T LEVEL CASE STUDY FAREHAM COLLEGE


Fareham College is one of the 54 providers selected by government to deliver T Levels in the academic year 2020-21. Andrew Kaye reports on progress.


T Levels are large, complex, multi-component qualifications and much of the detail is still in development. One of the most important values of T Levels is the close relationship to skilled occupations. We must ensure teachers are both expert in pedagogy and highly occupationally competent in current industry standards and practices. Becoming familiar with the new specifications is important, but I also believe FE teachers should be able to spend time in industry to ensure their knowledge remains contemporary. The FE sector responds well to change, and I would expect to see providers spending the required time on training. The extended industry placements are commonly their issue of most concern, but to students industry experience is the most valuable component of T Levels. Some occupational pathways will be better suited to placing students in the workplace for extended periods than others. Students’ geographical location may be another barrier to placement. So there is a risk of disparity between occupational pathways and regional variations in effectiveness of T Levels. Proposals to mitigate this include partnership working with Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), incentives to employers and centralised coordination of employer engagement. While Fareham College has strong employer


partnerships and has been highly successful in securing work experience for the large majority of our students, I would suggest that, for the sector as a whole, these proposals are not yet detailed enough nor sufficiently innovative to alleviate the concerns of providers. The proposed grading system appears complex. The


different components attract an A to E grade for the technical qualification and a pass, merit, distinction grade for the occupational specialism, plus a pass/fail for the industry placement. If a GCSE resit is required, then a 9-4 grade will be thrown in for good measure. I would welcome the idea of an overall pass for the T Level if all components are met, much like an apprenticeship framework. But I strongly believe that the quality of the pass should be differentiated, as in A Levels. One of the most important issues is the public


perception and awareness of T Levels. Technical and professional qualifications continue to be seen as a poorer relative to A Levels. T Levels offer an opportunity to redress the balance. Let’s hope the opportunity isn’t lost.


Andrew Kaye is the deputy principal of Fareham College. Ofsted judged Fareham outstanding in 2017 and it won the Tes College of the Year Award 2018. It will deliver T Levels in the education and childcare route, the digital route and the construction route from 2020.


T LEVELS LOOK TO THE FUTURE BUT WITH A NOD TO THE PAST


T Levels promise to change the face of technical education, but how much do they have in common with the former National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs)? Howard Pilott offers a personal view.


Are you ready for T Levels? Are you worrying about the novelty of these new qualifications? Or are you thinking ‘same old, same old’? At first glance as an old hand in further education, I might look at T Levels and view them as reheated National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs). But would I have a valid point? What do they share on closer inspection? Well, both are built around employer-specified content. Both include elements of industry placement. NVQs spawned a range of college-based versions, which worked by supplementing an essentially classroom/workshop-based delivery with often small chunks of industry placement. In that superficial sense, T Levels will offer a


classroom/workshop-based training with industry experience that can be seen as the successors to college NVQs. But T Levels and NVQs are quite different animals by design. NVQs arose in the days when credit accumulation was all the rage – they were essentially about work-based accreditation. T Levels have final assessments: an exam for the content and a project for the work skills, like the new apprenticeships. This will inevitably mean a degree of ‘teaching to the exam’. Added to which English and maths have leapt up the agenda and all teachers will need the ability to support these subjects in ways that were not expected around NVQs. And while NVQs offered industry placements, they tended to be short. By contrast the minimum T Level industry placement period has been set at a minimum 45 days per two-year qualification. The government has set aside £74 million to help


providers and employers deliver T Level placements. But it is still a challenge and implies a degree of planning far beyond the work experience diaries once so popular at the time of NVQs. T Levels are vocationally sharp, so it is important that upskilling is available to teachers, and industry experts are brought in to share their direct experience. So, are T Levels the progeny of NVQs? No, although


they do share some features. Perhaps, they’re more closely related to the BTEC as originally conceived as BEC and TEC? But that’s another story.


Howard Pilott is head of initial teacher education development and advice at the Education and Training Foundation (ETF).


inTUITIONTECHNICAL TEACHING • AUTUMN 2018 9


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