DfE announces plans to boost quality of post-16 qualifications
Education Secretary Damian Hinds has announced a consultation to review qualifications at Level 3 and below.
The plans are part of the Government’s drive to boost the quality of education and training available to young people post-16. This included the new ‘T Level’ qualifications – technical equivalents to A Levels which will be introduced in 2020. Local providers selected to deliver T Levels include Durham 6th Form Centre, New College Durham, Gateshead College, and St Thomas More Catholic School.
The DfE says it wants A Levels and T Levels to be the ‘gold standard’ while other qualifications at the equivalent level will be reviewed to ensure they are of the same quality.
There will be two stages to the consultation and initially the Government is consulting on:
- only providing public funding for qualifications that meet key criteria on quality, purpose, necessity and progression
- not providing public funding for qualifications for 16 to 19 year olds that overlap with T Levels or A Levels
You can find more information on the DfE Website
Schools North East will be responding to the consultation. To have your input on our response, please contact our Policy Officer Antony Mullen at a.mullen@schoolsnortheast.com