07 July 2022- T Level Newsletter

This week's newsletter includes updates on:

• FE Workforce – Challenges Survey: Don’t forget to have your say by 19th July 2022
• Reminder: Specialist Equipment Allocation Monitoring Form A due
• Employer Incentive Fund Reminder
• T Level Providers intending to deliver the T Level Transition Programme (TLTP) 
• T Level Results day guidance for Exams Officers
• T Level Celebration Week: #TLevelsCelebrations
• T Level Tariff Allocation update
• T Levels in Health and Healthcare Science report
• Education and Training Foundation (ETF) Update
• Awarding Organisations Updates

FE Workforce – Challenges Survey: Don’t forget to have your say by 19^th July 2022

The DfE is increasingly aware of workforce challenges faced by the FE sector.  Over recent years, we have engaged extensively with the sector on the issues. We announced in the Skills for Jobs White Paper last year a set of measures aimed to help address these concerns.  However, we would like to continually understand the most up to date challenges and get a feel for how the measures set out in the White Paper are helping to address the challenges as well as learning more about good practice already being developed by the sector. 

To gather a sector wide view, we have developed a short survey, that should take no longer than ten minutes to complete. This survey will enable us to see the national picture and identify any regional disparity of issues.

Your views on the themes raised through this short survey, combined with intel we gather from the Workforce Data Collection later this year (collection opens 12^th September 2022) will better enable us to target our resources and efforts towards the real pertinent issues affecting the sector. By completing this survey, you will be directly impacting the evidence base that underpins future policy direction.

Link to survey

We would be grateful if you/your leadership team could formulate a provider level response. As with all surveys, the more responses we receive, the more powerful the conclusions will be.

Reminder: Specialist Equipment Allocation Monitoring Form A due

This is a reminder to all providers who received SEA funding as part of Wave 3, the deadline for returning the Monitoring Form A was the 24 June. If you have not yet returned your form, it is important that this form is returned to us as soon as possible, so that we can review the equipment you are planning purchase using the allocation. Completing the form is a condition of funding set out in your grant offer letter. The form can be found here.

We will review your form and, should we need to follow up with you about the information provided, we will be in contact by 20 July.

If you have any questions regarding the form, please contact routesreadiness.te@education.gov.uk and we will be happy to help.

Employer Incentive Fund Reminder

For those of you that have been involved in the Employer Incentive Fund, please be aware that this is due to end on 31 July 2022. With this in mind, all expenditure needs to be submitted onto the online data collection tool via DfE Sign In, by 5pm 12 August 2022. Unfortunately, we will be unable to accept any submissions after this date.  It is important that you declare all spending and upload any employer declaration forms outstanding by this date, as we will use this data to calculate how much you have spent to date, and therefore, if applicable, how much we are due to reclaim from you in October.

Once the collection tool has closed, we will calculate your underspend, and email out to you in late August with what we will be clawing back from you in total (if applicable). The funding rules and guidance on how to complete the tool can be found here.

If you have any questions, please contact us via ip.employerincentivefund@education.gov.uk.

T Level Providers intending to deliver the T Level Transition Programme (TLTP) from the 2023-24 Academic Year

These providers who have recently confirmed their intention to deliver TLTP from the 2023-24 Academic Year will be contacted by the department’s TLTP Provider Delivery Support partner over the next few weeks. The intention of this contact is primarily to arrange the initial inception call with your designated AoC Relationship Manager to talk with you about the first steps to developing your programme. If you haven’t been contacted by 15^th July, please contact AoC at transition.programme@aoc.co.uk .

T Level Results day guidance for Exams Officers

On 18 August, the first cohort of T Level learners, who started in September 2020, will receive their overall T Level results. 

We recently created a dedicated area on the T Level Support for Schools and Colleges website aimed at supporting exams officers in preparing for T Level results day. Guidance includes a timeline of key dates, what T Level learners can expect to receive on results day and checklist for key actions.

If you have any queries specifically related to the Manage T Level results service please contact tlevel.resultsandcertification@education.gov.uk or if you have any further results day questions, please contact routesreadiness.te@education.gov.uk.

T Level Celebration Week: #TLevelsCelebrations

This week we are marking the completion of the first T Level courses with a T Level Celebration Week!  We want to share how successful the first rollout has been and showcase the fantastic job providers and students have done over the past 2 years.

You may already have activities planned and we wanted to share the T Level Celebration Week Provider Toolkits here. These have been developed to help generate ideas and include the hashtag we would like you to use when you post your stories during that week. We have also developed an employer toolkit which you may wish to forward onto employers who are offering Industry Placements to your students.

We think this is a great way to share your success nationally and it will help build interest around your own organisation and show the amazing options that are open to young people who choose to study a T Level.

If you have any ideas for the T Level celebration week you would like to share or if you have any questions, please get in touch at  TLevel.DELIVERY@education.gov.uk

T Levels Tariff Allocation update

UCAS has agreed to review the tariff allocation for T Levels to ensure partial achievement is recognised for T Level students. This process is likely to take time to embed, and for systems to reflect these changes.

However, for T Level students who will receive their results this August, we are working closely with UCAS to communicate these changes, and provide higher education providers with an indication of what the tariff points will be for partial achievement.

Higher education providers will be informed that for this first wave of T Levels, tariff points will be allocated to the Core and the Industry Placement together, and will represent 50% of the points for the overall T Level. This will then be reviewed following this summer’s results day.  

This will mean that students will either be awarded points for their overall T Level if they achieve all components of their T Level, or, if they only achieve their Core and Industry Placement, their attainment will be worth the points below:

If you have any further questions, please get in touch with the routesreadiness.te@education.gov.uk

T Levels in Health and Healthcare Science report

The NHS Northern Care Alliance (NCA) and Gatsby have produced a report providing details on T Level industry placements for the Health and Healthcare Science T levels. The NCA have worked in collaboration with a variety of stakeholders including the AoC, SDN, NHS Trusts, HEE, and providers to bring together information on what the T Levels involve, how they benefit the health and care sector, an overview of different placement structures, including examples of how they’ve worked in practice and solutions to practical placement challenges. It weighs up the benefits, considerations and lessons learned from different delivery models, using examples from providers and employers to demonstrate how different placements work in action. In the ‘Solutions to delivery challenges’ section of the report, you’ll find multiple case studies, providing real world examples of how employers have overcome the most common delivery challenges in this sector.

You can find a link to the report here: T Levels in Health and Healthcare Science report: successful industry placement models in action

This is a valuable resource for any stakeholders considering or already delivering the Health, Healthcare Science or Science T Levels.  Please circulate this report more widely across your networks in the Health and Science sectors.

Awarding Organisations Updates

Highfield

T Level Technical Qualification in Catering – TQ Specification

Highfield is producing a qualification specification for the T Level Technical Qualification in Catering as a guide for providers. This specification contains all the information needed to deliver this brand-new qualification and sets out the knowledge, understanding, skills and behaviours that Students need to learn. The draft TQ Specification is being shared with providers during development for information purposes. If you would like to see this early draft version, then get in touch with Highfield today on 01302 363277 or email us at tlevels@highfield.co.uk

Pearson

Pearson’s June E-Bulletin was published and included the following: 

• Provider Approval and Provider Monitoring
• Draft Key dates Schedule 2022-24
• Q&A Networks and Training events
• August 2022 results

Read the June E-Bulletin 

C&G update:

Are you preparing to deliver the City & Guilds’ Management and Administration T Level Technical Qualification from September 2022? There is an opportunity to join their Technical Advisors at the upcoming regional network this month. Use the link to reserve your place. Management & Administration T Level network - NCC Chadwell Heath, London Tickets, Tue 12 Jul 2022 at 10:00 | Eventbrite

Their next Provider Update for the Agriculture, Environment and Animal Care T Level will be on 22nd July 2022. Technical Advisor Anne Rogers will be discussing all the latest developments in the T Level. This webinar is ideal for Curriculum Managers, Trainers, Lecturers, and Assessors. Register for this event below. T Level in Agriculture, Environment and Animal Care - Provider Update Fri 22 July 2022 at 14:00-15:00 BST

NCFE

NCFE is pleased to let you know that the Key Dates Schedule is now approved and published for the following NCFE T Level Technical Qualifications: 

The schedule covers the 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years and includes common dates shared across all T Level awarding organisations. Please note, key dates for NCFE T Level Technical Qualifications that have first delivery in 2023-24 will be communicated separately in 2023, following approval. 

Access Key Dates Schedule