The future of post-16 level 1, entry vocational qualifications in England

Level 1 and below

Updated July 2024

On Wednesday 24 July the DfE announced an immediate pause and review of the post-16 vocational qualification reform in England. Further detail was released on 25 July in a written statement. It means that:

  • The DfE will place a one year pause on the removal of 16 to 19 funding from qualifications assessed as overlapping with T Levels in construction and the built environment, digital, education and early years, and health and science. These qualifications were originally scheduled to have their funding approval removed in the 16 to 19 offer after 31 July 2024 but will now continue to remain available up to 31 July 2025.

  • This will allow time for a review of post-16 level 3 and below reforms to conclude by the end of the year.
  • The DfE will also publish, as soon as possible, a list of reformed level 2 qualifications that will be funded from August 2025, in Construction and the Built Environment, Education and Early Years, Engineering and Manufacturing, and Health and Science.

We want to reassure you that we are committed to supporting you and your learners with the latest information and what it means for the delivery of Pearson qualifications.

Ensuring our school and college customers can continue to offer a wide choice of qualifications to their learners is – and will - remain our primary objective. 

We will be in touch over the coming days with a full detailed response to the announcement and what it means for you, your centre and your learners.

Our commitment to you 

  1. We will continue to keep you informed about changes on our webpages

    Please bookmark this page and visit regularly 

  2. We will send out regular updates to your inbox.

    Please sign up for updates

The information below provides you with an overview of these reforms, and what we know so far about what they’ll mean for you and your level 1 and entry level curriculum.

See our guide below to the future of post-16 level 1 and entry level vocational qualifications in England. This provides an overview of the landscape and timeline of the reforms. The first teach of these qualifications is intended to be 2027.

In the meantime, we have extended all our current entry and level 1 intro suite for last registrations in 2027 so you can continue to teach the existing suite with confidence.

Explore our flexible, Entry Level and Level 1 skills-based qualifications

Download the new guide for Level 1 and Entry level 

Please bookmark this page to keep up to date with developments.

FAQs

Sign up for Level 1 and below updates

Latest update

In October 2022 the DfE published the latest news about the review of post-16 qualifications at level 2 and below in England.

Read the latest DfE announcement

Further guidance was published in April 2023

Read further guidance

Continue to make BTEC work for your learners

Sign up for Level 1 and below updates

Continue to teach BTECs with confidence 

You can continue to teach your BTEC entry level and level 1 intros with confidence this year and into the future up until 2027.

If you would like to speak to someone about the vocational reform and what it means for you, your centre and the qualifications you offer now and in the future, please contact us using the details below. 

If you are a college or a work-based learning provider: please email at FEandWBLcentresupport@pearson.com

If you are a school: please talk to us or email at vqmanchester@pearson.com

Contact