Scrapping Level 2 Qualifications would be a Disaster on a National Scale

Proposals to scrap important Level 2 qualifications for entry level workers would further extend the recruitment crisis for years to come, warns Adrian Grove, Business Development Director at Qube Learning

The Department for Education’s recent announcement for a consultation on reforms to technical and academic qualifications at Level 2 and below came as a crushing blow to Qube Learning, and no doubt to many other education providers across the UK.

The claims that the current further education offering is ‘too crowded’, with multiple courses covering the same or similar subjects, is extremely short sighted. Whoever has drawn these conclusions has clearly not taken the time or effort recognise the range of abilities and experiences of those candidates typically accessing education at Level 2.

Put simply, scrapping Level 2 qualifications would be a disaster on a national scale. These qualifications represent the first rung of the career ladder for many people. Why would you take that first step away?

Do those in Whitehall only consider achievement at GCSE level to be the first step? What about those students for whom GCSEs don’t work?

Should these candidates not access education and opportunity in another way? Should they really remain unqualified and unemployed instead?

It seems baffling that we even must ask these questions in 2022, when accessibility should be top of the agenda when it comes to education and employment opportunities in the UK.

Level 2 qualifications are vital in allowing many individuals a chance to develop their skills from an accessible starting point. This is the place from which these candidates can develop the necessary basic skills and knowledge to gain employment. Such large-scale reforms (the DofE proposes a cut of nearly 3,700 Level 2 qualifications from the current 8,000 available) will deny entry level opportunities to learn, train and enter the workforce to thousands of people, of all ages.

It is said that the cuts will remove “the smallest qualifications, where they are unlikely to be able to provide a student with the knowledge, skills and behaviours contained in a relevant employer-led standard, or to provide them with broad content relevant to an occupational route”.

However, the smallest qualifications hold the greatest power as stepping stones for those who may have struggled with formal education in the past. It is these ‘small’ qualifications which may be the key to unlocking job opportunities to those who are too anxious to handle job interviews or phone calls, or who struggle with maths or literacy skills. Whether it was difficulty concentrating or participating in a traditional classroom environment, additional learning needs, difficult personal life, mental health conditions or for any other reason, many individuals find themselves in need of education from the ‘beginning’.

This means that the ‘bigger’ qualifications that the government wants to keep are too much of a step up for these candidates. The provision of a workable alternative for these individuals should be provided, and the restriction of accessible education opportunities in such circumstances may be, in my opinion, considered discriminatory.

Level 2 qualifications also have a positive impact on lifting people out of poverty. It is in the government’s interest to encourage and support people into work, and this is the first step for many into a sustainable career – and later, Level 3 training when appropriate. Level 2 provision is therefore crucial in reducing pressure on the benefits system.

The impact on the UK workforce if these first rungs of the career ladder are removed will certainly be felt, particular as many entry level jobs are struggling to recruit post-Brexit and post-pandemic. Not only this, but the gap between the qualified and unqualified workforce will leave a severe impression on social mobility and a knock-on effect of increasing the national adult skills gap over time. This is about as far from the Prime Minister’s pledge to ‘level up’ as we can get.

A deadline of April 27 has been set for responses to the Level 2 and below consultation. For more information, visit www.qube-learning.co.uk

Adrian Grove, Business Development Director at Qube Learning