Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the withdrawal of funding for some BTEC courses on the number of (a) 16-to-19 year olds and (b) other adults taking up a post-16 qualification in the next five years.

As part of the post-16 qualifications review, the department has considered the available evidence about outcomes for students who have taken BTECs as well as other Applied General qualifications (AGQs).

The evidence suggests that, after taking into account a student’s background characteristics and prior attainment, those who followed an A level only route generally experienced better outcomes in terms of attainment and future employment impacts. Considering access to higher education and reformed AGQs, the review found that across different prior attainment bandings, students with A levels were consistently more likely to enter higher education than those holding AGQs. For those with the lowest prior attainment, mixed A level and AGQ programmes were slightly more likely to lead to higher education than those with a study programme consisting of A levels.

Therefore, the department will continue to fund some alternative level 3 qualifications, including BTECs where they do not overlap with A levels or T Levels, and where they meet the new quality criteria being implemented as part of the funding approval process for 2025 and beyond, details of which will be published in due course. Qualifications such as BTECs will continue to play an important role for 16 to 19-year-olds and adults. This includes for students taking these qualifications in mixed programmes alongside A levels or as an alternative programme in areas that may be less well-served by A levels or T Levels.

The updated impact assessment published alongside the response to the second stage consultation looked at the potential impact of the review including the removal of funding for some BTEC qualifications on both 16 to 19-year-old and adult students, including those with protected characteristics. This can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-post-16-qualifications-at-level-3-in-england.