What are V levels and what options do school leavers now have at 16?

It was announced on Monday that the Department for Education will look to streamline and replace more than 900 qualifications on offer under this new banner.

A levels and T levels will still be available, but education secretary Bridget Phillipson told LBC’s Nick Ferrari that the V levels will help provide a clear and broader opinion set.

“Young people have been left to navigate an overcomplicated landscape and repeatedly labelled as failures by a system that has held them back from all-important English and maths grades,” she said.

“Through our Plan for Change we are turning the tide. Our reforms are building a post-16 education system that truly matches young people’s aspirations and abilities, delivering the opportunity and growth our economy needs.”

All pupils must sit GCSEs at the end of Year 11 in the UK and can leave school at this point.

Since 2015, all have needed to stay on in education or training in one of a variety of ways until aged 18.

Here are the options available, including what V levels look like under the government’s white paper.

What are A levels?

An option since 1951, the option of two additional years of study up to university is the traditional option for anyone looking to stay in education beyond 16.

Prior to 2015, it had been possible to leave school at this point but A levels became one of a few options for compulsory continuation.

A levels are still academically-based and students usually take on three or four in a variety of subjects over a two year period aged 16-18.

Under the new system, it will be possible to mix A and V levels.

What are T Levels?

T Levels, which are a newer qualification, are the equivalent of three A levels that are focused on technical education and have a big work placement element to that.

These qualifications are not taken in schools but at other colleges or institutions.

Like A levels, these are also courses taken aged 16-18 and started in 2020. Courses on offer are:

• Building Services Engineering for Construction,
• Design, Surveying and Planning for Construction,
• Digital Business Services,
• Digital Production, Design and Development,
• Digital Support Services,
• Education and Childcare,
• Health,
• Healthcare Science,
• Onsite Construction,
• Science

What are V Levels?

These are new vocational qualifications tied to rigorous and real-world job standards.

The department for education said these replace other qualifications to sit alongside T Levels and A levels.

Unlike T Levels, which are equivalent to three A Levels, young people will be able to take a mixture of V Levels and A Levels – offering more choice and flexibility.

Ms Phillipson said: “V levels will allow young people to have good vocational routes, but combining that with A level study too, just making the system more simpler, more coherent, but also easier for businesses and for parents and young people to understand.

"So we'll be moving away from that quite confused mix of other qualifications to a more simpler system where young people will be able to combine study of A levels with V levels."

A consultation has been launched to establish the full programme and options of courses, but the government has said it is likely to include engineering, agriculture, digital or creative fields.

V Levels will replace the BTEC as a potential option, as well as hundreds of other programmes on offer.