T Levels are new courses coming in September 2020, which will follow GCSEs and will be equivalent to 3 A Levels. These 2-year courses have been developed in collaboration with employers and businesses so that the content meets the needs of industry and prepares students for skilled employment, further study or a higher apprenticeship.

T Levels will offer students a mixture of classroom learning and ‘on-the-job’ experience during an industry placement of at least 315 hours (approximately 45 days). They will provide the knowledge and experience needed to open the door into skilled employment, further study or a higher apprenticeship. The first three T Levels – digital production, design and development; design, surveying and planning; education – will be available at selected colleges, schools and other providers across England in September 2020. In the following few years, students will be able to take a T Level in subjects from agriculture to catering, manufacturing to hair and beauty.

The Education and Training Foundation is currently delivering the T Level Professional Development (TLPD) offer, funded by the Department for Education. The offer supports those at provider organisations – teachers, trainers, managers, support staff, governors, trustees, board members, and governance professionals – who will be delivering the new courses.

AlphaPlus is working as a delivery partner with ETF to provide the Organisational Readiness for Middle Managers training, helping them to lead their organisations towards T Level readiness.

Our Role

AlphaPlus is providing CPD on leading and managing change for T Levels to:

• Ensure that people with a role in managing T Levels develop the skills to lead change management within their organisations.
• Ensure that people with a role in managing T Levels are given the knowledge and skills of how to lead change practically, as related to areas including working with internal and external stakeholders, curriculum and timetabling, quality assurance and monitoring and evaluating success.
• Provide planning materials to support these managers as they take the learning from these courses and start leading the change within their areas of responsibility.

The TLPD offer is delivered through a combination of webinars, in-house training, open face-to-face training events, and online e-learning sessions.

Events

Our TLPD events began in September with introductory webinars and will continue until March 2020. The first face-to-face event was held in London in October and was attended by managers from a range of providers. The workshops stimulated wide-ranging discussions and attendees gave positive feedback, including comments about how practical workshops designed for middle managers would be of great benefit to all T Level providers.

Requests from providers for in-house training are being received and the AlphaPlus team is liaising with them to create bespoke CPD to meet the needs of their organisation and managers.

If you or someone you know would be interested in attending an event, we still have spaces in our training session in Leeds on 21 November and in Birmingham on 28 November. Visit the ETF website to book or to find out more. There is no charge for practitioners and other staff from ESFA funded providers and remission funding is available for eligible providers.