Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said vocational education has been seen as an ‘afterthought for too long’ as she announced new qualifications called V-levels
Young people will be able to take new qualifications called V-levels as part of major plans to shake-up teenagers’ education.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said vocational education has been seen as an “afterthought for too long” as she announced the new qualification.
She will on Monday publish the post-16 education and skills white paper, which will set out proposals for V-levels to replace some 900 vocational qualifications to streamline the “confusing landscape” currently on offer. They will be made available alongside T Levels and A levels.
Ministers said the plans will support pupils aged 16 to 19 in exploring sectors like engineering, agriculture, digital or creative before deciding where to specialise.
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Young people will be able to take a mixture of V-Levels and A-Levels so will have more choice and flexibility, the Department for Education (DfE) said.
Students will also be boosted by new support to help them get the “vital pass” grade they need in English and maths GCSEs. The DfE said a new qualification will be created to target students with lower attainment which will act as “a stepping stone” to better prepare them to resit these GCSEs. It said the new will “support white working class pupils in particular”.
The government pointed to official data showing more than six in ten white British kids eligible for free school meals do not achieve a grade four – equivalent to a standard pass – or above in English and maths by the end of Year 11.
It means they are more than twice as likely to need to resit these exams post-16 than their more affluent peers.
The reforms are backed by an extra £800million of funding for 16-19 year olds in 2026/27.
Elsewhere, the post-16 white paper will set out plans to scrap red tape that has stopped young people who have been in care and are married from automatically getting the full maintenance loan when going to university.
The move is hoped to address a record disparity of just 13% of care leavers currently going on to higher education, compared to 46% of their peers.
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “For too long, post-16 education was neglected under the Conservatives. It is welcome that Labour is starting to turn the page on this failed era by putting skills and adult learning at the heart of the economic growth agenda.
“But for these reforms to achieve their full potential, funding for Further Education will be vital – especially in the workforce.”
Pepe Di’Iasio, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said his union is “pleased with the recognition that a new approach is needed to support post-16 students in English and maths”.
“This must move us away from the current morale-sapping system of mandatory GCSE resits,” he said.
Ms Phillipson said: “Technical and vocational education is the backbone of this country’s economy and central to breaking the link between background and success.
“But for too long it has been an afterthought. Young people have been left to navigate an overcomplicated landscape and repeatedly labelled as ‘failures’ by a system that has held them back from all-important English and maths grades.”
Professor Becky Francis CBE, Chair of the Curriculum & Assessment Review, which has informed the post-16 reforms and will be published in full later this year(2025), said: “While academic qualifications have a strong reputation and provide a clear pathway, the routes for those wanting a more applied offer have been much less coherent.
“I am delighted that the Government has recognised and accepted our recommendations to promote excellence and improve young people’s life chances by ensuring a choice of strong, well-regarded qualifications: A level, T Level or V level.”
The Government said it will launch a consultation to support the introduction of V-Levels.
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