The department is investing in the future of T Levels, boosting their expansion through £28 million of capital funding in 2025 so that students have access to industry-standard equipment. We are increasing industry placement provision with a targeted Employer Support Fund and changes to delivery approaches to unlock opportunities for students and employers.

Nationally over 25,500 students started a T Level in the 2024/25 academic year, a significant increase of nearly 60% from the previous year, and 21 T Levels are now available. A new T Level in marketing launches this September.

Further education colleges across Tees Valley, including those in Middlesbrough, Darlington and Hartlepool, are now delivering T Levels in a range of subjects, from construction to health and engineering and manufacturing to accounting.

There are currently 21 T Levels available in a range of subjects, including three in the digital sector. T Levels in Craft and Design, and Media, Broadcast and Production were introduced for the first time in September last year.

T Levels are based on the same occupational standards as apprenticeships, and include industry placements of at least 45 days, making them excellent preparation for higher-level apprenticeships. Students progressing from a T Level may be able to complete an apprenticeship more quickly in recognition of their prior learning. Early data shows that T Levels are providing a particularly strong route into higher apprenticeships across a range of subjects. Among the first cohort of T Level completers doing an apprenticeship, almost three quarters (72%) had progressed to a Higher or Degree apprenticeship. This is significantly higher than the rate for all level 3 learners (24%), where the vast majority go on to do an apprenticeship at the same level (52%) or at a lower level (24%).

The department does not hold information on retention rates specifically for teachers of T Levels. All teachers can access a free of charge continuing professional development programme, offered by the Education Training Foundation, to help update their knowledge and skills to successfully deliver T Levels. We recently updated this support, with more teacher resources, and shorter, more accessible online courses. More information about this support is available here: https://www.et-foundation.co.uk/professional-development/t-levels/.

Ofsted inspects further education and skills providers in England under part 8 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 and must state whether education or training inspected is of adequate quality. Inspections will encompass T Level provision where offered.

High quality industry placements are an important part of what makes T Levels a success. Overall completion rates on industry placements remain high, with 97.5% of students finishing their T Level last summer successfully completing their placement. However, the department recognises that schools and colleges face challenges securing high quality placements for their students in some sectors and regions.

To address this, we have updated our delivery approaches to allow for greater flexibility in how placements can be delivered, including increasing the number of placement hours that can be completed remotely. We also continue to work closely with stakeholders to increase awareness and engagement on T Levels amongst employers of all types. We recently confirmed additional support for T Levels which includes a targeted Employer Support Fund for the 2025/26 financial year, and the extension of the department’s T Level provider and employer support packages for a further year.

While schools and colleges are responsible for sourcing industry placements, the department offers a range of support. The department offers a range of resources, including our support website for schools and colleges with guidance and workshops to help colleges plan and design placements, which is available at the following address https://support.tlevels.gov.uk/hc/en-gb.

Our employer website includes case studies and webinars for specific T Levels such as Engineering and Manufacturing and is available here: https://employers.tlevels.gov.uk/hc/en-gb/articles/13884064882194-Why-host-students-doing-engineering-and-manufacturing-T-Levels.

We have a 900+ strong ambassador network, including representatives across different T Levels. Our Connect service helps colleges connect with local employers and we also provide continuing professional development to upskill colleges with employer engagement activities.

In January 2025 we updated our industry placement delivery approaches, for example, allowing up to 20% of placements to take place remotely (and up to 50% for Digital). Further information can be accessed at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/678a7a302080f65f988bd3a1/T_Level_industry_placement_delivery_guidance.pdf.

Colleges also receive £550 per T Level student to source and monitor industry placements. A targeted employer support fund for the 2025/26 financial year will support all employers delivering Health T Level placements and small and medium enterprises delivering all other placements.

The department works closely with a range of colleges, schools, employers and their representative bodies to ensure the availability and quality of T Level industry placements across the country. For the engineering and manufacturing sector this includes the Gatsby Charitable Foundation’s Engineering and Manufacturing working group, made up of organisations including EngineeringUK, Enginuity (and the National Manufacturing Skills Task Force), Make UK and the Royal Academy of Engineering. The group share resources, case studies and undertake employer awareness-raising campaigns to support the delivery of industry placements.

The department also actively engages stakeholders via our T Level Ambassador Network which advocates for T Levels and plays a key role in bringing industry and education together across a range of sectors. The network has expanded to over 900 members, including large businesses, small and medium enterprises, colleges and schools, universities and students. Over 120 representatives from the engineering and manufacturing sector are part of this network.

As per the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance, the usual practice is for any underspends in overall departmental budgets, including the T level programme, by the end of the financial year to be returned to HM Treasury. However, throughout each financial year, the department reviews emerging forecasts against the departmental budgets originally set, as well as reviewing any pressures across the department. Unspent funding is then reallocated to wider education priorities.

The department works closely with education providers and employers to ensure the availability and quality of T Level industry placements across the country.

We do not hold industry placement data at regional level, but our latest national results data shows that 97.5% of T Level students from the 2022 cohort (those who finished their T Level in 2024) completed their industry placement.

Whilst it is the overall responsibility of T Level providers to source industry placements for their students, the department has a range of support in place to help ensure the availability and quality of placements. This includes online guidance, workshops, and practical tools to help providers identify, plan and design placements, and a 900+ strong ambassador network to raise the profile of T Levels across different industries, including representatives across Milton Keynes and Buckinghamshire. In January 2025 we also updated our industry placement delivery approaches to enable students to access a wider range of placement opportunities. This can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/678a7a302080f65f988bd3a1/T_Level_industry_placement_delivery_guidance.pdf.

Spend on the T Level programme was £994 million up to and including the 2023/24 financial year. Forecast spend for the 2024/25 financial year on the T Level programme is £253 million.

T Levels range in size, with planned learning hours varying across pathways depending on the needs of individual sectors. Individual providers have freedom to plan their curriculum and structure their teaching hours based on local needs, and there are significant variations in delivery patterns. On average, a T Level has around 1,200 guided learning hours across the two-year programme, in addition to an industry placement of a minimum of 315 hours and employability, enrichment and pastoral activities.

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Gill Furniss (Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough) (Lab):

I have often raised the importance of further education and the transformative impact it can have. I know that the Minister and the Secretary of State share my belief in excellent education for all, instead of the broken skills system that the Tories left behind. To that end, what steps is the Minister taking to ensure that students without the necessary qualifications to get on to T-levels do not end up falling through the net?

The government has affirmed its commitment to T Levels as a high quality qualification and that these should be the qualifications of choice for 16 to 19-year-olds wishing to study large qualifications.

In the 2022/23 academic year there were 63,840 16 to 19-year-olds, enrolled on a study programme taking an Applied General Qualification over 720 guided learning hours, which appear on performance tables in the same sector subject areas as a T Level. The data is the total number of enrolled students on those qualifications, so will include students on the multiple years of study.

Students deserve high quality qualifications that meet their needs, and the department must continue to develop and improve qualifications so that they support the government’s key missions of spreading opportunity and supporting economic growth. Through our work on the qualifications reform rapid review and the Curriculum and Assessment Review, we will ensure a curriculum that meets the needs of students and employers, which is backed up by high quality qualifications that deliver strong outcomes.

The Autumn Budget 2024 provided an additional £300 million revenue funding for further education (FE) for the 2025/26 financial year to ensure young people are developing the skills this country needs.

The department uses the 16 to 19 funding formula to calculate an allocation of funding to each institution, each academic year. The starting point for these allocations are the funding rates, which depend on the size of students’ study programmes or T Levels. The rates for 2024/25 can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/16-to-19-funding-information-for-2024-to-2025#national-funding-rate-for-2024-to-2025. The other elements of the funding formula are then applied, which include a number of adjustments, including for higher cost programmes. Further detail on how the funding formula works can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/16-to-19-funding-how-it-works#funding-formula.

The average total programme funding per 16 to 19 student is £6,219 in the 2024/25 academic year, according to published allocations.

This government is committed to driving economic growth and supporting opportunity for all. To help achieve these missions, we announced an additional £300 million of funding in the 2025/26 financial year for further education at the Autumn Budget 2024.

T Level study programmes are funded as part of the wider funding for 16 to 19 education. The department is preparing the operational detail of the 16 to 19 funding rates and formula and the allocations timeline for the 2025/26 academic year. We aim to publish more information as soon as we can and will provide a further update in due course.

Future budgets are subject to the outcomes of the multi-year spending review which will take place later this year.

The department does not publish retention and pass rate data for 16 to 19-year-olds for applied general and tech level qualifications equivalent in size to three A levels.

However, the department does publish data on pass rates and the proportion of students who are retained to the end of their ’core aim’ (or main learning aim) of their study programme at a school or college in the ’A level and other 16 to 18 results’ statistical release, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/a-level-and-other-16-to-18-results/2022-23. The data covers students at the end of 16 to 18 study in the reporting year attending state-funded schools and colleges. This includes all applied general and tech level qualifications approved for reporting in school and college performance data in that year, irrespective of the size of the qualification. For retention, the data relates to qualifications where it is the student’s core aim. This means that if a student studied both applied general and tech level qualifications, the statistics only refer to the learning aim recognised as their core aim. For pass rates, data reflects their best result if students enter multiple applied general (or tech level) qualifications, but students that enter both applied general and tech level qualifications will report outcomes for both unless they are in the same subject. The most recent published data is for the cohort of students at the end of 16 to 18 study in 2022/23 and is available for pass rates, available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/e869e68e-85ab-4cf7-595d-08dd3479441b, and retention which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/e09fafe6-b348-4839-5950-08dd3479441b.

Additionally, in 2024 the department included in the T Level Action Plan a retention rate for 16-year-olds starting a large vocational and technical qualification (VTQ) equivalent in size to three A levels in academic year 2021/22, which found that 80% of 16-year-olds were retained within two years of starting their large VTQ. This is based on all relevant aims, and not just each student's core aim. The T Level Action Plan is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66290c86b0ace32985a7e6d6/T_Level_action_plan_-_analytical_annex.pdf.

This government wants all young people to have access to high-quality education options that enable them to learn the skills they need to progress in life and build successful careers.

T Levels are an excellent post-16 option for students, and we want to extend the opportunities they provide to as many young people as possible. The department has listened to feedback about barriers to delivery and taken action as a result. For example, we have announced updated approaches to industry placements, including allowing up to 20% of the placement to be remote, with up to 50% for T Levels in Digital. These changes which will unlock more opportunities for students and employers, while maintaining quality.

T Levels are still early in their implementation, and the retention rate is now improving. To support this, the department is raising awareness of T Levels with schools and careers advisers, backed up by case studies of students’ experiences and access to face to face support to ensure they understand the requirements of T Levels and can advise students effectively.

The department has addressed issues specific to the Health and Science T Levels, which may have affected the second cohort of students. In September 2023, a new T Level in Health Qualification Specification was published, with changes to the core content, alongside a suite of support from the awarding organisation to help providers deliver the T Level effectively. The department expects retention rates to continue rising as providers become more familiar with delivering the courses, and we continue to support providers to deliver T Levels effectively.