Commenting following a new report from the Public Accounts Committee highlighting poor uptake of T levels, Sarah Hannafin, head of policy at school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“The future success of T levels depends on much more than raising awareness

“Initial feedback from the sector is that these qualifications are not landing well, take-up is lower than expected, and they are not meeting the needs of students as effectively as other Vocational Technical Qualification (VTQs).

“The quality of industry placements varies depending on the T Level course and provider, and students’ ability to find suitable placements depends on several factors including the location, sector and competition for places – this needs to be addressed.

“It is also questionable whether the current T level Transition Programme is fulfilling its intended purpose, as the number of students progressing to T levels after this year is very low and has worsened over time.

“It will require significant work to overcome these issues, but even with those improvements T levels will remain just one option in the VTQ landscape because they simply don’t meet the needs of large numbers of students.”