Here at NCG, our seven colleges support students across England to develop the skills and knowledge they will need to succeed in their future career.
Our students come from a range of backgrounds and for that reason we offer a variety of courses, qualifications and career routes that will suit their individual needs and skillsets. That’s everything from A levels, to apprenticeships, to vocational qualifications across all levels, including what we call ‘Applied General’ qualifications such as BTECs. We offer higher education and adult learning too, but the majority of our students come to us straight from school.
Currently, they can choose between a range of flexible qualifications, which admittedly can be confusing and difficult to navigate. But it does mean that we are able to make sure that each learner is enrolled on a programme that suits their starting point. Right now, all NCG colleges are also preparing to begin offering T levels from 2023, with the knowledge that a year later many of the current programmes in those subjects will be defunded. In most subjects this will reduce student choice to just two options; A levels or T levels.
The #ProtectStudentChoice campaign is rightly concerned about offering this binary choice to students and is asking for the government to continue funding qualifications for those students they are better suited to.
NCG supports the #ProtectStudentChoice campaign, but we also recognise that the subject is even more complex and highlights a bigger issue than simply the removal of funding for BTECs. While we agree that the current offer for 16-year olds should be simplified and that T Levels have the potential to be a significant ‘game changer’ for vocational education, narrowing student choice down to A levels or T levels is making it too simple and risks excluding a large number of learners who don’t suit either of these routes.
We recognise that there will also be a T Level Transition Programme in place, but the scant detail on this programme indicates that it will largely focus on ensuring young people are ready for a specific T Levels with a big focus on boosting maths and English. There is also the added headache for many colleges of how the infill to BTECs by a small number of young adults would work.
Speaking from personal experience, making a steadfast career decision at 16 is a big ask. While some do know their ‘vocation’ many others simply don’t know what they want to do as a career, and why should they? The world is evolving and rather than fixating on a career, we should be focused on developing vital, transferable skills that will allow people to thrive in a range of careers. Arguably, even A Levels force academic students to narrow down their options too early, and much earlier than many of our competitor countries.
A levels do, however, offer more flexibility than is being proposed for T Levels, allowing learners to study a range of subjects and then deciding, or even changing again, when it comes to studying a degree. T levels on the other hand, focus very closely on one specific job role. This is fantastic for vocational education and ensures that we are helping young people to develop the skills and experience they will really need to succeed in that role. After all, there are many 16-year olds who know which career they wish to follow, but it would be wrong to forget about those who fall in between.
As an example, Newcastle College (the biggest in our Group), welcomes 350 young people onto Level 3 Health and Social Care courses each year. A sizeable minority choose to change to another subject during their time at college, which the flexibility of the current system can handle well. We expect around 80 students would opt for a T Level programme. There would be another 120 who use the current BTEC qualification as a stepping stone to Higher Education who would be left with a difficult choice between the binary option, and a transition programme is not what they need. From what we have seen of the T Level system to date it does not look like there will be much flexibility to change to another course should they wish to. Instead they would need to quit and wait until the next academic year before starting again, if a place is available.
It is vital we find a solution for those young people affected by this change. This is an opportunity for the sector to work with the government to find a future looking, innovative solution that simplifies the current model without excluding anyone. We must be able to offer flexible learning options that suits everyone’s needs but also simplify the current landscape. One option is to copy the consistency of T Levels and offer another BTEC-type qualification that is standardised across all colleges in terms of modules, work experience and awarding body. All qualifications should include digital skills, sustainability and personal development.
The purpose of this campaign is student choice. If we are trusting young people to settle on a career choice now, why are we not giving them the freedom of choice? NCG’s plea is to welcome T Levels, but use this opportunity to develop a simple and diverse range of qualifications that will benefit young people, colleges and employers, while allowing young learners to choose their own path.