£50 million to deliver world-class facilities for T Level students

£50 million will be invested in colleges, schools and sixth forms delivering T levels across England from 2022 to improve and expand teaching spaces and facilities.

The funding will ensure students have world-class facilities when studying for T Levels, helping to transform the provision of  technical education to help fill local skills gaps and level up opportunities across the country.

65 building projects will receive a share of the funding, providing thousands of students with industry quality equipment for hands-on experience right from the start of their training, and high-tech classrooms.

T Levels – co-created with over 250 employers including Fujitsu and Amazon – are equivalent to three A levels and uniquely combine classroom study with industry placements, so students gain the skills businesses need allowing them to go straight into the workplace, onto an apprenticeship or further study. New subjects including Health, Science and Onsite Construction will be added from September.

The funding will be used to refurbish buildings and facilities, including upgrading classrooms and creating specialist spaces such as teaching wards, and building or improving laboratories for health and science students.

Minister for Apprenticeships and Skills Gillian Keegan said:

“T Levels are a game changer for young people, providing a high-quality technical equivalent to A levels that have been designed hand-in-hand with leading employers so students and businesses can be sure they will get the skills they need to thrive in a high tech economy.

“This multi-million pound investment will mean even more students will benefit from world-class facilities, giving them access to brilliant new buildings that will help them get ready for the world of work.

West Suffolk College is one of the providers to receive a share of the investment, to refurbish and create new facilities to deliver Digital T Level courses, including a mixed reality suite to explore uses of coding, and specialist classrooms and collaborative teaching spaces to enable informal learning.

Tameside College will create a health skills ward to support teaching on the Health and Science route, and Birchwood Community High School in Warrington will refurbish spaces to create a new laboratory and other spaces to teach Health and Science.

Dr Paul Phillips, CBE, Principal and Chief Executive of Weston College Group said:

“The successful application for the T Level Capital Fund Building and Facilities Improvement Grant has enabled Weston College to transform facilities and develop new opportunities for learners to work with state of the art resources. As we move forward with the Government’s skills strategy via the White Paper, funding such as this is paramount to realising the highly positive aims and objectives from Central Government”.

David Hughes, Chief Executive of the Association of Colleges said:

“T Levels will be available in more than 100 colleges and schools from this September and are a high quality option for young people looking to build a career. I welcome the fact that the government is continuing to invest in up-to-date buildings and facilities for these courses and students.”

T Levels form a key part of the government’s reforms to revolutionise skills and technical education, providing students with the skills and experience they need to progress into well-paid jobs, further study or an apprenticeship.

The first three T Levels in Design, Surveying and Planning for Construction, Digital Production, Design and Development and Education and Childcare were introduced in September 2020. A further seven are rolling out from this September in subjects including Health, Science and Onsite Construction, with subjects including Finance, Media and Legal introduced from 2022 and 2023.

Today’s announcement builds on the £133 million made available to support providers delivering T Levels in 2020 and 2021, including funding given to all new T Level providers to purchase specialist equipment so students have access to the equipment they will use when they get a job. Further funding is expected to be awarded later in the year.