T Levels December 2023 update
Welcome to our final T Level Update for 2023.
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You can still make Technical Qualification registrations for students commencing this academic year. However, as the initial registration deadline of 1 November has passed, registrations received between now and 24 December will be subject to a late fee.
Entries for the Occupational Specialism summer 2024 series are still open. You must make an entry for every student wishing to enter the assessment; please consult the relevant key dates schedule for detailed entry dates and deadlines.
On 21 September 2023, Ofqual published the resilience guidance for centres delivering GCSEs and A levels. This guidance notes that these arrangements will be applicable for some other qualifications involving exam assessment, including T Levels.
The guidance lays down the arrangements that schools and colleges are asked to make to provide resilience in the exam system, in the unlikely event that the government determines that exams are not able to go ahead in future.
In summary, the guidance asks the following of schools and colleges.
- Ensure students sit mock exams in exam conditions and that these are retained, either digitally or physically.
- Aim to complete assessments in the first half of the academic year where possible.
- Provide assessment content similar to that which students would expect in their summer exams and across the assessment objectives for the qualification.
- Provide assessments that are similar to full or parts of the exam papers students are preparing to take next summer, based on exam board materials as far as possible.
- Support their students to complete non-exam assessment (NEA) in line with the timescales set by exam boards
- .Make it clear to students that any grade used by teachers to indicate the level at which the student has performed is not an indication of what their final grade would be if it became necessary to award a qualification using the evidence.
For wider support, answering queries and networking you can join the following subject groups:
Following updates to the key dates schedule, efficiencies have been made to the scheduling of the Employer Set Project and Occupational Specialist Projects in 2024 to allow for more teaching time before assessment, with the Core Exams now taking place later in June.
Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) Into Work Grant scheme:
CITB is offering grants to employers who take on T Level students as industry placements for construction. There are criteria the employer must meet, which are outlined on the CITB website. Please share this opportunity with employers that you’re in contact with and encourage them to apply.
Find out more about the CITB Into Work grant.
We've published draft qualification descriptions and resource lists for each T Level to give you more information about the qualification and support your recruitment in the autumn term. You can find these in the ‘useful documents’ sections of the TQ web pages.
Draft copies of the expanded content for Craft and Design, and Media, Broadcast and Production are available. If you would like access, please join our Provider Validation Panel.
We have Provider update webinars planned for January for Craft and Design and for Media, Broadcast and Production. These are after the final approval milestone, so we will go through the final version of the qualification and assessments. Use these links to sign up to the events:
- Craft and Design | 25 January 2024, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
- Media, Broadcast and Production | 26 January 2024, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
We are creating an expert panel to advise and update on the Digital T Level for future Q&A network events. If you are interested in joining and sharing your experiences, please email david.pautsch@pearson.com.
We have launched our curriculum planners. There are separate summer and autumn versions to reflect the recent decoupling.
If you have feedback on the resources, please take the time to complete this short survey.
Gatsby have been working on resources for the Digital T Level that will support teaching and learning. These have been created by industry experts like Raspberry Pi and our own examiners to support you in class. They will be rolled out starting this term, so watch this space and keep an eye on Gatsby's website.
We have worked with Cisco and their Networking Academy on teaching resources for Python and other programming languages used in the Occupational Specialism. It's completely free to sign up and become a Cisco Networking Academy centre.
Access the resources and find out more at the Cisco Networking Academy.
Legal Services
We will release more teaching and learning materials over the coming months on the course materials page. Most recently, we’ve added Fundamentals of Law, Business Environments, a scheme of work for the Core component (we will launch the Occupational Specialism scheme of work soon), and exemplar materials for the Employer Set Project which gives student responses and commentary.
The Law Teacher Annual Conference takes place on Monday 12 February 2024 in Coventry. We will be there to discuss the T Level in Legal Services, and it will be a great opportunity to find out more and network with other teachers.
Book your tickets for the Law Teacher Annual Conference.
Finance and Accounting
Curriculum planners for the Core and Occupational Specialism Components are now available on the course materials page. Don’t forget about our professional body support for the Accounting Occupational Specialism.
We would welcome your feedback about the free training that is to be provided by the CII for the T Level in Finance (Occupational Specialisms: Insurance Practitioner and Investment Banking and Asset and Wealth Management Analyst). Please complete the survey to aid getting this delivery right for you.
The CII have a dedicated T Levels page to support you. If you’re interested in being involved with the CII T Levels, please contact them via the form on their page.
Find out more about the CII support for T Levels.
Please express your interest if you would like to join our Provider Validation Panel and be part of the development process. This will give you the opportunity to feed into the content and assessment, making sure it is appropriate and accessible for your students and manageable for you to deliver as a Provider.
If you have employer contacts who may be interested in supporting the development, please contact andrew.hambelton@pearson.com.
We have completed the first draft of the content expansion and are working on an assessment model to be complete for milestone 1 in mid-January.
Our training and admin support page gathers everything you need to support your T Level delivery, from training and events to videos and documents to assist in administrating the qualifications.
- On-demand training such as Getting to Know the Specification, Employer Set Project training, Keeping it Simple materials, and our termly policy update.
- T Level live training where you can search for events and book Q&A networks, Getting Ready to Teach events, Getting Ready to Assess events.
- Our training archive collects recordings of past events if you are unable to attend any of our live training sessions or want to listen again.
- Administration documents and support, including key dates schedules, Provider approval guidance, administration support guides for assessment, videos to support making registrations and entries, understanding resit rules, and much more.
Bookmark our training and administration support page and explore the resources on offer.
Our Q&A Network sessions are changing from 2024. They will still be hosted by our T Level Product Managers, but now focus on a key T Level delivery theme; for example, tracking and monitoring students to achieve their potential, planning and delivering assessments, good practice for industry placements.
Our first new-look session will take place on Tuesday 5 March 2023, 4–5 p.m., and will focus on recruitment, planning and preparation. This will look at how to plan a T Level. Current T Level teachers will share their experiences and we will look at resources available for the recruitment and planning phase of T Levels. This will also help those looking at refining their delivery model and sharing practice.
For individual support, you can book a call with our subject advisor. This is available via the ‘book an appointment with a subject advisor’ link on the subject advisors page, where you’ll also see information about your subject advisor and the support they offer. This is a 15-minute call where you can discuss any issue you are having with regards to planning or delivery of your T Level.
Find your subject advisor and book your call.
We have Provider Validation Panels for all our T Levels. Members play an important role in making sure the specification and assessments are manageable and fit for purpose. We will soon be undertaking our annual content review, so if you would like to contribute, please contact tlevelsemployers@pearson.com.
We also have an Employer Validation Panel for each T Level. Employers play a crucial role in the design and delivery of T Levels so if any employer you work with in the delivery of T Levels would like to be a member, please pass on Andrew’s contact details.
Find out more about the Employer Validation Panel on our employers page.
The T Level Transition Programme is now called the T Level Foundation Year (TLFY). We have a dedicated webpage where you will find a range of information to support the delivery of the TLFY.
Explore our T Level Foundation Year support.
We have published guides specifically designed to support the delivery of:
- Work Preparation and Employability Skills via our Level 2 Award in WorkSkills.
- Pastoral Support and Personal Development via our Level 2 Award in Personal Growth and Wellbeing.
Employers tell us that learners undertaking their industry placement often lack work-based digital skills, such as using Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint in a work environment.
Pearson’s Digital Functional Skills will help your learners develop the digital skills used in the workplace that employers are looking for.
Learn more about our Digital Functional Skills qualifications.
We have a range of materials aimed at supporting your T Levels recruitment activities. We have a dedicated page for students, which is also handy for parents, and is ideal to signpost to or use when recruiting students.
Explore the information available on our T Levels: for students page.