The government has bowed to criticism from the early years education sector, and has said it is working with the T-level panel responsible for education and childcare on a longer work placement.

A spokesperson for the Department for Education said the government had “listened to comments from the sector on the need for longer education and childcare T-level placements” and was “working with the T-level panel to agree a longer minimum placement expectation”.

The work placement is an integral part of the new T-level qualifications, which are to be brought in from 2020. It has previously been reported that T-level industry-placement pilots in education and childcare are currently underway with students undertaking a minimum of 40 days.

This is despite Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) guidance stating that placements should be an average length of 50 working days, within a range of 45 to 60, and for a minimum of 315 hours.

Continued concerns

At 40-45 days and about 270 hours, the industry placement is also significantly shorter than the 720 hours that awarding bodies consider to be the minimum length to achieve a licence to practice - something about which training organisations and awarding bodies have continued to raise concerns.

Julie Hyde, director at CACHE, said: “Comments from the sector echo our concern for significant education and childcare T-level placement hours, especially when the T level is expected to be a licence to practice.

“It would make sense if hours are calculated in line with current early years educator qualifications to achieve equitability and fairness both for the learner and the setting.”

Sufficient experience

Velda Bartholomew, training operations manager at the Pre-school Learning Alliance, said: “We believe it’s essential that T-level students gain sufficient experience to work as a Level 3 practitioner who can be confidently counted in the ratios on completion of their qualification. As such, it’s very positive that the DfE is giving serious consideration to the number of work-placement hours required.

“It’s worth noting that the general consensus among awarding bodies and the sector is that the minimum placement expectation should be 720 hours, which is significantly more than the current minimum.

“As such, we hope that the government will continue to listen to and engage with the sector, and make the changes needed to ensure that the T level is a qualification that both employers and learners can be confident is fit for purpose.”