- About us
- About colleges
-
Corporate services
- Corporate services
- Mental health and wellbeing
- Data Protection/GDPR
-
Employment Services - college workforce
- Employment Services - college workforce
- Employment: How we support members
- Introduction & Employment Helpline
- Absence & Sickness Management
- Contracts and T&Cs
- Disciplinary, Capability & Grievance
- Employment Briefings Library
- Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
- General Employee Relations & HR Issues
- Holiday/annual leave related
- Industrial Relations
- ONS reclassification related guidance
- Pay & Pensions
- Recruitment
- Redundancy, Restructuring & TUPE
- Safeguarding/Prevent
- Workforce Benchmarking, Surveys & Research
-
Governance
- Governance
- Governance: How we support members
- Governance Timeline
- Representation
- AoC National Chairs' Council
- National Governance Professionals' Group
- Code of Good Governance
- External Governance Reviews
- Resources
- Governors Inductions
- Student Governor Inductions
- Student Governor Support Hub
- Guidance
- Hot Topics
- Governance Briefings
- Archive
-
Projects
- Projects
- Get Involved!
- Resources
- Contact the Projects Team
- Apprenticeship Workforce Development (AWD) Programme
- Creating a Greener London – Sustainable Construction Skills
- The 5Rs Approach to GCSE Maths Resits
- Creative Arts in FE 2024 – developing student voice through creativity
- DfE Multiply Capability Support Programme
- Digital Roles Across Non-digital Industries
- GCSE Resits Hub Project
- Pears Foundation Youth Social Action Programme: Phase 2
- T Level and T Level Foundation Year Provider Support Programme
- T Level Professional Development (TLPD) Offer
- The Valuing Enrichment Project
- Creative Writing in FE Anthology 2021/2022
- Resources/Guidance
- Sustainability & Climate Action Hub
- Partnerships
- Honours Nomination
- Brexit
- Ofsted Inspection Support
- Recruitment and consultancy
-
Events and training
- Events and training
- Events
- AoC Annual Conference and Exhibition 2024
- T Level and T Level Foundation Year Events
- Events and training: How we support members
- Network Meetings
- Previous Events and Webinars
- In-House Training
- Senior Leadership Development Programme
- Introducing AoC's Early Career and Experienced Managers' Programme
- Sponsorship and Exhibition Opportunities
- Funding and finance
-
Policy
- Policy
- Meet the Policy Team
- Policy: How we support members
- Policy Areas
- Policy Briefings
- Submissions
- Policy Papers & Reports
- AoC Strategy Groups
-
AoC Reference Groups
- AoC Reference Groups
- 14-16 Reference Group
- 16-18 Reference Group
- Adults (inc. ESOL) Reference Group
- Apprenticeship Reference Group
- EDI Reference Group
- HE Reference Group
- HR Reference Group
- International Reference Group
- Mental Health Reference Group
- SEND Reference Group
- Sustainability & Climate Change Reference Group
- Technology Reference Group
- WorldSkills Reference Group
- Opportunity England
-
Research unit
- Research unit
- Surveys
- MiDES Benchmarking
- Research Further
-
Research projects
- Research projects
- Investigating the impact of the apprenticeship levy on training outcomes - January 2024
- Forecasting the cost of the English HE funding system - November 2023
- Local skills improvement plans: a review of their impact and opportunities for the future
- The educational provision for 14 to 16-year-olds in further education in England
- Staying with the troublemakers: A celebration of research in FE
- Strengthening governance arrangements in the English post-16 skills system
- Data Sources
- Think Further - thought leadership in FE
-
News, campaigns and parliament
- News, campaigns and parliament
- Post-election hub
- General and mayoral election resources
-
Comms advice and resources for colleges
- Comms advice and resources for colleges
- Media relations: 10 ways to build effective relationships with the media
- How to choose a PR agency
- Legal considerations for communications and media work
- How to plan for a new build
- Crisis communications: your go-to guide
- How to handle photo consent for media and marketing
- How to evaluate a PR and media campaign
- How to react to regulation, funding and restructuring issues
- How to react quickly and effectively to the media
- Working with the media: a complete guide
- How to write a compelling case study
- How to write for the web
- College communications, marketing and campaigns community
- AoC Newsroom
- AoC Blogs
- Work in Parliament
- AoC Campaigns
- Briefings
- Communications, media, marketing and research: How we support members
-
Equality, diversity and inclusion
- Equality, diversity and inclusion
- Equality, diversity and inclusion blogs
- AoC’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Charter
- AoC’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Charter for further education sector organisations
- AoC’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Charter signatories
- Diversity in Leadership
- Black FE Leadership Group and AoC partnership agreement
- AoC's Equity Exchange
- Equality, diversity and inclusion: how we support members
- Equality, diversity and inclusion case studies
- ETF Inclusive Leadership Coaching Programme
- Equality, diversity and inclusion briefings
- Home
- News, campaigns and parliament
- AoC Blogs
- How the first T Levels are shaping up
How the first T Levels are shaping up
After many years of hard work by providers, employers, sector and industry experts, I’m delighted to be able to say that the first T Levels in Digital Production, Design and Development, Design, Surveying and Planning for Construction, and Education and Childcare have now launched across the country.
Our very first students have begun their programmes; they will combine classroom study with an industry placement of at least 9 weeks in their chosen career area. Equivalent to 3 A levels and in line with UCAS points, T Levels will allow students to progress into skilled professions, higher level and degree apprenticeships or full-time degree courses depending on their ambitions.
T Levels will make a real difference to the opportunities available to young people, allowing them to flourish in the workplace. Gaining a T Level will give students the best chance of moving into skilled work once they graduate, giving employers the skilled workforce they need and contributing to economic recovery.
Employers and educators really see the value of T Levels in preparing students not only for the world of work but also for higher level applied learning.
Over 250 leading employers have been involved in putting together the content for the T Level courses. They include large household names like GlaxoSmithKline, Fujitsu, KPMG and Amazon through to SMEs and even micro businesses. Together with education specialists, they have developed 24 courses which cover a wide range of subjects and sectors, from digital, media and engineering to agriculture, accounting and healthcare. So the career options available to students will be in many different professions.
T LEVELS GK.jpg
Across England, these businesses have contributed a huge amount of effort in creating the right balance of learning and practical skills to make sure T Level courses will stand the test of time and really deliver for everyone. Students are not just learning on the job but bringing fresh ideas to the workplace and employers get to identify early talent.
Having worked in a number of sectors throughout my own career, I know how important it is that students are ‘work-ready’ – and with the nine week placement giving them the chance to really experience an industry, I’m confident that T Levels will give young people the differentiating experience they need. I believe this is something that really sets T Levels apart and is an exciting prospect for the future.
Launching a new technical qualification was never going to be an easy task; a challenge that has of course been amplified by Covid. However, it’s a testament to the dedication of our 2020 providers, including colleges, schools and independent training providers that T Levels have launched as planned this month.
It’s been inspiring to see some of the first teaching take place – both in person and virtually – in the past few weeks; listening to employers and lecturers talk about the curriculum they have developed and hearing from excited young people. All this makes me really confident that we are paving the way to world-class technical education in this country.
Gillian Keegan is the Apprenticeships and skills minister and the MP for Chichester