The next round of the T level tender process has been announced, with awarding organisations invited to bid to run the next seven T levels from 2021.
The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) will manage the process for awarding organisations to develop and then implement qualifications based upon outline content created by T level panels.
The T level options up for grabs are building services engineering and onsite construction - in the construction route, digital business services and digital support services - in the digital route, and health and science, healthcare science and science - in the health and science route.
Read more: First awarding bodies for new T levels announced
More views: T levels: the 5 big issues yet to be addressed
Background: T levels: What subjects can you take?
The contracts for the first three T levels, which will start being taught next year, were awarded to NCFE to deliver the education and childcare T levels, and Pearson has was awarded contracts to deliver T levels in design, surveying and planning, as well as digital production, design and development. Last month, Tes reported that the size of these contracts had almost halved to £8.5 million, with student numbers revised down significantly.
The IfATE chief executive Sir Gerry Berragan said: “The launch of this second invitation to tender is an exciting milestone and shows that the Institute is well on track for the delivery of T levels. These seven new pathways - split across six separate contracts - will provide high quality, stretching and engaging new qualifications for young people. We’ve involved employers and businesses of varying sizes throughout this process, ensuring that T levels will be fit for purpose and relevant to the world of work.”
He added: “We were very happy with the level of interest for the first set of contracts and have worked hard to prepare awarding organisations for this second wave, through in-depth pre-market engagement. We encourage awarding organisations of all sizes to be part of this exciting new procurement process.”
The bidding window is open until Friday 10 May.
Size of the contracts
- LOT 1 Construction: Building Services Engineering and Construction: Onsite Construction £5.83m
- LOT 2 Digital: Digital Business Services £4.78m
- LOT 3 Digital: Digital Support Services £4.65m
- LOT 4 Health & Science: Health £5.78m
- LOT 5 Health & Science: Healthcare Science £5.00m
- LOT 6 Health & Science: Science £4.87m
