Response: Level 3 qualifications priorities

Today, the Department for Education announced a “shake up” to the post-16 education system. They plan to defund a number of Level 3 qualifications and prioritise Apprenticeships, A Levels and T Levels as the key progression options after GCSEs.
Lisa Capper MBE, Director of Skills and Education at Nacro, said: “Whilst Nacro is a supporter of higher-level vocational and technical education, we remain deeply concerned about the potential impact of these proposed changes. It is important to have choices and appropriate routes for all learners at all levels and offer vital stepping stones to further training and good jobs, and this is especially true for the most disadvantaged young people. It is right to have high aspirations, but we also have to ensure that we are providing the right pathways for young people to achieve that ambition.

We need to offer learners a range of courses, routes and options that work for them and for employers. Limiting choice will hit the more disadvantaged learners hardest. We worry about the rapid introduction of these changes and the gaps that they will leave. For any reform to succeed, the Government must take into account the needs of all learners at all levels – especially those already most disadvantaged – and work alongside those who support them.”