A recent report highlights the challenges facing the roll-out of T Levels
Here our Public Affairs Advisor James Gordon looks at what can be done to secure their future
Image:CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 © Rolls-Royce PLC
On 28 March, The National Audit Office’s (NAO) published its final report as part of its value for money investigation into T Levels. It highlights some of the challenges around the roll-out of T Levels, including their lower-than-expected uptake to date.
Indeed, despite significant growth in recent years, 25,000 students enrolled in a T Level in September 2024, falling short of the government’s ambitious target of 60,000 (set in 2022). This underwhelming growth in uptake validates the government’s decision to pause the defunding of Applied General Qualifications at Level 3 (including BTECs) last December. At EngineeringUK, we had called for this to maintain alternative routes for young people into engineering and technology careers.
T Levels were introduced by the previous government as the new flagship Level 3 technical qualification in September 2020 with the aim of supporting young people into skilled employment. The Labour government has since recommitted to the further roll-out of T Levels. Developed in collaboration with employers, T Levels focus on developing a vocational skill, such as in engineering and technology.
Each T Level equates to 3 A levels and includes a 45-day industry placement, offering a high-quality technical pathway into employment, an apprenticeship, or higher education. Of the 21 T Level courses currently available, 9 are engineering and technology-related, including 3 in engineering and manufacturing, 3 in construction, and 3 in digital.
EngineeringUK’s School report: What teachers know and think about routes into engineering and technology found that 11% of the teachers we surveyed work in a school offering a T Level. Despite this, we found promising signs that teacher awareness is growing, with 89% of teachers surveyed aware of the qualification.
The NAO’s recent report identifies challenges around the supply of industry placements for T Level students. Indeed, 98% of students completing a T Level in 2024 fulfilled the 45-day requirement. However, the report notes capacity constraints on teachers and employers as the number of students increases, meaning that there may be around 6,500 students per year without an industry placement by 2027/28 based on DfE’s employer survey data. In light of these challenges, EngineeringUK has called for DfE to keep under review financial incentives for employers to support their engagement in T Level industry placements – particularly SMEs.
Despite challenges around roll-out and capacity in the provision of industry placements, there are reasons to remain optimistic about the future of T Levels. 367 institutions are offering T Levels in 2024/25, and this is due to rise to 399 in the next academic year.1 Moreover, as the NAO report notes, the DfE estimates that T Levels will be up to 25% more valuable to students in lifetime earnings than other Level 3 qualifications (albeit this remains highly uncertain).
At EngineeringUK we see T Levels as a valuable route into the sector and have been working with employers to raise awareness about this still new qualification. However, there is some way to go before T Levels become viable option for many young people. For engineering and technology T Levels, there is considerable work to be done by government – in collaboration with schools and FE colleges – in engaging female students in particular. EngineeringUK analysis found that only 9.1% of students completing an engineering or technology-related T Level in 2024 were female. This means that T Levels perform worse than apprenticeships in attracting young women into the sector.
The NAO’s report is welcome in highlighting the current and future challenges facing T Levels. These are important considerations as the government attempts to establish them as the ‘gold standard’ of Level 3 technical qualification pathways. To do so, government must work with providers to enable them to deliver high-quality courses and with STEM employers to scale up the supply of industry placements.
T Levels must also be assigned a clear place in the 16 to 19 qualifications landscape, alongside alternative vocational routes such as foundation and intermediate apprenticeships. Progression pathways to further study and training need to be articulated to students, parents and employers. Doing so will be critical to achieving genuine parity of esteem between technical and academic pathways.
1T Levels provider list 2025 to 2026 academic year
At EngineeringUK we see T Levels as a valuable route into the sector and have been working with employers to raise awareness about this still new qualification. However, there is some way to go before T Levels become viable option for many young people.
— James Gordon, Public Affairs Advisor at EngineeringUK
