Delivering the work placements that are an integral part of the new T level qualifications is seen as "almost impossible" by employers, Kirstie Donnelly, chief executive of the City & Guilds Group, has said.
Speaking in front of the House of Commons Education Select Committee this morning on how coronavirus has impacted the FE and skills sector, Ms Donnelly said she was concerned about the feasibility of the 45-day T-level placement students will be required to take as part of the new qualifications, which will be rolled out from September.
She said: “The placement is a critical part of the T level and without it, the T level falls down a little. I hear a lot of employers say that it’s going to be almost impossible to deliver because of the other problems they are going to face.”
More: Government fully committed to T-level delivery in 2020
Background: T levels should be more flexible, says NFER
News: Next wave of providers announced
She said that she thought financial incentives for employers would help, and that if employers had extra funding to help them to provide the pastoral guidance and mentoring in the workplace that T level students will need, it would encourage them.
But she said that the “chaos” in the industry at the moment must not be underestimated: “I don’t think we can underestimate the chaos that is already out there with employers and if you lose that element of the T level you have potentially lost quite a lot of the significance of the meaning of the T levels."
Ms Donnelly said with the economy likely to change as a result of the pandemic, the planned T level pathways should also be kept under review: “I think there are reasons to be concerned about the 25 proposed pathways, too. Are they going to be the right ones in four years' time, when the economy has shifted? That must be kept under review.”
T levels are due to be taught in colleges across England from September 2020, with the first three routes being construction, digital and education and childcare. As part of the T level programme, learners will be required to undertake 315 hours of work placement.
David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, told the committee that he was "60 to 70 per cent confident" that all T level students would have a good experience. He said that flexibility in when the placements should take place needed to be considered.
“As lockdown starts to ease and as sectors start to get back into business it will start to get easier and easier. There is the flexibility to put those placements back a little bit because it is a two-year programme, but I think parents and students should be confident that it will work.”
Earlier this month, the Department for Education revealed that four of the providers due to teach T levels in September have delayed their courses for a year. Mr Hughes said that it was a judgement call not just about the T levels but around the other things colleges will need to be doing from September.
He said: “It’s going to be a chaotic term next term and it will be volatile and we don’t really know what to expect, some of them have said why don’t we just put it off. Others have placements and plans in place.”
Jane Gratton, head of People Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, said that there was still little awareness of T levels among employers. She highlighted research from 2019, which found that just 3 per cent of employers had "real understanding" of the T levels and only 20 per cent had some understanding.
She said: “We do need to do more collectively to raise awareness and help employers know what they are and how they can engage."
