Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the estimated percentage of students taking the T Level qualification in the academic year 2022/23 who did not complete the qualification.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Ministerial Statement by Baroness Barran, published on 19 October (HLWS1062), that 32 Advanced Qualifications with high levels of student enrolment are to be defunded from August 2025, how many of these qualifications (1) already have T Level equivalents operating across the whole of England, and (2) will have a relevant T Level Foundation year in place by 2025.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the estimated number of qualifications that will have to be approved by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Qualification for commencement of teaching in the academic year 2025/26, as a result of the defunding of alternative routes to advance qualification; and what is the current waiting time for the approval of such qualifications.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what advice is given to students who did not complete their T Level qualification in the academic year 2022/23 in order to support them into alternative academic qualifications or apprenticeships.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many senior civil servants working at the Department for Education have a teaching qualification.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The information is not readily available or held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many students aged 16 to 19 are currently studying for Early Years qualifications.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
During the 2021/22 academic year, the latest year of available data, there were 28,100 students aged 16 to 19 studying Early Years qualifications. This included 27,400 learners studying Early Years qualifications at English further education (FE) providers, and 700 full-person-equivalent entrants to Early Years subject areas at higher education (HE) level at English HE providers.
For FE, Early Years qualifications were defined as those on the ‘Early Years qualifications achieved in the United Kingdom’ published list, which is attached. For HE, Early Years subjects were defined as HECOS codes ‘100463 early years education’ and ‘100510 early years teaching’.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many students will be on T Level courses commencing September 2023 which will lead to early years, nursery education, or childcare qualifications.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
T Levels are being rolled out in a phased approach to ensure high quality. The number of providers will increase year on year and the department expects student numbers to grow significantly over the next few years.
In September 2022, over 2,000 students started a T Level in Education and Childcare, and while the majority are expected to study the Early Years occupational specialism, students do not need to make their final decision until the end of their first year of learning.
These students will move into their second year of learning in September, when the department also expects providers to enrol significantly more new students onto the Education T Level. Providers have set their own expectations for students they hope to recruit to each of their T Levels and are in the process of marketing their courses and interviewing and providing information, advice and guidance to students on the options available to them. The department will not have any information on new students until after the point they are enrolled.
T Levels are equivalent in size to 3 A levels and are designed to support progression to skilled employment, further study (including higher education and Higher Technical Qualifications) and degree apprenticeships.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government (1) how many, and (2) what proportion of, students enrolled on the T level Transition Programme in the (a) 2020/21, and (b) 2021/22, academic year went on to start a T level.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
In the 2020/21 academic year, an estimated 14% (118 students) progressed onto a T Level out of 847 students who were recorded as starting a T Level Transition Programme. In total, 49% progressed to level 3 or higher outcomes (414 students), significantly higher than a provisional estimate of 37% progression to level 3 or above for all 16 year old students with a level 2 core learning aim. In the 2021/22 academic year, 3,348 students were recorded as starting a T Level Transition Programme and progression data for this cohort is not yet available.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what evidence the Department for Education has to support the estimate made in their impact assessment Review of post-16 qualifications at level 3 in England, published in July 2022, that "4 per cent of 16 to 19 year olds currently studying at level 3 may not be able to progress directly to level 3 study following the reforms".
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The department’s estimate of the proportion of students who may not be able to move straight to level 3 at age 16 was published in the impact assessment that accompanied the second stage consultation on qualifications reform. This can be found here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/post-16-qualifications-review-team/review-of-post-16-qualifications-at-level-3/supporting_documents/Impact%20Assessment%20%20Review%20of%20post16%20qualifications%20at%20level%203_.pdf.
The department’s estimate that 4% of the level 3 cohort may not be able to move directly to level 3 in future following the reforms to post-16 qualifications was based on 16-19 year old enrolments in 2019/20. There were 2.88 million in total, of which around 115,200 enrolments, or 4%, were assessed as potentially impacted. This was based on a prior attainment threshold of five passing GCSEs of grade 4 or above, or a full level 2 and an estimate of the number of qualifications that would remain in future. It is important to note that many students who do not move directly to level 3 do achieve that level after further intervention.
Where students are unable to move directly to level 3, they will be able to choose from a range of high quality options. This includes the T level transition programme, from which 49% of students progressed to level 3 from the first cohort. In future, it will also include reformed level 2 technical and academic progression qualifications that are designed to support progression to apprenticeships, further academic and technical study and employment. Reformed technical qualifications will be based on employer led occupational standards and will provide young people with the skills that employers need.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what evidence they used to determine the range of subjects in which Alternative Academic Qualifications (AAQs) will be funded from 2025.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The approach the department has taken to determining the range of subjects that we will fund was informed by two public consultations and reflects our priority to ensure that as many students as possible benefit from world class A levels and T Levels.
The range of subjects where the department will approve small alternative academic qualifications (AAQs) for funding (and which can be studied alongside A levels) will be focused on those that are strategically important (such as STEM subjects and those supporting the NHS), and those that are less well-served by A levels. Large AAQs (equivalent in size to at least 2 A levels) will be considered for public funding from 2026 in subjects where there are no T Levels; there is a need for a large qualification enabling entry to more specialist areas of higher education such as performing arts; and there is a clear and direct progression link into higher education.
This is based on a range of evidence including departmental analysis of student outcomes and independent data sources such as research undertaken by the Nuffield Foundation and the Sixth Form Colleges Association. The detail of this evidence is set out in the department’s second stage consultation, and the subsequent government response and policy statement. Further details on the government’s response is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/review-of-post-16-qualifications-at-level-3-second-stage. This evidence shows that pupils who take programmes consisting of A levels alone generally have better earnings and employment outcomes than those pursuing non-A level or mixed programmes, after controlling for background characteristics.
Additionally, reforms to level 2 qualifications, alongside the T Level transition programme and our work with providers to pilot an Academic Progression Programme, will enable students to work towards level 3 or enter skilled employment.