News story: Teachers to benefit from £8 million initiative to boost skills ahead of T Levels roll-out

Teachers and staff across the country will benefit from a new £8 million professional development offer, being developed by the Education and Training Foundation (ETF), to help them prepare for the roll-out of new T Levels.

Teaching professionals will be offered the opportunity to participate in the new T Level Professional Development Programme to help them to develop their skills and knowledge so they are ready to deliver T Levels – the technical equivalent to A Levels – from 2020.

The first T Levels courses in education & childcare, construction and digital will be taught in over 50 further education and post-16 providers from September 2020. A further 22 courses will be rolled out from 2021 onwards covering sectors such as finance & accounting, engineering & manufacturing, and creative & design.

Bespoke training will focus on making sure teachers understand the pioneering new qualifications and will be an opportunity to update their subject and industry knowledge so it is relevant to the needs of business. The funding will also help teachers and leaders to prepare for this significant change.

Apprenticeships and Skills Minister Anne Milton said:

T Levels will widen the choices for young people, offering them more than one route to a rewarding career. T Level will equip young people with the knowledge and skills for further study in education or in the workplace.

It’s a big and important change, and we know we have to be prepared if we want our technical education system to be first class.

This new programme will help teachers to build on their skills and gain the additional knowledge they need to make new T Levels a success as soon as the starting pistol is fired.

David Russell, Chief Executive of the Education and Training Foundation, said:

The introduction of the first T Levels in 2020 signals a significant and positive change to technical education in this country. Ensuring providers are properly equipped to deliver the new qualifications will be vital to their success, so it is important they are ready from day one.

We are pleased to have been given the responsibility of meeting the T Level-related professional development needs of teachers, trainers and leaders, which include those from the whole of the education sector. We bring to this role our experience, expertise and partnership ethic in supporting the workforce to deliver the technical education our learners, employers and country need and deserve.

The T Level Professional Development Programme is being developed with the ETF, the Gatsby Charitable Foundation and the wider FE sector to understand the skills needed to teach and deliver T Levels.

Jenifer Burden, Director of Programmes at the Gatsby Charitable Foundation said:

Gatsby is working with several local areas to support the implementation of T Levels. We’re delighted to be working with ETF to build on this work and to shape the professional development offered to T-level teachers, including building subject-specialist pedagogy.

The ETF will work with individual providers to determine what specific training needs they have before creating tailor made packages that will build on the excellent skills and practice that already exists within the sector. Training is expected to be available from Spring 2019.