T Levels Provider FAQs
Pearson is responsible for the specification development and assessment delivery of the Technical Qualifications (TQ).
Below are some frequently asked questions and their answers, which will help you to understand some of the details of the TQ development, delivery, and assessment.
Pearson is responsible for the specification development and assessment delivery of the Technical Qualifications (TQ) in:
- Design, surveying and planning in Construction
- Digital production, design and development
- Accounting
- Finance
- Legal Services
These form the substantial component within the T Level.
Other components that must be achieved include:
- Industry Placement
- Other industry qualifications deemed appropriate by the T Level panel.
An Industry Placement of a minimum of 315 hours must be achieved. The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (the Institute) are responsible for the delivery and management of the placement.
The T Level panel may require other industry qualifications as part of the overall T Level programme. The Institute are again responsible for the delivery and management for this component.
Pearson have successfully won the contracts to deliver the Technical Qualifications for the following T Levels:
- Design, surveying and planning in Construction
- Digital production, design and development
- Accounting
- Finance
- Legal Services
RQF L3 BTEC Nationals are funded for delivery for post 16 and most are on the DfE KS5 performance tables.
T Levels will become one of the main choices for students after GCSE, alongside Apprenticeships and A levels.
T Levels will be based on the same standards as apprenticeships, designed by employers and approved by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE). Total time for a T Level will be around 1,800 hours over the two years, including an industry placement.
This differs from an apprenticeship, which is typically 80% on-the-job and 20% in the classroom and is more suited to those who know what occupation they want to pursue, want to earn a wage and learn at the same time, and are ready to enter the workforce at age 16.
It is unclear how T Levels will affect Applied Generals and Technical Qualifications at Level 3. However, Pearson are keen to hear your thoughts.
T levels are designed to prepare learners for specific occupational roles, providing them with entry into employment or progression onto an apprenticeship. They are designed to be delivered in the classroom, yet they will also include a substantial Industry Placement.
The T Level content has been designed with respect to the new reformed Apprenticeship Standards, and will provide good technical knowledge for learners prior to starting an apprenticeship. However, T Levels will not directly affect Apprenticeship Standards or Frameworks.
The government is responsible for the reformation of technical education it set out in the Post-16 skills plan.
The full list of T Level providers is available on the government website.
Anyone wishing to become an eligible provider in order to deliver T Levels is required to submit an ‘intention to teach’ application to the DfE. The DfE will then select providers for each rollout and beyond.
Outline content is created by T Level Panels. These are groups of industry experts who work to define what key skills and knowledge a learner needs to cover during their two years of study and signed off by the Institute’s Route Panel members.
See the IfATE website for more details.
Pearson specifications are published on our Technical Qualification webpage for:
Construction: Design, surveying and planning
Students who pass all the elements of their T Level will get a nationally-recognised certificate showing an overall grade of pass, merit or distinction. It will also set out the details of what students have achieved on the course.
The T Level certificate will include:
an overall pass grade for the T Level, shown as pass, merit or distinction
a separate grade for the occupational specialism, shown as pass, merit or distinction
a separate grade for the core component, using A* to E
grades for maths and English qualifications
details of the industry placement.
Every T Level will include an industry placement with an employer to develop the practical and technical skills required for the occupation. These will last a minimum of 315 hours, but can last longer. Employers can offer industry placements as a block, day release or a mix of these.
Providers will support employers offering industry placements. This will include assistance with the necessary paperwork, a careful planning process and support with designing the industry placement.
The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) and National Apprenticeship Service (part of ESFA) will work with employers and providers on industry placements.
Please note that Pearson is not responsible for the Industry Placement element of the T Level. Any queries should be directed to the DfE.
The IfATE has announced additional funding of £500 million a year, once T Levels are fully rolled out, to help providers meet the costs of additional teaching hours and organising industry placements.
Providers of the first three T Levels will be able to apply for funding for up-to-date equipment and facilities. They will also be able to access training to help prepare their teachers and leaders.
The Institute for Apprenticeships & Technical Education can be contacted at the below email addresses:
- enquiries.ifa@education.gov.uk
- institute.media@education.gov.uk (press enquiries)
Awarding Organisations have a responsibility to ensure the integrity of T Level qualifications are being maintained by the Providers offering these qualifications. Each Awarding Organisation needs to demonstrate to the Institute that appropriate monitoring activities are in place and confirm that delivery of the Technical Qualification continues to satisfy the Provider Approval Criteria, protecting the integrity of the qualification. Where this is not the case, the Awarding Organisation is required to demonstrate how they have worked with the Provider to ensure their processes and procedures are in line with the required expectations.
Awarding Organisations may have different processes to monitor how you deliver your T Level qualifications, however the purpose of all monitoring activities is the same. Awarding Organisations have worked together to ensure they are monitoring the same activities, this may however be carried out in slightly different ways.
Pearson
For both the Construction and Digital Technical Qualifications once you have been approved to deliver the Technical Qualification, Pearson will conduct termly monitoring reviews with providers. Our process is different to NCFE’s as all the assessments for both Technical Qualifications are set and marked by Pearson, rather than being moderated. Monitoring reviews will take place termly, this will be a remote activity conducted by one of the Centre Quality Managers.
During the termly Monitoring Reviews the Centre Quality Manager will quality assure your Management and Information Systems, Resources, Assessment and Internal Quality Assurance processes. No student work will be sampled as part of this review; however, we will check that you have appropriate processes and procedures in place to deliver the Technical Qualification, in line with the expectations and requirements and your terms and conditions of Qualification Approval. In addition, we will discuss your assessment planning in terms of exam series selection and student preparation.
The criteria within the monitoring report is very similar to the criteria of your Approval application, therefore once approved, you should continue to update and maintain all records. Should there be any actions as a result of this activity, you will receive a development plan which will be monitored by the Pearson Quality Manager at the following monitoring activity. Your Peason Quality Manager will support you where an issue identified leads to an action by providing further guidance or by signposting you to specific resources or Pearson colleagues to support you further.
If you are delivering both of Pearsons Technical Qualifications, you will receive two separate monitoring reports, although the reviews may be conducted at the same meeting.
NCFE
Once approved NCFE will conduct one Annual Audit review per academic session. This will normally take place at the start of the session e.g., September – October. The provisional date for your Annual Audit review will be discussed with your External Quality Assurer once you have been approved to offer the T Level qualification.
During the Annual Audit review an External Quality Assurer will quality assure your Management and Information Systems, Resources, Assessment and Internal Quality Assurance processes. No learner work will be sampled as part of this review; however, they will check that you have appropriate processes and procedures in place to deliver their T Level qualifications, in line with their expectations and requirements.
The criteria within the Annual Audit report are very similar to the criteria of their Approval report, therefore once approved, you should continue to update and maintain all records. The criteria within this report are also very similar to Pearson’s Monitoring Report.
NCFE took the decision to do one Annual Monitoring review as they will be conducting regular moderation reviews with providers. For some T Level qualifications, this may take place at the industry placement throughout the year, with one final moderation review at the end of the qualification. Other T Level qualifications will only have a final moderation review at the end of the qualification. Moderation reviews will quality assure assessment decisions made by Assessors to confirm assessment criteria is being applied correctly.
Absolutely, once you have set up your policies and procedures you can share this information across Awarding Organisations, for the different T Levels you are offering, as ultimately all awarding organisations will be checking for the same evidence. We recommend that you start to prepare for your Awarding Organisation reviews as soon as delivery commences. You should have systems in place and be ready to share information as defined by the Awarding Organisations. They may include:
Management and information systems
Policies and procedures, records of communications between teams and departments (including placements and staff who work remotely), staff induction processes, course evaluation reviews, student course evaluation reviews, internal and external assessment processes, effective monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of all delivery and assessment, student registration, assessment entry and withdrawal processes, secure live assessment and administration for end point assessment if appropriate, communications with awarding organisations.
Resources
Records of assessors and Internal Quality Assurance, Continual Professional Development records, staff Curriculum Vitae, physical resources such as resources required for learners to achieve the qualification, resources for assessment in the workplace informed by the specification, and regular review and evaluation of all resources.
Assessment processes
Delivery plans, lesson plans, schemes of work, course files, learner tracking records, Learner Individual Learning Plans (ILPs), Learner Initial Assessment and Diagnostic results, assessment feedback, secure live assessment processes.
Internal Quality Assurance processes
Records from standardisation and course team meetings for all staff involved and use of exemplar materials, Internal Quality Assurance feedback to assessors.
Core component
The Core component is split into two assessments:
- Core knowledge, understanding and skills (KUS) which underpin all of the occupations covered by the T Level which the TQ forms part of.
- Employer Set Project (ESP) - assessment of specific knowledge, skills and behaviours relevant to one or more of the Occupational Specialisms.
Construction: 600GLH split equally between the following three assessments:
- Exam 1: Science and Building Technology
- Exam 2: Construction Industry and Sustainability
- Employer Set Project
Digital: 600GLH split equally between the following three assessments:
- Exam 1: Digital Technology
- Exam 2: Digital Working Practices
- Employer Set Project
Accounting: 500GLH split equally between the following three assessments:
- Exam 1
- Exam 2
- Employer Set Project
Finance: 500GLH split equally between the following three assessments:
- Exam 1
- Exam 2
- Employer Set Project
We do. The Core assessment is set and marked by the awarding organisation.
We do. The ESP is set and marked by the awarding organisation.
We will work with employers to design and set the ESP for each assessment window. This will make sure the assessment is set within a realistic industry context and it is appropriate and aligns with the Occupational Specialism within the TQ.
The Employer Set Project forms part of the assessment for the Core component, and relates to the Occupational Specialisms. The ESP is separate from the Industrial Placement (which is not part of the TQ) and does not assess the Industry Placement in any way.
However, we believe the Industry Placement will help your students apply the knowledge, understanding and skills they are learning in the classroom. And as a result, their placement will help towards them applying their skills within an industry environment, which we hope will support their summative assessment of the TQ.
For your students' initial attempt, yes. The Core assessments (each of the Core KUS and the ESP) must be sat in the same assessment window.
If your students need to resit the Core assessment, the rules are slightly different – please see ‘what can a student resit?’ below.
The Core KUS and ESP marks will be combined to give an overall Core component grade between A* - E.
Occupational specialism
We will be assessing the Occupational Specialism via a specialist project that will be set and marked by us. This is designed to be synoptic.
The specialist project will be designed to assess skills applied in a realistic project context - this will be a series of tasks that will may have to be done within a specific window or on a specific day.
Construction
Tasks will be set and briefs given for each of the occupational specialisms:
- Civil Engineering, Building Services Engineering Design
- Surveying and Design in Construction
- Hazardous Materials Analysis
- Surveying.
Students will be given a work-related problem to solve, where knowledge, understanding, skills and behaviours are drawn together. The brief will require the student to analyse a set of variables provided in context to the occupational specialism; research of a local environment, design a workable solution to the problem and verification of the solution with the client. Students will need to be observed operating safely when carrying out some tasks.
Digital
Tasks will be set and briefs given for the single occupational specialism:
- Digital Production, Design and Development.
Students will be given an integration project that will take a business problem, two sets of existing code, and the user requirements.
Accounting
Tasks will be set and briefs given for the single occupational specialism:
- Accounting assistant
Finance
Task will be set and briefs given for each of the occupational specialisms:
- Retail and Commercial Banking Analyst
- Investment Banking and Asset and Wealth Management Analyst
- Insurance Practitioner
- Financial Compliance/Risk Analyst
There is a single synoptic assessment for each occupational specialism, which is an extended ‘design, development and implementation’ project that is set and marked by Pearson.
The synoptic element of the project ensures students can demonstrate threshold competence and are able to evidence all the skills required by the Performance Outcomes.
The Occupational Specialism will be graded Pass, Merit or Distinction.
Assessment
The Core Component will have two assessment windows per academic year: Summer (April/May) and November.
The Occupational Specialist Component will have one assessment window per year: this will be classed as a Summer Window, as this is when the assessment will complete. However, the assessment window may start much earlier in the year (depending upon the TQ) due to the nature of the task.
No.
For their initial attempt, each student must take all of the Core component assessments in a single assessment window. So, all of the Core KUS assessments and the ESP.
Yes. There will be assessment windows for both the Employer Set Project and the Occupational Specialist project portfolio.
The ESP is part of the Core Component – therefore it will fall under the Core Component assessment window.
Yes — each ESP will be taken under some element of controlled conditions. Providers must refer to the specific guidance for each ESP and its respective tasks as to the conditions imposed.
There is no specific ‘resit’ window permitted. However, students will be able to resit in the following assessment window.
Students may resit:
- the Core KUS assessment
- the Employer Set Project
- the assessments for an Occupational Specialism, or
- any combination of these.
A student must resit all of the assessments for the Core KUS assessment, the ESP or an Occupational Specialism, as relevant. Students must resit all of the assessments for each in a single assessment window. So, for example, if there are two assessments for the Core KUS assessment, a student must retake both of those assessments in a single assessment window.
However, where a student resits both the Core KUS assessment and the ESP, he or she does not need to retake both sets of assessments in the same assessment window. For clarity, where a student resits the Core KUS assessment, he or she is not be required to retake the ESP, and vice versa.
For further information please refer to the Ofqual Handbook: Technical Qualifications.
Yes.
We will provide a free Provider Support package.
For teaching and delivery this will include:
- Specification
- Delivery Pack, including resources to support the holistic delivery of topics
- Getting Ready to Teach events
- Getting Ready to Assess events
- Getting Ready to Know the Specification events
- Q&A webinars
For assessment this will include:
- Getting Ready to Assess events
- Specimen Assessment Material
- Sample marked learner work
- Principal Examiner Report
Yes. We will be using both Results Plus and Exam Wizard for the TQ. However, please note that these are Pearson-owned systems - therefore they will only be used for the TQs we have the contract/s to deliver.
We have no plans to produce a textbook. However, a third party may choose to publish textbooks for the TQs.
No, the industry placement isn’t part of the Technical Qualification.
It is one of the components of the T Level and managed by the DfE.
Yes. In order to complete the T Level your students must complete the industry placement.
This hasn’t been confirmed by the DfE yet. But please note it will not be measured by us.
Yes. There have been some changes to the industry placement. For the most up-to-date information, please see the DfE's Industry Placement webpage.
No. Students don't need English or maths prior to starting the TQ.
Students do not require L2 English and maths in order to achieve their T Level.
There are no formal entry criteria set by us for the TQ. Entry requirements can be set by providers - but this is outside our remit as an awarding organisation.
We would suggest that students have achieved a good grounding at Level 2, either in GCSE or in vocational qualifications such as BTEC, and particularly in subjects that will aid progression to T Levels.
Yes, it has been confirmed that T Levels will attract UCAS points.
This is managed by the DfE and they hold the relationship with UCAS as to the allocation of UCAS points.
Please note: UCAS points will be allocated to the T Level not the Technical Qualification.
We have engaged with HEIs during the development of the TQ in order to ensure that its content is appropriate for progression to degree programmes.
The final grading of the T Level will be Pass, Merit, Distinction and Distinction*.
For the Technical Qualification, the Core is graded A*- E and the Occupational Specialism is graded Pass, Merit, Distinction. Both of these component grades will be given to the ESFA who will formulate the overall T Level grade, inform providers of T Level results and issue T Level certificates.
Please note: we will not be providing a grade or certificate for the Technical Qualification.
At this moment in time, we would suggest that the Qualification Descriptions should be used for this purpose. These can be found below.
We ask providers not to use any draft technical information on content and assessment for marketing purposes, but general information provided by the DfE promoting the T Level could be used.
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