Three more T-levels have been shelved due to low demand from students and employers.
The government has confirmed that planned T-levels in catering and beauty will no longer go ahead. The healthcare science T-level, which has run since 2021, will enrol its final cohort of students this September.
This means six planned T-levels have now been cancelled.
Onsite construction, run by City and Guilds, was binned in December following three years of low demand.
Hairdressing and barbering got snipped last January as colleges were preparing for September starts with ministers citing low demand from employers (despite forking out to develop the qualifications for two years). A “scoping exercise” was launched at the time to test the viability of a T-level qualification in beauty.
The Department for Education confirmed today that both beauty and catering will not go ahead due to projected low demand.
And a planned T-level in HR was terminated back in 2021 when no awarding organisation could be found to develop it.
The Department for Education also confirmed today that the T-level in healthcare science, run by NCFE, will end this September because an “evaluation” has determined it doesn’t meet the needs of students and employers.
Data published this morning showed just 136 students started the healthcare science T-level in September 2024. For comparison, health had 3,772 starts and science had 365.
Healthcare science content will instead be “consolidated” within the new generation 2 health and science T-levels (more on these below) from September 2026.
Schools and colleges that have received capital funding grants for facilities to teach the healthcare science T-level can keep the money.
Both the current and previous governments hailed T-levels as the “gold standard” and “employer-led” qualifications. Yet millions of pounds have been spent developing qualifications for which there is seemingly little demand from employers and students.
Pearson scoops contracts
Pearson has been handed contracts worth over £15 million to take over the T-levels in health and science.
The awarding giant, which also runs BTECs, has been granted exclusive licenses, currently held by NCFE, to develop and run generation 2 versions of the qualifications from September 2026.
It means the awarding body now holds six of the nine generation 2 T-level contracts awarded so far, totalling £32 million.
Freya Thomas Monk, managing director of Pearson Qualifications, said: “Building a strong flow of talent into the health and science sectors is vital to the government’s mission of supporting an NHS that is fit for the future.
“As the largest T Level provider, we are committed to providing qualifications that enable students to progress and thrive in these sectors.”
The contracts, worth £9.7 million for health and £5.7 million for science, run until July 2034. They were supposed to be announced in October.
The first batch of generation 2 T-level license holders, covering education and early years, construction and digital courses, were announced following a competitive re-tender process in August.
That procurement round resulted in four contracts changing hands. Two construction T-levels, first held by City and Guilds, were awarded to WJEC, and two digital T-levels, first held by NCFE, were awarded to Pearson. NCFE retained education and early years.
The next procurement, this time for T-levels in engineering and manufacturing, finance, management and accounting, is due to begin this spring.
