On 29 October 2021, Alex Burghart MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education, responded to a written question on vocational qualifications.
The question, asked by Stephen Morgan MP, Labour member of parliament for Portsmouth South inquired into what steps the department is taking to ensure that students can continue to study BTEC qualifications in the future.
Burghart stated that, while the Government intend to make T Levels the core new technical offer, the department will continue to fund some BTECs and other Applied General qualifications in future, and these qualifications will continue to play an important role for 16-19 year olds and adults as they do now.
The full answer can be read below:
Vocational Education: Qualifications
Department for Education
29 October 2021
Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that students can continue to study BTEC qualifications in the future.
Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of removing funding for BTEC qualifications.
Alex Burghart: In July 2021 the department set out the qualifications that we intend to fund alongside A levels and T Levels at level 3. We want T Levels to be the core of the new technical offer so that in a fast-moving and high-tech economy we close the gap between what people study and the needs of employers. We are confident T Levels will lead to better progression into work or further study. T Levels offer a broad course content, giving students a thorough understanding of the sector and an occupational specialism to develop the knowledge and skills needed to work in specific occupations. This cannot be matched by qualifications currently available.
T Levels are challenging qualifications developed with 250 leading employers. They have significantly longer teaching hours and include a meaningful nine week industry placement that sets them apart from many current vocational qualifications. We want as many students to benefit as possible.
However, we will continue to fund some BTECs and other Applied General qualifications in future, and these qualifications will continue to play an important role for 16-19 year olds and adults as they do now.
We have been clear that we expect the changes to be generally positive as students will have access to higher quality qualifications in the future, including new T Levels. This will put students in a stronger position to progress onto further study or skilled employment.