Predicted calamitous impact of scrapping BTECs from 2026

[noblegiraffe]

"The DfE wants a streamlined system for students finishing their GCSEs which pushes them to study either A-levels, T Levels, or an apprenticeship from 2025.
Alternative applied general qualifications (AGQs) like Pearson’s popular BTECs will only get funding from this point if they do not overlap with the other qualifications and pass a strict approvals process."

This is absolutely crazy. They're trying to force kids onto T-levels by removing BTEC options but the implementation of T-levels has been patchy (particularly around issues with work experience) and 1 in 3 students who started one dropped out.

Apprenticeships at that level are pretty thin on the ground. What are kids who are not suited to A-level study meant to do?

The prediction is that 155,000 kids will be left without a suitable course. 1 in 8 kids.

This is particularly telling "For example, qualifications like the BTEC foundation diploma in health and social care have been criticised by ministers because “less than 5 per cent” of students progress to higher education.
What officials ignore is that 64 per of students studying this qualification progress to employment and 24 per cent to further education, according to the SFCA."

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/btecs-reforms-risk-155k-students-fall-through-the-gap/

We are pretty rural, most of our sixth formers start y12 being bussed into us, and obviously not all can afford a car. We don't have any way we could get students to work placements, so unless they have a parent commuting the same way, how would they get there?

The requirements for the placement providers are also pretty steep- really a small local company isn't that likely to be interested. Most would also rather invest in an apprentice who will stick around for longer and potentially be a long term asset.

I think in larger cities, the work placement thing is less of an issue, but it's not fair for rural students to lose out.

We're also a school rather than a college, so our students are timetabled over 4 or 5 days (definitely 5 if they are resitting English or Maths).

There's also the issue that within their work placement, students are only allowed 7 sick days, or they'd have to do further placement days- this could cause clashes with delivering content. I've had students succeed on BTEC with relatively low attendance due to health issues and caring commitments. This isn't likely to be possible on a T-level.

We have been talking to our local FE college which unsuccessfully trialled a T-level in Science. They decided not to offer it to a new cohort this year, and instead continue with Extended Diploma Applied Science, which we also offer- whilst it's still possible to do so.

Some of the issues they faced:

-Difficulty of finding placements, and then difficulty of getting students to those placements. Students are already commuting into school and college, they often then can't manage an additional commute to another town or industry placement. Not all parents can drive them to placement, placements often need to start before students can drive. Their BTEC Cohort is quite large, I think something like 50-60 students a year. There's no way they could find that many work placements. Ours is much smaller, but we'd also struggle to find 10 work placements! (And there's the issue with competing with other providers for placements).

-There's more exam pressure than a BTEC, if students cope well with Exams, then they are generally already opting for A-levels. There's more long answer questions and complex wordy questions, which students struggle with.

-There's the pressure of having to do a large project and exams at the same time, which students struggle with. With BTEC, we can set our own internal deadlines, so they don't clash with exams. Even for A-levels, people tend to get coursework over and done with well before the exams!

-Students with lower attendance really struggle with T-levels, and there's less flexibility than with the BTEC for students experiencing difficulties during the course.

-They found students were dropping out at the end of the first year because they realised the qualification wasn't actually widely accepted by unis for their chosen progression route.

The SFCA estimates 155,000 young people won't have access to a course that meets their needs in 2026. It's such a worrying situation with the continued funding of Btecs the logical solution.

Yes, I don't understand why you'd take course which is proven to be successful, which meets students needs and is working, and insist on replacing it with something that really isn't any of these.

I think, for us as a school sixth form, we won't have anything to offer these students, which also reduces their options and puts pressure on them to commute further away.

We will probably offer the AACs which are equivalent to one a level, but at the moment they are saying students can't take 3 of these - they must do at least one A-level. And this will reduce their options further.