The government announcement on pause and review is the right decision, says AoC

David Hughes, Chief Executive of Association of Colleges, said: "I am very pleased that the new Education Secretary has shown that she is listening and carefully examining the evidence in this and other announcements since the election. That bodes well for all of the reforms that the new government has committed to, with a more open, evidence-based, engaging approach to designing a more coherent tertiary education system which works for all people at all stages of their work and lives.

"This was an important decision needing urgent attention in the best interests of students and the colleges wanting to meet their needs. Our position was always that T Levels are here to stay and will increasingly become vital qualifications alongside others, but the implementation plans had gone awry. So it is great to hear the clear and unambiguous support for the future of T Levels as well.

"Pausing defunding and undertaking a rapid review of the implementation is exactly what we asked for and this announcement will come as a great relief to college staff up and down the country. It means that students wanting to attain qualifications in, for instance, social care and electrical will be able to do that and help meet the enormous skills shortages in those two sectors, and there are other subjects like that which will need to be carefully examined in the coming weeks.

"Alongside the rapid review there is good work which needs to continue in the Department of Education on reviewing the content and assessment of T Levels and how to scale up the availability of placements to ensure their success for students and for progression into jobs and further learning."