Colleges should consider opening up T levels to students who have not yet obtained a grade 4 in GCSE English and maths, a leading official from the Department of Education has said. 

While the DfE currently requires students to have GCSEs or level 2 functional skills qualifications only in English and maths by the end of their T-level qualification, a Tes investigation in October revealed that the majority of providers due to teach the first wave of T levels from this September were actually making a grade 4 pass – or, in some cases, even higher grades – an entry requirement for the "gold standard" qualifications.

However, speaking at the Association of Colleges' GCSE maths and English conference in London today, Jim Addison, head of post-16 basic skills at the DfE, told delegates that students who were yet to obtain their level 2 in the two subjects should be allowed to study T levels.

Background: The 50 T level providers for 2020

News: Welcome to education’s newest exclusive club: T levels

More: What grades will be required to study the new T levels?

T levels: is confidence growing?

He said: "We would hope that as providers' confidence grows [in T levels], so too will your approach to the exit requirements, to allow students who don’t already have level 2...to access T levels, and [ensure] that T levels can be made available to as many students as possible.”

Mr Addison added: “We recognise that providers are approaching this requirement with caution. In many cases, they are initially planning to take on students who have already achieved their English and maths exit requirement. This is perfectly understandable given T levels are new [and] they will be more technically focused than many qualifications. 

“[The exit requirement for English and maths] is intended to give employers the confidence that students who pass their T levels have good numeracy and literacy skills.”

In October, Mark Anderson, vice-principal at New College Durham, told Tes that it would be a “massive ask” for students to study a GCSE maths and/or English alongside a T level because of the sheer size of the T-level programmes.

T levels will consist of 1,800 hours over two years – 50 more than the average 16-19 study programme.

Speaking after the event, Mr Addison told Tes that the T level had been designed with “enough space” for retakes to take place. He said: “We designed the T level to try and create enough space for people who need to retake English and maths. But they haven’t started yet, and we want to talk to people and see what providers are doing, particularly from September, and we obviously want to understand.”