Changes
One thing that's constant in life is Death and Taxes. In education, we can replace that with a single word: CHANGE. We teachers are so used to change - we roll with it. Continuing professional development is ongoing, throughout the year; adjusting to new requirements for qualifications, content, pedagogy, assessment and use of technology is par for the course.
Now we have the new kid on the block: T-Levels.
Bring it on! We are ready!
So, let's put on our big girl pants, and delve into T-Levels.
When Lord Sainsbury chaired the panel on technical education, in 2015, he put industry at the heart of the proposed qualifications - in terms of deciding content and in terms of how they should be assessed.
He also stipulated the ability for learners to cross the divide between technical and academic routes, if the student found they were on the wrong path.
But, to what extent is that route smooth for all learners?
What if a student wants to become a vet? Can they move to a University course with their Animal Care T-level?
What if a student has a desire to enter politics; go into Government - is the path to the highest levels of university open to them, or are the dice loaded against those who choose T-levels then change their minds?
Why The Sainsbury's Panel was Needed
The perception that young people were not being trained in the skills needed by UK industry was one of the key drivers of the Sainsbury panel.
The UK Government threw its weight behind the proposals under Theresa May, and more recently, in July 2022, Nadhim Zahawi, MP , as secretary of state for education, said, in July 2022, that T Levels were a fusion between an apprenticeship and an A Level, and that his mission was to make T-Levels as well known as A-Levels.
Early Successes and Concerns
Early successes of T-levels, like this one pictured below, have received praise from the likes of HS2, who, in August 2022, announced they were to triple their investment in supporting T-levels for construction.
Concerns, cited by FE Week, over failures in implementing certain T-Level exams, in education & childcare, health and science and, potentially, digital, however, have led some students to worry if they will be able to achieve a University place.
Nevertheless, the UK Government continues to push T-Levels and provides inspirational videos featuring positive employer stories like the one below.
Chop and Change - to a Vet?
But remember my opening gambit? I said that Lord Sainsbury stipulated that T-levels should provide students with the ability to change from a vocational route back to an academic route, if desired. Going to University with T-levels rather than A-Levels is, seemingly, guaranteed by the UCAS point allotment below.
In reality, which universities actually accept T-Levels? Having done some research, it seems those universities who originated as Polytechnics will accept T-Levels and many of the original Universities do too; currently here is the list of Universities accepting T-Levels for entry for a minimum of one of their courses (source: Gov.UK):-
A big list, yes.
But let's take the scenario of a student who gets an animal care T-Level then decides they want to be a vet. Here is what the Gov.uk website says you can do with that animal care T-level:
No sign of a vet, then?
The British Veterinary association has a guide for potential vet students including qualifications. T-Levels are not mentioned at all. Just A-levels, Highers and Advanced Highers, or the International Baccalaureate. The guide was copyright 2022; after T-Levels were launched.
The signs are not hopeful for our budding vet.
Chop and Change - to a Cabinet Member?
How about another scenario - a student has become passionate about politics and enter government.
with the ambition to be the next Prime Minister. They look at the make-up of the current Government's cabinet and find this; almost half of the current administration's cabinet went to Oxford or Cambridge.
Okay, let us not judge, but just recognise that our student appears to have more chance of reaching their goal if they are likewise blessed, so let's use our hard-won Distinction T-Level and apply to Oxbridge, to give us the best chance.
Oxford and Cambridge are part of an elite group of 24 universities known as the Russell Group. Currently, according to Schools Week, ten of these universities do not accept T-Levels. These ten include Oxford and Cambridge.
Not much joy there, then, either.
What justification do the universities give for not accepting T-Levels? After all, these are superior qualifications equivalent to A-Levels at so many other institutions. What makes these Russel Group renegades so different?
How Oxford and Cambridge Respond to T-Level Entry Questions
Oxford University does not elaborate very much - just saying "T-Levels are not considered appropriate preparation" for entry. This is after a statement that vocational or technical qualifications equivalent to A-levels are welcome to apply. How strange - surely that is the actual definition of a T-Level, isn't it?
Cambridge states that T-Levels are not considered sufficient preparation for any undergraduate degree courses at Cambridge and are therefore not accepted for entry.
In fact, over half of universities rejected the first cohort of T-Level students in Jan 2022. Clarity as to which universities do and do not accept them is still not in place. On 18th January 2023, FE Week reported that Skills and universities minister, Robert Halfon, ordered universities to clarify whether or not they would be acceptable for admission, as there was still confusion.
Moreover, there is concern that the list (above) who said they did accept T-Levels for at least one course did not include which course(/s) that was. This is leading to some students making life-changing decisions without the necessary information they need to do it.
Social Mobility
My scenarios, above, were chosen deliberately to highlight the challenges to social mobility that exist already, and which ought to be reduced with T-Levels.
Why shouldn't a child from care aspire to be a vet? Or a cabinet member?
Perhaps there is currently a risk to this, or perhaps this is just a case of teething problems?
In Jan 2022, teaching magazine, TES, warned that removing existing vocational qualifications like BTec was a mistake and would lead to a risk of lowering social mobility through learners simply dropping out of the system. Other groups, for example, nursery training providers, in August 2021, called out the risk to social mobility here.
Education leaders also saw the potential issues and cited them as "reckless". In July., 2022, the journal, Chamber, cited Policy Manager for GuildHE Kate Wicklow who condemned the move as she highlighted that “44% of white working-class students and 37% of black students enter uni with only BTEC qualifications. Cutting these will have a huge impact on social mobility and our economy."
The concern that T-Levels may be a risk to social mobility was raised in Parliament by Labour MP, Karin Smyth, on 21st April 2021. The answer from Gillian Keegan (who was appointed Secretary of State for Education on 25 October 2022) is given below:
So the government has an evaluation programme in place to assess the impact, including that on disadvantaged students, though this may take "some years" to be done in full.
But, in the house of commons library, the Government’s acknowledges that its impact assessment shows that students from SEND (special educational needs and disability) backgrounds or derived areas are disproportionately represented on courses at risk of losing funding, and some might be unable to achieve a level 3 qualification in the future.
That means a negative impact on social mobility, doesn't it?
Aiming High
In the meantime, students need to be very careful to choose between academic and technical routes, and, if choosing T-Levels as a route to university, be sure to find out:
* who won't even consider them (like Oxford and Cambridge)
* who will only take them for certain courses (details not published on a central system, so refer to the university concerned)
We teachers roll with the changes, but perhaps the government needs to roll a little more slowly before it reaches the cliff edge of "defunct" BTecs?
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