More than a quarter of students in England who started T-level courses did not complete them this summer, figures suggest, but the drop-out rate has fallen.
About 16,081 students began two-year T-level courses in 2023, but just 11,724 completed their course and were assessed, according to provisional data from the Department for Education (DfE).
Nearly three out of four (73%) completed the technical qualifications, which is up on last year when 71% finished their courses, the figures suggest.
Students in England have received their T-level results in the fourth year that the qualification has been awarded.
Overall, 11,909 students in England were awarded results on Thursday for the Government’s technical qualification, which was introduced to be broadly equivalent to three A-levels.
Across all 18 T-level subjects, 91.4% of students achieved at least a pass.
The DfE said learners can elect to complete the T-level course over two or more academic years.
Skills minister Baroness Jacqui Smith of Malvern suggested there is still work the Government can do in its rollout of the qualification.
She told the PA news agency: “There are higher pass rates at T-levels, and there are fewer students who aren’t getting through to the end.
“But this is still a relatively new subject where teachers are new to it, where the curriculum is relatively new, and where students are finding their way through it.
“So although there’s enormous success for students who take T-levels, and it’s being increasingly recognised as a gold standard technical education, there’s still work that we can do and will do to deliver the professional development for teachers, for example.
“To make sure that the assessment is right, rigorous but manageable for T-levels, and of course to make sure that the thing that T-level students always tell me they really enjoy about their T-levels – the industry placements – are there and available for them to complete.”
The number of T-level entries in England has increased by 61.4% on last year, while the number of A-level entries has fallen by 0.5% compared to 2024.
Sir Ian Bauckham, chief regulator of Ofqual, England’s exams regulator, said there are “some significant changes” taking place in the 18-year-old cohort this year.
He told PA: “T-levels are intended to be a high-quality, rigorous, full-time level-three course for students to prepare them directly for a particular occupational field.
“The extent to which they draw from people who might have done A-levels, or might have done other vocational and technical qualifications, is very hard to demonstrate because we don’t know what people would have done had T-levels not existed.”
Sir Ian added: “I’m confident that T-level entries will continue to rise in the years ahead.
“Clearly when students make one choice over another then the shape of the cohort that they’re not choosing – so in this case the shape of the A-level cohort – will be affected.”
More than 250,000 results were also issued to students who took level 3 vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs) this year, which include BTecs.
