Education Minister announces plans to support FE to deliver T-Levels
10 July 2017
Justine Greening has outlined further steps to help the Further Education sector prepare for the introduction of T-Levels.
“I want to create an army of skilled young people” she said, to deliver “a skills revolution for Brexit Britain. The introduction of T-Levels will be the next stage in this journey”.
Announcements included:
- £50m promised in the Spring budget, will be made available from April 2018 to fund work placements – a component of every T-Level.
- A £15m college improvement fund will help “weaker colleges to up their game” to prepare to deliver the new T-Levels. Pilots for this fund will begin this autumn.
- The role of the FE Commissioner, Richard Atkins, will be expanded to support FE and Sixth Form Colleges raise standards.
- A programme for National Leaders of FE will be established. These leaders “will be empowered to spread their expert knowledge, as well as mentor and support weaker parts of the system”.
- Plans for a Department for Education summit with businesses in the autumn to “agree the overall shape of the reforms.”
Delivering these announcements at the British Chambers of Commerce Business and Education conference, the Education Minister called on her audience to create “a genuine partnership between business, government and education professionals” to create “a technical education revolution”, citing T-Levels as the “gold standard for technical and professional excellence”.