T-Levels: Making the new technical qualifications work for woodworking
The Chancellor in his Budget statement on the 8th March 2017 endorsed the Lord Sainsbury’s review of Technical Education and indicated that recommendations related to Technical Qualifications (T-Levels) would be adopted.
The Chancellor in his statement outlined that spending on those will rise to £500 million a year once they are fully in place. He promised a 50% increase in teaching hours and three month work placements. The amounts allocated are:
2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22
16-19 technical education £60m £115m £250m £445m
While BWF support a focus on technical education, there are areas of the 15 'pathways' which give still gives the impression that this route is for those not suited to academic education – some areas cannot be classed as technical education, but vocational. Furthermore, we are a heavily apprenticeship focused industry, but with Construction not listed as a pathway for apprenticeships only, we have to ensure that industry is happy with the content of any T-Level qualification, or look for an exemption for woodworking within the construction pathway.
1. What is a ‘T-Level’ qualification?
Often described as ‘A’ Level Equivalent these newly proposed technical qualification routes are being developed based on 15 new pathways.
2. What are the 15 pathways?
The 15 technical education routes
Agriculture, Environmental and Animal Care
Numbers employed: 454,726
Typical job roles: Conservationist, park ranger, farmer, horticulturalist, agricultural manager, agricultural technician
Business and Administrative
Numbers employed: 2,204,478
Typical job roles: Human resources officer, office manager, administrative officer, housing officer
Catering and Hospitality
Numbers employed: 568,998
Typical job roles: Chef, butcher, baker, catering manager, events manager
Childcare and Education
Numbers employed: 1,060,804
Typical job roles: Nursery assistant, early years officer, teaching assistant, youth worker
Construction
Numbers employed: 1,625,448
Typical job roles: Bricklayer/mason, electrician, building/civil engineering technician, carpenter/joiner, construction supervisor
Creative and Design
Numbers employed: 529,573
Typical job roles: Arts producer, graphic designer, audio-visual technician, journalist, product/clothing designer, upholsterer, tailor, furniture maker
Digital
Numbers employed: 351,649
Typical job roles: IT business analyst/systems designer, programmer, software developer, IT technician, web designer, network administrator
Engineering and Manufacturing
Numbers employed: 1,319,645
Typical job roles: Engineering technician, vehicle mechanic, aircraft fitter, printer, process technician, energy plant operative
Hair and Beauty
Numbers employed: 293,004
Typical job roles: Hairdresser, barber, beauty therapist
Health and Science
Numbers employed: 915,979
Typical job roles: Nursing assistant, pharmaceutical technician, sports therapist, laboratory technician, dental nurse, food technician
Legal, Finance and Accounting
Numbers employed: 1,325,482
Typical job roles: Accounting technician, paralegal, financial account manager, payroll manager, finance officer, legal secretary
Protective Services
Numbers employed: 398,400
Typical job roles: Police officer, fire service officer, non-commissioned officer (NCO), maritime operations officer (coastguard)
Sales, Marketing and Procurement
Numbers employed: 957,185
We expect this route will primarily be delivered through apprenticeships.
Typical job roles: Buyer, procurement officer, sales account manager, market research analyst, estate agent
Social Care
Numbers employed: 865,941
Typical job roles:
Care worker, residential warden, home carer, probation officer, welfare counsellor
Transport and Logistics
Numbers employed: 589,509
We expect this route will primarily be delivered through apprenticeships Typical job roles: Ship’s officer, railway signalling technician, HGV driver
It is currently proposal is that eleven of the 15 sectors will deliver via two-year college courses or apprenticeships, the remaining four routes will be available via apprenticeships only. The apprenticeship-only routes are: protective services; sales, marketing and procurement; social care; and transport and logistics.
3. When will they be implemented?
The first ‘pathfinder’ routes are planned for teaching in September 2019 and the plan is to get the rest should be in place by September 2022.
4. Where will woodworking fit in?
Woodworking will form part of both the “Construction” and “Engineering and Manufacturing” sectors. We anticipate the new Architectural Joinery and Woodworking Apprentice Standards will be relatively simple to slot in. We will also have an interest under the “Creative and Design” sector where the furniture making qualifications will be covered. There is still a bit of fine-tuning to be done.
We are starting to look at how the apprentices and qualifications will work in parallel, but on the surface the changes that we will need to make will be similar to our recent experience of trailblazers. Employer-led panels will develop new “standards” that will underpin the technical routes – the new standards that we have developed for the above qualifications will be a good starting point and indeed we do not anticipate significant change will be required and standards will underpin both the T-Levels and apprenticeships.
We will also need to develop occupational maps to show relationships between occupations in each route. Qualifications (T-Levels) will then be developed based on these standards.
Details of how the 3 month sandwiches will be managed and the transition between T-Level Qualifications, Apprenticeships and full employment will be developed over the next period and we will be actively involved through the WIT Forum.
See the WITForum/BWF Courses you can access and the other parts of our skills, education and training work.