455 school and college leaders say: We need a pause to BTEC defunding now

The leaders of 455 schools and colleges (between them educating a third of all 16 to 19 year olds in England) have written to Secretary of State for Education Bridget Phillipson urging her to pause the plan to defund applied general qualifications (AGQs) such as BTECs. 

When in opposition, the Labour party made a commitment to “pause and review” the Conservative government’s plan to scrap these courses.

But last month, the new Labour government confirmed that it would not pause the defunding of applied general qualifications. Instead, it proposes to conduct a “focused review” of AGQs and other qualifications that will conclude by the end of 2024.  

The leaders write that they are “very concerned by this proposal as it means that we will not know what AGQs we can offer in the 2025/26 academic year until December 2024 at the earliest. This will make it extremely difficult for us to provide effective information, advice, and guidance to young people, or ensure that the right staff are in place with the right skill sets”.

Although the government claims that concluding its review of qualifications by the end of the year will provide schools and colleges with “certainty”, the leaders write that “Only a meaningful pause to defunding will ensure that qualification reform can be conducted in an orderly way that leaves no young person without a viable pathway to higher education or skilled employment”.

The letter concludes by urging the government to “announce an immediate pause to the defunding of applied general qualifications and confirm that students will be able to enrol on all existing AGQs up to and including the 2025/26 academic year”.

Commenting on the letter:

Stuart Worden, Principal, The BRIT School, said: “There must be a proper pause to the defunding of AGQs because the current proposal is unfair to schools, teachers and most importantly young people. It will make planning and imagining your future very difficult. We urge the government to pause defunding and give us the chance to support curriculum changes in a reasonable timeframe”. 

Altaf Hussain, Principal and CEO, Luton Sixth Form College, said: “Pausing the defunding of Applied General Qualifications like BTECs would significantly alleviate uncertainty and anxiety this year for me, my staff and most importantly our young people and their parents. Our Open Evenings take place in November and yet we will not have any clarity on the courses we can offer until December – that is madness”. 

Darren Hankey, Principal and Chief Executive, Hartlepool College of Further Education, said: “The ongoing uncertainty is unhelpful - our first open event for current year 11 pupils is in a couple of weeks’ time. Similarly, prospectuses, websites and other forms of communication need to be updated. It is unclear what we can tell prospective students and their parents/carers – business leaders are also asking questions. All in all, this is a bit of a mess”.

Catherine Richards, Principal, East Norfolk Sixth Form College, said: “Reviewing applied general qualifications without pausing defunding will disadvantage many young people and is placing additional stress on teachers who are unable to confirm the curriculum for 2025/26.  We urge the government to pause the defunding process for at least a year to allow us to move forward effectively. This would benefit everyone and most importantly our young people and hard-working teaching staff”.

Ken Merry, Principal and Chief Executive, York College, said: “Not knowing the future of technical and vocational education impacts on virtually everything we are trying to do as a college. We will always find the right course for students to do to support their ambitions and next steps, but because we are so experienced and successful at delivering T-Levels we know first-hand that the solution is not as simple as switching from AGQs to T-Levels. That’s why it’s so important for the government to stick to the promise made in opposition and pause the defunding of qualifications”.

Notes:

1. The 455 signatories lead institutions that between them educate 388,000 16 to 19 year olds, 33% of the 1.18 million 16 to 19 year olds in state funded education.
2. The letter was co-ordinated by the #ProtectStudentChoice campaign, a coalition of employer groups and organisations that represent students, staff and leaders in schools, colleges and universities. More information can be found on the campaign website here. 
3. For more information, please contact James Kewin.