma in media would also have to study A-level English before being admitted to an English degree course. Universities also estimated that only 10 diploma students would be recruited to each institution in 2010 – when most students complete the sixth-form version of the course.

 Tory policy on the Diplomas is that in principle they welcome the vocationally oriented Diplomas though not the academically oriented ones. However they also believe that the Government has badly mishandled their launch- and they don’t view them as the ultimate replacement for GCSEs and A levels .Many Tories also privately express grave reservations over their robustness and costs reinforced by the fact that the independent sector is largely ignoring them. Report.