From education to employment

Provider consultation on the Agriculture, Environmental and Animal Care route

The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (the Institute) would welcome views from providers on draft outline content for the T Levels in:

  • Agriculture Land Management and Production
  • Animal Care and Management (including an Equine Care and Management specialism).

This content has been developed by T Level panels of experts and will be used by awarding bodies to develop technical qualifications for each T Level.

Why we are seeking views

Providers are well-placed to feedback on the suitability of courses, which is crucial in developing the detailed qualification specification and allocating funding to each course.

This will help us find out:

  • The number of hours we might expect the content covered to take (from your teaching experience).
  • The suitability of the content for teaching in a study-based setting.
  • If there are gaps in content or content that is unnecessary.
  • Whether the content will provide good preparation for skilled employment.
  • Whether this content would provide a good preparation for students to go on to higher education in a relevant area.
  • The differing levels of prior attainment required.

What are T Levels

T Levels are new two-year, technical study programmes that will be available across 11 industry routes. Alongside apprenticeships and A levels, T Levels will be one of the 3 major options available to students aged 16 – 19.

T Level panels of experts set out the knowledge and skills required for each T Level, based on the same occupational standards as apprenticeships. This ensures that individuals taking T Levels can develop the technical knowledge and skills required by employers in that industry.  

The outline content for the first T Levels (in Education and Childcare, Construction, Digital, and Health and Science) has already been approved and published, and forms part of the Invitation to Tender (ITT) for the first wave of T Level Technical Qualifications. These T Levels will be rolled out from September 2020.

We are now consulting on the outline content for a further 2 T Levels, which will form part of a batch that will be rolled out from 2023 onwards.

The Institute oversees the development and approval of the standards, qualifications and occupational maps for T Levels and apprenticeships. In addition to their role in approving apprenticeship standards, the Institute’s Route Panels – made up of employers and industry experts – are scrutinising the outline content for all T Levels. The Institute will also award and manage contracts for the development of T Levels.

If you are a provider and would like to send in your feedback, please respond by midnight on Monday 13th July 2020.

What happens next?

We will consider your responses as we consider the outline content for the two pathways.

We will publish the final content for these T Level pathways in 2021.


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