The Department for Education has published the 2019 T Levels action plan providing an update on progress in the development and launch of T Levels.

Now under Secretary of State for Education Gavin Williamson’s signature – a former FE student himself - the action plan confirms the Government’s commitment to technical education. Updates in the action plan include:

Roll-out schedule

Now confirmed for delivery from September 2022

• Legal T Level
• Financial T Level
• Accountancy T Level
• Engineering: Maintenance, Installation and Repair T Level
• Engineering: Manufacturing and Process T Level
• Engineering: Design, Development and Control T Level
• Management and Administration T Level
• Human Resources T Level.

Confirmed for September 2023 delivery

• Animal Care and Management T Level
• Agriculture, Land Management and Production T Level
• Craft and Design T Level
• Cultural Heritage and Visitor Attractions T Level
• Media, Broadcast and Production T Level
• Hair, Beauty and Aesthetics T Level
• Catering T Level.

Provider selection criteria

Potential 2022 providers need to apply by January 2020. The previous requirement to have a minimum of 100 current students across all pathways applied for has been dropped. Awarding organisations are working on developing provider approval criteria.

Certification

Prototypes of the Certificate and Statement of Achievement, as well as grading examples, are included in the action plan for the first time. Work continues to develop a results and certification “T Levels service” to support the tracking and aggregation of data to be available ahead of first teaching in September 2020.

Integrating maths, English, digital and employability skills

Information on ‘general competency frameworks’ for these competencies has been published under the ‘operating instructions for the creation of outline content’.

Ofsted

The action plan confirms that T Level provision will be subject to Ofsted inspection. Ofsted will consult on how T Levels will be integrated into the education inspection framework.

Communications

To raise awareness, the DfE is running an advertising campaign – 'the NexT level’ locally and nationally including a dedicated website, as well as a schools engagement strategy and further employer engagement activities.