Students risk falling through ‘qualifications gap' under post-16 plans
A report by the Protect Student Choice campaign warned reducing student choice for post-16 qualifications risks 'reversing' progress in widening access to higher education and it could lead to more young people not in employment.
The coalition – which includes organisations representing students and staff in colleges and schools – is calling on the curriculum and assessment review to recommend 'reversing the ban on AGQ diplomas and extended diplomas in T-level areas' in its final report which is due to be published in the autumn.
AGQs are Level 3 qualifications, which include BTecs, for students who want to undertake a broad study of a specific vocational area.
In December, the Labour Government announced 157 vocational qualifications, which the previous Conservative administration had planned to remove funding from, would be retained beyond July this year until reformed qualifications become more established in the system.
Following a review of Level 3 qualifications that 'overlap' with T-levels, the Government said 57 qualifications in digital, construction and health and science would be funded until July 2026.
A further 100 qualifications in engineering, agriculture, business and creative would retain their funding until July 2027.
The first T-level courses – which are considered to be broadly equivalent to three A-levels – were launched in 2020 in England and they are being rolled out gradually.
Department for Education (DfE) guidance, published in February, has outlined plans to remove funding from 'large qualifications' in a number of T-level subject areas in the future.
An analysis from the Protect Student Choice campaign suggests there could be 52,000 fewer young people studying health and science courses each year if funding is removed for AGQs in this area, and it added that nearly 11,000 fewer young people could study digital courses each year.
It said more than 200,000 students are currently studying AGQs that are 'either being scrapped or have an uncertain future' which makes it 'difficult' for colleges and schools to plan their curriculum, recruit and train the right staff, or to provide appropriate guidance to younger pupils.
The report warned: 'We are deeply concerned that the Government's blanket ban on diplomas and extended diplomas will create a qualifications gap that tens of thousands of students will potentially fall through, leaving many young people without a suitable pathway in the future.'
Labour MP Gareth Snell, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Sixth Form Education, said: 'Sixth forms and colleges up and down the country know the vital role that AGQs play in helping students to progress to higher education or skilled employment.
'Limiting the choice of qualification in certain subjects to T-levels will leave some young people without a suitable pathway at the age of 16, and some employers without the skilled workforce they need.'
Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, said: 'Qualifications like the diploma and extended diploma in health and social care are highly valued by providers of adult social care in England as a source of introducing younger people to a career in social care.
'Scrapping these qualifications would close off a well-established pathway to entering the profession and exacerbate the workforce crisis in the care sector for a younger population we are keen to promote access to.'
Anne Murdoch, college leadership adviser at the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: 'We strongly urge the Government to retain these popular and valued applied general qualifications.
'We support the introduction of T-levels, but we do not understand why this must be at the expense of other tried and trusted vocational qualifications which work well for many students.
'At a time when we are seeing rising numbers of young people who are not in education, employment or training, it is surely essential that we provide a choice of post-16 pathways rather than narrowing their options and making matters worse.'
A DfE spokeswoman said: 'Through our plan for change we are building a skills system that will drive forward opportunity and deliver the growth that our economy needs.
'T-levels will be at the forefront of our technical education offer. Alongside them, newly reformed qualifications will become available for delivery at Level 3 at the start of the next academic year.
'These are high-quality, aligned to occupational standards in technical routes and offer learners clear routes to higher education or skilled employment.
'The department's position on further plans for reform to Level 3 qualifications will be set out soon, informed by the independent curriculum and assessment review.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
43 minutes ago
- Times
Kemi Badenoch says Tories would ban doctors from going on strike
Kemi Badenoch has pledged to ban doctors from striking as she insisted Britain needed to cut spending to 'live within our means'. The Conservative leader said she would extend rules that prevent police officers and soldiers from striking to deal with what she called the increasingly 'militant' British Medical Association (BMA). Labour is scrapping Tory rules that would have allowed ministers to set out minimum levels of service staff would have to provide during strike action in the NHS and other public services. Badenoch said she would restore these for other NHS staff and go even further on doctors. 'The BMA has become militant. These strikes are going too far and it is time for action,' she said. Describing the measures as 'common-sense proposals to protect patients and the public finances', Badenoch said: 'These strikes will have a significant economic effect, but they will also mean cancelled operations, worry for families of the sick and suffering for those who are unwell. We know that previous strike action by doctors even led to some patients losing their lives.' She again praised Argentina's chainsaw-wielding President Milei, citing him as an inspiration for a future Conservative government. Badenoch has said she will not 'literally use a chainsaw' to cut spending but said that Britain was borrowing too much, adding: 'We need to start thinking about the next generation.' While seeking to distinguish herself from Nigel Farage, the Reform leader, with a tough line on public spending, Badenoch last week said she aimed to imitate Milei, who won power after brandishing a chainsaw to illustrate his approach to slashing state spending. He has balanced the budget and reduced inflation through deep cuts to public expenditure, such as pensions, which have provoked widespread protest. • The WhatsApp group: Kemi Badenoch revs up her cost-cutting chainsaw* 'I wouldn't literally use a chainsaw, but it was a very, very visual story that he told about making sure that Argentina lived within its means,' Badenoch said. She admitted Britain had 'a different set-up' to Argentina but told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News: 'We need to start thinking about the next generation. We are borrowing our children's money to pay for today, to pay for welfare. We're paying £100 billion on debt interest. That's just not fair.' Badenoch previously pledged to stop people with milder mental health problems from claiming disability benefits. The government was forced to abandon plans to cut eligibility for welfare after a revolt by Labour backbenchers. While cuts in other areas are likely to be far more contentious for a Tory party heavily dependent on older voters, Badenoch insisted 'we need to live within our means' as a country. Farage has pledged to remove the two-child benefit cap as he seeks to win over cultural conservative voters who often want more public spending. Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is expected to raise taxes in the autumn to cover the cost of retreats on cuts to welfare and pensioners' winter fuel payments, along with deteriorating economic forecasts and the rising cost of borrowing.
Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
Two-tier policing is the nail in the coffin for Britain's social contract
Has a British Government ever appeared so terrified of its own people? More to the point, can you think of one that deserved it more? The social contract has been shredded. You go to work and pay your taxes for a state that seems to be crumbling into disrepair. In exchange, the Government takes your money, and uses it to fund an alleged secret scheme to fly in Taliban fighters to live on your street. But don't worry – we've got a new 'elite police squad' to prevent trouble. That police unit won't be patrolling your neighbourhood to keep you safe from harm. Rather, it will be tasked with scouring social media for protest pre-crime, monitoring your opinions for anti-migrant sentiment. The police might not have enough resources to deal with shoplifting. They might not have solved a single theft or burglary, or recover a stolen bike, across a third of England. But we are to believe they have resources for what really counts: scrutinising your views for wrongthink. The current state of affairs is so absurd that simply writing it down feels almost subversive. But each element is true: we do appear to have flown unvetted Taliban members into Britain. The Government really will be watching your posts for signs of dissent. This isn't some accident, some Civil Service blunder. It's by design. It truly appears that Labour's strategy is to impose ever more restrictions on the freedoms of the law-abiding, in the hope that eventually people will acquiesce with a resigned shrug. The problem is that it isn't working. The population is fed up with being punished for doing the right thing. The hectoring about slavery, imperialism, war and all the other iniquities of history used to justify sacrificing our comforts and liberties on the altar of mass migration is no longer having the desired effect. British citizens living today did not build the empire. They didn't enslave anyone. Why should they foot the bill for housing illegal migrants up in four star hotels in central London? Why should they put up with them working in the shadow economy? Unfortunately for the Government, the previously silent majority is beginning to vocally express its frustration. MPs and ministers are fearful that the country is becoming a 'tinderbox'. But even this isn't enough to convince them that we must change course. Why? Perhaps because doing so would be an admission of past failures. For decades we were told that mass migration was an unalloyed good while critics were denounced as bigots. To concede, after all this time, that it has not come without costs – at times intolerable costs – would be catastrophically damaging to the political class. The pro-migration fanatics, who promised to control numbers while throwing open our borders, who overrode objections to impose their policies despite what they were repeatedly being told at the ballot box, would be discredited. So instead, the state appears to be passing through the stages of grief. At first there was denial that people were worried about migration at all; Brexit had allowed us to be liberals. Then there was anger after Southport, with Starmer's denunciation of the 'thugs' taking to the streets. Now we seem to have reached bargaining: if we can stop people talking about it, perhaps they'll stop caring? It was a strategy that might have worked prior to the social media era, and in particular prior to Elon Musk's buyout of Twitter. Now, even the censorship of protest videos, arrest of people for incendiary content, and threat of mass scanning of output isn't sufficient to quell dissent. And though many of the protests now cropping up across Britain are peaceful, shows of police force are not enough to deter outside agitators from hijacking them. Tiff Lynch, the head of the Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, last week warned that officers were being 'pulled in every direction' and commanders were 'forced to choose between keeping the peace at home or plugging national gaps'. Where do we go from here? As the costs of legal migration become apparent, with talk of labour market infusions and attracting the 'best and brightest' seeming increasingly hollow, overall numbers must be reduced. As the impact of illegal migration becomes clearer, the establishment must stop trying to guilt us into acceptance, and finally stop the influx. It's highly doubtful Yvette Cooper has the will or the way. The Home Secretary would prefer to silence opponents, by censoring and arresting those who speak out.
South Wales Argus
7 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
Tories would ban doctors' strikes, Badenoch says
The Tory leader said that her party would introduce primary legislation to block medics from taking widespread industrial action, placing the same restrictions on them that apply to police officers and soldiers. Thousands of resident doctors, previously known as junior doctors, began a five-day walkout on Friday after relations between the Government and British Medical Association (BMA) soured over a dispute about pay. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said the union will not be allowed to 'hold the country to ransom' after receiving a 28.9% pay award over the last three years, the highest across the public sector. The BMA says, despite this uplift, pay for resident doctors has declined by a fifth since 2008 once inflation is taken into account. NHS resident doctors outside Bristol Royal Infirmary (Ben Birchall/PA) On Saturday, the Conservatives said they would reintroduce minimum service level requirements, which were brought in by the previous government and scrapped by Labour, across the health service. Mrs Badenoch said: 'The BMA has become militant, these strikes are going too far, and it is time for action. 'Doctors do incredibly important work. 'Medicine is a vocation, not just a job. 'That is why in government we offered a fair deal that supported doctors, but protected taxpayers too.' She said the Tories were 'making an offer in the national interest, we will work with the Government to face down the BMA to help protect patients and the NHS.' Patients have been urged to attend appointments unless told otherwise while the action is ongoing, with NHS England saying hospitals are aiming to reschedule any cancellations due to strikes within two weeks. Mr Streeting has warned of a challenging few days for the health service but said 'we are doing everything we can to minimise' harm.
