The Education Committee has today expressed disappointment at the Government’s response to its report the future of post-16 qualifications, which called on ministers to review overall FE funding and pause its withdrawal of technical qualifications that are due to the replaced by T Levels.
The Applied General Qualifications (AGQs) are being defunded by the Department for Education (DfE) after it cited their poor record of meeting industry needs and enabling graduates to gain jobs in related subjects.
AGQs, which include BTECs and other qualifications, are being replaced by T Levels – the technical alternative to A Levels that launched in September 2019. They are two-year courses, broadly equivalent to three A Levels, that include a nine-week industry placement. Up to 250,000 industry placements a year may be needed once they are fully rolled out.
In its report, the cross-party Committee urged DfE to “place a moratorium” on defunding AGQs due to problems with T Levels that were raised by expert witnesses during its inquiry.
