AELP calls again for equal funding of Functional Skills following government response on T Levels

The government has published its response to the consultation on T Levels and in the process it has announced the institutions will offer them in the first wave.

Responding to this, AELP CEO Mark Dawe said:

AELP strongly supports the introduction of T Levels. It is clear that high quality work placements are fundamental to the success of T Levels and apprenticeship training providers are ready to use their capacity and established relationships with employers to give young people a great opportunity to start developing the skills they need in the workplace.

AELP and City & Guilds will shortly be publishing very encouraging survey results that show a very high proportion of employers are willing to play a greater part in helping T Level learners to apply their learning in workplace settings, so there is clear support for the overall aspirations of the proposals.  This is not to underestimate the challenge, also confirmed by the survey, of raising general awareness among employers about the introduction of T Levels.

We are pleased that the government has recognised the importance of reviewing the available pathways to a young person achieving level 2 and progressing from it, especially if the apprenticeship reforms are not amended to address the halving of level 2 apprenticeship starts since the levy began.

It is right and understandable that the government has decided to separately fund English and maths provision for those T level learners that need it, but now is the time to put the funding of Functional Skills learning in the workplace on a level playing field with classroom learning of the two subjects.  Funding for the latter attracts almost twice as much funding as Functional Skills so it is inevitable that potential attainment in Functional Skills is being adversely affected despite the level of support that providers are offering young learners.

Link to DfE release: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-t-levels-mark-a-revolution-in-technical-education