Anyone have a DC studying for a T Level?

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Our DD is in Y10 and while doing well in class, really struggles with sitting assessments. We're looking at her options for post-GCSE and are coming round to thinking that A Levels might not be the right path for her. She already has a clear idea of what career she wants to pursue, so we're thinking a specific and related T Level course might be a good option with a view to her applying to uni afterwards (the uni courses she's thinking about do accept T Level qualifications).

My concern is that the introduction of T Levels seems to be a bit of a mess – Ofsted came out last summer with a report saying some courses aren't fit for purpose. So, if anyone's DC is doing one, it would be great to hear about their experience, good and bad, so far.

Edited to add: there is an identical BTEC course currently running, but it's on the Govt's list to have its funding removed later this year.

The department for education is T level crazy and will do anything to make them a success as they have spent £1billion setting them up. This is why some Btecs are being defunded. Great if it suits your dc, make sure you find out about the 12 weeks of work experience, some colleges find the dc drops out of the course after the work experience because the dc gets offered a job.

That's interesting to know about the work placements! I know my DD definitely wants to go to uni, though, so I'd be surprised if her head was turned, so to speak.

I can see the Govt is anxious to make them a success – thing is, they probably won't be in power by the time she has to enroll! I can't find anything about Labour's stance on them.

Labour won't say but the investment is so large the current situation is likely to continue. Both the govt and labour are far more focused on early years and attendance etc, further education doesn't get much for a look in.

My dd doing one and loving it. She loves the work placement she does 2 days a week and 3 in college so it is very full on and no free time in the week but she's excelling at it and looking at applying to unis.

My DS is doing one in engineering, he really enjoys it, seems a great balance of theory and practical and the placement has been brilliant.
just be aware that the theory side is year one with exams and these are crucial, no exams in yr 2 at all.

Thanks for sharing! That's really good to hear she's having a positive experience. Why did she choose it over A Levels, if you don't mind me asking?

Thanks for the heads up about the exams in year 1. At least that's something she can prepare for. What does your son plan to do afterwards?

He’s planning to go to Uni and has had offers, though currently he’s going to have a year out first.

My son is in his second year of T level in health, he enjoyed his work placements as they were all at different places, so he got a variety of experience, which led him to make his final decision on what he wants to do. He has an interview for a university course in April.

He also did his exams after the first year and is on course for 124 ucas points.

My DD wants to defer for a year too. Congrats on his offers!

That's really great to read, thanks for sharing. I'm so glad I posted now! Well done to him on those UCAS points, that's a great score. Did you find that enough unis accepted T Levels when he was applying?

We were looking at the old poly unis as the courses suited what he wants anyway. I don’t think you’d get into a RG type Uni with one, though maybe this will change as t levels get more well known

The course she wants to do isn't one she'd need to do at a RG uni so that wouldn't be an issue.

We've just had another chat about it with me and her dad, discussing what everyone's kindly shared on here, and we're all agreeing it sounds like it could be brilliant for her.

It was a bit confusing at first, as some courses said they did not know what T levels where when we went to look when he started his first year on the course, but I think now they are being recognised more.

DD is not doing T-Level (too high level for her) but her college has mainly switched over to them in place of BTECs.

A couple of things to consider:
. entry requirements seem to be higher than for the older Level 3 BTECs
. how will the young person travel to work experience

Thanks for the feedback. The entry requirement for the course my DD wants to do seems reasonable – 4 GCSEs over grade 4, including maths, Eng lang and science. Do BTECS accept less than that? Travelling to work experience won't be an issue as we're in London, so she'll have various public transport options.

The 4 over grade 4 is what the Level 3 BTECs tended to need. I have seen some T-Levels advertised as needing 5s.

Ah London, that will be easy travel wise. DD is doing work experience weekly at a kennels and they tend to be in the middle of nowhere, not anywhere near bus routes.

Yes, we're lucky that everything is pretty easy to get to.

Will be interesting to see if the required grades change at all. I hope not! At the moment it's definitely grade 4.

Things you need to bear in mind:

• not every uni accepts them for every course, so you will be blocking some options off. But if she’s checked a few of the likely options and it’s fine this is less of a concern.
• some T Levels have been poorly taught, so I would want to talk to current students, ask about drop out rates, completion rates, typical scores
• they are not really good for SEND students, so if that’s a consideration it’s a big issue
• Does the college have a robust plan for work placements? Do students have to find them themselves? What happens if the placements don’t work out? What is the process for issues with work placements? How far away are the placements and is there any financial support for travel? If not would it be affordable?

Some T Levels have worked really well, but others have been an absolutely disaster.

Hi, my DS is in his first year of doing a level 3 digital t level. Absolutely loves it😍

He had offers for both A levels & T level but couldn't make a decision between the two. He liked the option of either opting for an apprenticeship or continuing on to uni so felt T level was the better option.

He attends a city centre college with a good reputation for it's T level courses. Plus as we live near the city he has more options for the work placement element, he has successfully secured a place at a major UK bank who are a huge advocate for recruiting t level students on their apprenticeship schemes.The college assists with finding work placements but DS had to submit his CV and attend an informal interview.

Just like A levels, there is a lot of self study once assignments are set so need to be motivated.

There's regular end of topic testing, and end of year final exams, in year 1&2. The course is also helping them to develop their soft skills ready for the workplace. The tutors are all very supportive, when not in class they are available on Teams and have a monthly 1-1 to see how things are going.

There are level 2 T levels which are one year courses for students who don't acquire grade 5. They are a foundation year which leads onto the level 3 course.

I was rather hesitant at first as read a lot of negative articles about T levels but think most were teething issues that coincided with the pandemic. Research the college and courses, pop in and chat to the tutors about previous students, work placements etc

So far, it's been a positive experience and hopefully continues.😀

I am not convinced T-levels are brilliant for anyone who struggles with assessments. There are still quite high stakes and long assessments as part of the course, which are more highly weighted than the assessments in BTEC.

Among other subjects I teach a level 3 BTEC and the T-level is not a like for like replacement. We aren't going to run T-levels as a school for a few reasons- 1) rurally, work placements will be almost impossible 2) Currently, local unis don't seem keen on them at all and 3) The curriculum is a lot narrower than the BTEC we run, and more limiting in terms of career options.

Currently, as a replacement, we're looking at AAQs- these are one A-level equivalents which will be similar in format to BTEC Certificates and Cambridge Technicals. Students will be able to sit 2 of these alongside an A-level, so for example might do Human Biology, Health and Social care + Psychology A-level- for example. From what we currently know, we think this route would suit students like your DD more in our area (sciences). It also removes the really difficult logistical challenges of trying to find suitable work placements our students can actually get to.

Our largest local FE college has had some major issues with running some T-levels, and our feeling is that if they can't manage it, then we definitely can't.

If you decide to go down a T-level route, I would ask (on open days etc):

• How many students start the course, and how many successfully complete it?
• What outcomes are you getting from students with DD's grade profile?
• What progression routes are these students taking after college?

If it were my child, I wouldn't want them to be in the first cohort to do T-levels at a particular institution.

Quite a few colleges will accept BTEC students who need to retake maths or English if they've shown aptitude in the BTEC subject. I think, with work placements, it's much harder to retake GCSEs alongside BTEC.

Those entry requirements are quite low for a T-level, so I would be asking serious questions about outcomes and how many students actually manage to complete the course.

Also there’s no partial qualification for a T Level - if she does one year and doesn’t like it, she’ll leave with nothing to show for her year. There’s no option to convert to AS as there would be on an A Level programme.

That's a good point.
Under the BTEC system if a college did all the compulsory units in year 1 someone could leave after year 1 with a Certificate / Subsidiary Diploma or something.

If you are in London this is probably less of an issue but certainly around me the nearest T level provider is two hours drive away.

(I worked in a school and we ran pshe sessions on options after GCSEs and we were required to mention T levels. The kids then asked where they could do them and that was the answer).

I'd be a bit careful; a lot of money has been poured into them but very few places are offering them and I can see them disappearing with a change of government.