AoC responds to the outcome of the Level 3 rapid review

David Hughes, Chief Executive, Association of Colleges, said: ‘’Today's announcement in the House of Commons on the outcome of the rapid review of Level 3 qualification defunding offers some stability for colleges and students and allows colleges to plan their curriculum offer with confidence for the next couple of years

“It shows that the government has engaged and listened to college lecturers as well as employers. We asked the government to take a route-by-route evidence-based approach to the review, and it’s clear that the decision to retain qualifications which help young people to progress in learning and into work has been informed by working in partnership with the FE sector. The decision to trust college staff to design learning programmes which combine qualifications, rather than setting rules centrally, signals a welcome shift towards trusting colleges to do the best for their students. Our members will welcome this as well as the strong commitment to T Levels as part of a wider suite of qualifications, because T Levels are working well for many students across a range of subjects.

“We will continue to support the curriculum and assessment review work and look forward to hearing more about its vision for the whole post-16 qualification landscape when it reports next year.”