Fans of EastEnders, Emmerdale and the like should be enjoying the continuing soap opera that is the introduction of T levels.
There have been concerns over funding and timescale, and last summer skills minister Anne Milton revealed that, as a parent, she’d advise her own children (who presumably would refrain from screaming, “YOU’RE NOT MY MUVVA!”) to hold off on taking them for a year.
It’s true that, in the drama of T levels, nobody’s yelled at anyone else to get out of their pub or revealed a hitherto hidden past (yet…) but still it’s been a bit of a bumpy ride.
And so to this week’s thrilling episode, in which the CEO of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education admitted that students who are studying rural areas are likely to have less access to T levels than their peers in the cities.
This is because of one compulsory element of T levels in particular: the requirement to complete work placements of at least 45 working days.
Sir Gerry Berragan told Tes that the number of T-level subjects available to students will be limited by the number of employers in the local area that can offer this length of work experience placement.
“I think there will definitely be some colleges that are going to be able to offer more T levels than others,” he said. “If you’re in a major conurbation with a mix of employers, you’re likely to be able to offer a wider range of T levels because you’ll have easier access to the work placements.”
In May 2018, education secretary Damian Hinds rejected a proposal put forward by the Department for Education’s permanent secretary, Jonathan Slater, to delay the implementation of the T-level qualifications by a year. (Denying us a “Who killed T levels?” storyline in the process.)
Sir Gerry said that while the timescale was a “challenge”, he still considered the process to be “bang on track”.
“I think everyone recognises that it’s going to be a challenge, and the timescale for Wave 1 is tight,” he said.
“But we’re bang on track. There’s still plenty to do, but at this stage in the game it’s looking good.”
For some students, perhaps. Cue the duff-duffs.
