Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the independent assessors that were commissioned by his Department to evaluate qualifications that overlap with T-Levels in waves one and two (a) started and (b) concluded their work; and how many qualifications those assessors evaluated.
There are over 2,000 qualifications available at level 3, and as part of first overlap process T Levels we asked independent assessors to look at over 700 of these as they are in similar subject areas to wave 1 and 2 T Levels.
Assessors were asked to assess qualifications against three tests:
Only qualifications which met all three tests in relation to a wave 1 and 2 T Level were included on the provisional list. Assessors considered evidence such as qualification specifications to determine whether these tests were met.
To ensure the rigour of this process recommendations were moderated internally and we published a provisional list of 160 qualification on 11 May. We have put in place an appeals process if awarding organisations do not feel we have applied the criteria correctly, and awarding organisations have until 8 July 2022 to submit appeals.
The assessors commenced work in summer 2021 and their involvement in the wave 1 and 2 overlap process will conclude once the appeals process has been completed in September 2022.