The impact of T Levels: Benefits for learners and industry
Four years on from the introduction of T Levels, how are the programmes benefitting learners and closing industry skills gaps?
29 November 2024
When T Levels were introduced in 2020 as part of the wider reform to technical qualifications in England, it was with the goal of providing a new pathway into industry for young people and combatting skills shortages in the workforce of key sectors.
To ensure that T Level graduates have the knowledge, skills and behaviours that organisations need, employers have been involved in the development of T Levels from the beginning, helping to create qualifications that enable successful progress to further studying or skilled employment.
The two-year programmes are based on the same standards used for apprenticeships and made up of classroom or workshop-based learning and a 45-day industry placement.
For 16-19-year-old learners looking for an option following the completion of GCSEs, there are more than 20 subjects to choose from. For learners interested in attending university after completing their programme, each T Level is considered equivalent to three A Levels and T Level graduates will be awarded UCAS points upon completion.
The present and future of technical qualifications
The new Labour government was quick to confirm its continued commitment to T Levels, with the Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson describing them as “high-quality qualifications which provide young people with a firm foundation for their future” in a statement announcing a review of reforms to post-16 qualifications on 25 July 2024.
The importance of this review and the continued focus on T Levels was highlighted in our report on the link between skills development and productivity, Making Skills Work: The Path to Solving the Productivity Crisis. As part of our list of recommendations we encouraged the government to look at the availability of qualifications, assess resources for vocational qualifications and to create a sustainable and scalable model for T Levels, all with the goal of closing the skills gaps that are negatively impacting productivity and growth in the UK.
T Level successes so far
Over the last four years we have seen the positive impact that T Levels can have on learners, providers and employers.
In our case study with Exeter College, we heard from students and tutors about how the Light and Electric Vehicle occupational specialism on the Engineering and Manufacturing T Level is attracting learners to the programme and preparing them for the future.
Programme Lead for Engineering John Dudley explained: “As soon as we put it out there we got a nice healthy group of learners, and we have had a further 30% increase in enrolments this year compared to last, showing that interest is being converted into applications.”
Brandon, a learner at the college, saw the industry placement as a big factor in his decision to complete a T Level. “I chose the T Level because it gives me a mix of academic work, but also gives me a head start in getting a career with the work experience that’s included in the programme. Having that one day a week work experience helps keep me refreshed and develop some real-world knowledge... It gives me a foothold into a career by making it much easier when I leave college to have an idea, and possibly an opportunity, of somewhere to go.”
It was a similar story at Chelmsford College where the strength of the programme content, the opportunity to gain work experience and the potential for progression were all highlighted as key benefits to the Management and Administration T Level.
Head of Department Rebecca Leech emphasised the future options available to T Level graduates: “The programme is very good at offering progression opportunities. We have a number of students that are already looking into university, degree apprenticeships or going on to work with their employer that they've taken their placement with.”
Some of these findings were also replicated in the Technical Education: Learner Survey in 2023 with almost 75% of the first T Levels cohort describing themselves as either very or quite likely to recommend their programme to others, and roughly four out of five T Level graduates agreeing that their T Level had prepared them for current studies, the working environment and their career.
How employers see T Levels
We have also seen similar positivity from employers offering industry placements to T Level learners.
General Service Manager at Mercedes Benz Steve Johnson, who works with Engineering and Manufacturing T Level learners, explained how qualifications offering work placements help industries: “Young people and apprentices are the way forward for the trade. I think there’s too many people with no training working on all types of cars. And more so now with electric vehicles… We can give them an insight into what the industry is about, and I feel like we do it properly.”
According to Johanna Smith of Essex County Council, hosting Management and Administration T Level learners, “the benefits of having a T Level student are vast. It gives us access to emerging talent... they bring fresh ideas and innovative ways of working.” At the same time, Smith believes it gives students opportunities for career progression and “a chance to have a choice of their destination when they finish their qualifications.”
In an interview for Advanced Engineering, Andrew Heffer-Lamond of HF Bond & Co ltd spoke about the potential impact of T Levels on UK manufacturing’s future, describing them as “ a great talent pipeline that needs to be embraced by more employers” and referring to T Level learners as “our future makers.”
It’s clear that some employers are already seeing clear benefits from T Levels but for the qualifications to succeed providers and employers will need to continue to collaborate and a wide range of employers will need to commit to offering industry placements.
How T Levels can drive diversity
In industries where women, people from minority ethnic backgrounds, disabled people or people from lower socio-economic backgrounds are underrepresented, T Levels have an opportunity to attract new demographics by offering an alternative pathway.
The engineering and technology workforce is made up of only 15.7% women and this is a gap that starts early with far fewer girls choosing STEM subjects at A Level. Alison Ackroyd, Technical Teaching Fellow at the Education and Training Foundation explained at the Fellowship Awards how T Levels could help bridge this gap: “If you don’t naturally come from a background where you have those contacts or have that science capital then areas like T Levels are amazing… [T Levels] add science or social capital that other courses have not been able to do before.”
By giving those who may previously have not seen themselves as the right person for a certain sector or role a new way to enter the industry, sectors like construction, agriculture and engineering can begin to resolve personnel challenges and close skills gaps.
Whether it’s offering an industry placement, supporting the development of new or existing programmes or registering to deliver T Levels to learners, now is a great time to play a part in the success of the qualifications at the centre of technical education for young people.
Find out more about T Levels