Having trouble seeing this email? Please see the online version

10 October 2023

Contact us | Read past bulletins | Sign up for bulletins

Dear Provider,

Welcome to your October T Level Update.

These updates go to everyone who signs up to receive them. We don’t want anyone to miss out, so please encourage all tutors and staff engaged in the delivery and administration of T Levels at your centre to sign up to monthly T Level Updates.

We will be running a free online Exams Officer/administration training event for T levels on 12 October from 4:00–5:00pm.

This event is for anyone involved in the administration of the Technical Qualification, from undertaking provider approval and making registrations and entries through to assessment scheduling.

Register for Exams Officer Training for T Levels on our T Levels live training page.

You can now make learner registrations for cohorts commencing this academic year.

The standard registration window will close on 1 November, and late registration fees will apply from 2 November. See our support portal videos for guidance on making registrations and managing learner details:

Entries for both the autumn 2023 Core component assessments and the summer 2024 Occupational Specialism assessments are still open, though we are now in the late entry window as of 6 October. See the relevant key dates schedules on our training and admin support page for full entry deadlines. You must make an entry for every student wishing to enter the assessment.

If you are submitting entries for resits, please ensure you are familiar with the resit rules.

See our dedicated support articles for further guidance on entries:

We also have a short support video on T Level assessment, results and resits.

We have Provider Validation Panels (PVPs) for all Pearson T Level contracts, made up of Providers, teachers and industry experts. PVP members play an important role in making sure the specification and assessments are manageable and fit for purpose. We will soon be undertaking an annual content review of our T Levels; if you would like to be part of a PVP and contribute to the review, please contact andrew.hambelton@pearson.com.

We also have Employer Validation Panels (EVPs) for each T Level. If any of the employers you work with in the delivery of T Levels would like to be a panel member, please pass on Andrew’s contact details. You can also direct them to the information on our employers page.

The key dates schedules for academic years 2023 – 2025 are available to download from our training and admin page.

From September 2023, learners’ first attempts at the Core assessment and the Employer Set Project will no longer need to be in the same assessment series, as is already the case for learners who re-sit assessments.

Learn more in our decoupling FAQs.

The T Level Transition Programme is now called the T Level Foundation Year. If you're delivering the T Level Foundation Year (TLFY), please visit our dedicated webpage where you'll find a range of information to support the delivery of the TLFY, including:

We have also published guides to support the delivery of:

We are looking to reward learners who undertake either of these TLFY components via successful completion of these two qualifications with digital badges. Digital badges are shareable online credentials which can be used to indicate achieved skills and accomplishments, recognised by educators and employers. We'll start a digital badge pilot this academic year, so if you'd like to be involved, please register your interest using one of these forms:

We have a range of materials aimed at supporting your recruitment of T Levels. Our dedicated webpage for students, which is also handy for parents, is ideal to use during your recruitment activities.

In addition, Pearson support Linking London and regularly speak about T Levels at their events. Watch the recording of their student and parent event from June to see what Pearson and two universities had to say about T Levels.

Our Q&A network event has taken place for this term and further events will be scheduled for next term. We are running Getting Ready to Teach and Assess events for new centres on 7 and 15 November; book your place on our live training page.

You can join the Construction and T level: Construction groups on our support portal to share posts, ask questions and get the latest updates. We have also recently launched a T Level Construction Facebook group for teachers delivering this T Level and invite you to join to share practice, ask questions and network.

IfATE have consulted on a new occupational specialism, potentially to replace the Hazardous Materials pathway. Read the draft proposal on their website.

Although the T Level can be used to progress to Architecture, students intending to use the T Level to progress will typically also require the submission of a portfolio of designs showing their skill and creativity alongside qualification achievement. Some institutions expect learners to demonstrate not just technical design skills but also artistic technique, which may not be possible to demonstrate during study of the T Level. Students should therefore be encouraged and supported to build such portfolios outside of the study of the T Level curriculum, having researched the requirements of their potential institution/s.

CITB is offering grants to employers who take on T Level students as industry placements for Construction. There are criteria the employer must meet, which are outlined on the CITB Into Work Grant webpage. Please share this with employers that you’re in contact with and encourage them to apply.

Pearson has stepped in to deliver these two contracts previously awarded to NCFE. Both T Levels will be available for first teach September 2024. Immediate activity to support you includes:

Our Q&A network events restart this term; book your place on our live training page. If you have questions or would like us to cover anything specific, then please ask in the Facebook Group or contact the Subject Advisor. The next network event is on 2 November at 4:00-5:30pm and you can sign up on our live training page. We are looking at creating a panel of teachers to advise and update on the Digital T Level for future events. If you are interested in joining our panel and sharing your experiences, then please email david.pautsch@pearson.com to let us know.

We are launching our curriculum planner for Digital this month, which will be available on the website. We hope you find this useful when you plan your T Level.

Gatsby have been working on teaching resources for the Digital T Level to support teaching and learning. These have been created by industry experts like Raspberry Pi and our own examiners to support you in class. They will be rolled out starting this term, so keep an eye on these updates and on Gatsby’s website.

We have worked with Cisco for the core teaching, and their Netacad teaching resources for Python and other programming languages, used in the Occupational Specialism, are available on the Cisco Networking Academy website. It’s completely free to sign up and become a Cisco Netacad centre.

Our Q&A network events restart this term, and the next event for Legal Services is on 9 November, 4:00–5.30pm; book your place on our live training page. There is also a Getting Ready to Teach training events available for you to book on to on 11 October, 5:00–6.30pm.

We are releasing teaching and learning materials over the coming months, with the first release, Fundamentals of Law, available now on the course materials page, along with a scheme of work for the Core component.

Our Q&A network events restart this term. The first session will join Accounting and Finance and concentrate on the Core. Following this there will be separate Q&A network events focusing on the Occupational Specialisms; book your place on our live training page.

Curriculum planners for the Core component and Occupational Specialism component are now available to download from the course materials page.

The free training provided by the CII for the T Level in Finance (Occupational Specialisms Insurance Practitioner and Investment Banking and Asset and Wealth Management Analyst) have been postponed with new dates to be announced following Provider consultation this term.

Finally, don’t forget about our professional body support for the Accounting occupational specialism.

Pearson has been awarded the T Level in Marketing; this will be available for first teach September 2025.

We have already started the development of the content, and this will continue throughout the autumn. As with all our T Levels, your thoughts, comments, and guidance are a fundamental part of our development process. Therefore, we are seeking members for our Provider Validation Panel. This will give you the opportunity to feed into the content and assessment, making sure it is appropriate and accessible for your students and manageable for you to deliver as a Provider.

Please complete this short form if you would like to join our Provider Validation Panel and be part of the development process.

On our training and admin support page, you’ll find everything you need in terms of training and events to support your T Level delivery, and videos and documents to assist in administrating the qualifications.

A direct link to our T Level live training page, where you can search for events and book including:

Our training archive contains recordings of previous live training sessions if you are unable to attend any or want to listen again.

Do not forget, if you need to contact us about T Levels you can do so by the Pearson Support Portal. The portal is an online tool you can use to raise your query and track its progress. We will inform you once a member of the team has a reply for you.