Creative Industries: Qualifications

Baroness Smith of Malvern Excerpts

Thursday 23rd July 2026 Lords Chamber

[The Minister of State, Department for Education and Department for Work and Pensions (Baroness Smith of Malvern) (Lab)]

My Lords, I start by thanking my noble friend Lady Keeley for introducing this debate, and noble Lords around the House for congratulating me on maintaining my role. I am absolutely delighted about it, not least because what would I do on a Thursday afternoon if I did not have the opportunity to engage in excellent debates such as the one today? This discussion has rightly focused on a matter of great significance: how we ensure that all young people, regardless of background, can access high-quality routes into the creative industries, while also building a qualification system that is stronger, clearer and fit for the future.

My noble friend Lady Kingsmill was right, as were others, to identify that the creative industries are one of the United Kingdom’s great success stories. They contribute approximately £145 billion to the economy and have grown four times faster than the rest of the economy since 2010. I think those figures are slightly higher than some others have suggested, but they demonstrate the success of our creative industries. That is why the Government’s industrial strategy recognises the creative industries as one of the growth-driving sectors that will help to power our economy in the years ahead. That success depends on a steady pipeline of talent and that is why the education and skills system must work for this sector.

Before we come on to some of the other creative areas, I point out—I think this was a point made by the noble Earl, Lord Effingham—that a significant proportion of the skills needed in the creative industries fall within that digital and technical area, as Skills England has demonstrated. That is one of the reasons why digital is a successful T-level already, why it will be one of the first V-levels to be introduced and why, in the growth and skills levy, digital areas and artificial intelligence are some of the very first apprenticeship units to be developed and offered.

However, a key part of the plan is a continued commitment to specialist education to develop the next generation of music performers, producers and industry professionals. I am sure that noble Lords will have noted the Government’s publication last week of the music plan and the commitment that it showed to a wide-ranging approach to supporting and developing music in this country, including through our education system.

I begin by being clear, as I was even before this debate, that the Government recognise the concerns that have been expressed about qualification reform and the future of creative education for 16 to 19 year-olds. We are listening carefully to creative industry employers, education providers, awarding organisations, higher education institutions and representative bodies. We understand that the creative industries have distinctive characteristics and that qualifications must reflect those realities.

In thinking about the wider reforms in which we are engaged, the objective is not, at its heart, simplification. That would never be enough. These are not the reforms of the former Government, which were too narrow and did not recognise vocational breadth, which was precisely the point recognised by my noble friend Lady Gill. The priority for level 3 reform is a system which provides high-quality options, whether you study better academically or want more applied learning and assessment. The latter, of course, has not been well enough served in our education system, with lower status for vocational qualifications, however high their quality, and confusing routes for young people to where they want to get in their lives.

This is why, in future, young people will have three distinct level 3 routes. A-levels will remain the academic route and V-levels will become the vocational route, supporting broad study and progression. My noble friend Lady Warwick was right about the breadth of study that we increasingly need to provide for our young people. That is the reason why we have designed vocational V-levels to be the same size as A-levels—so that a young person can develop a broad vocational set of qualifications, including linking and partnering them with academic A-levels as well. It is right that, if somebody is choosing to take a large qualification because it is the area they want to focus on, we make sure that that qualification is the most likely to be able to deliver that, with the sort of progression that noble Lords have talked about. That is why we believe that T-levels should be the large technical route for students who want to specialise in a particular occupational area. We are also reforming T-levels, as I will come on to later.

In this reform, we are taking a phased and careful approach to implementation. No qualifications will lose funding approval during the academic year 2026-27. We will introduce new qualifications in the creative and design route for first teach in September 2030, and there are no further plans for the removal of funding for qualifications in creative art and design until 2030. The noble Lord, Lord Vaizey, questioned whether creative areas were at the back of the queue, but he also provided the answer. They are not at the back of the queue. Although we recognise many of the points made today, we will take our time while maintaining the existing qualifications to get this right for young people and the creative sector. We will work closely with the sector to ensure that the change is manageable, supports stability and delivers what is needed. Along with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, we will work with the sector, taking into account its expert advice, and I have asked the department to convene a creatives advisory group for qualifications reform, led by those with knowledge of what has worked for the sector. We will bring it together in the autumn to address many of the points raised today.

T-levels are already delivering strong outcomes. Across the programme, 92% of students progressed into work or further study, and around two-thirds progressed into the same broad subject area as their course. More than a quarter of those entering employment do so with the organisation that hosted their industry placement. But we know that reform was needed. One of reasons relates to the point made by my noble friend Lord Watson and others about the levels of prior attainment that were needed in order to access T-levels. I am sure that noble Lords will therefore be reassured that young people with a range of prior attainment are accessing T-levels.

In fact, the GCSE grade split for students receiving T-level results is now very similar to those receiving results for applied general qualifications. The proportion of T-level students without 4s or above in both GCSE English and maths has also increased each year, showing that T-levels are becoming more accessible. Given the challenge, rightly, from the noble Lord, Lord Addington, we are also seeing an increasing proportion of students with special educational needs and disability taking T-levels.

We already have T-levels in media, broadcast and production, and in craft and design. While in relatively small numbers, because this is the very first cohort, we will see them completing their qualifications and getting their results this summer. The National Theatre supported the shaping and the rollout of the new creative T-levels. It reports that T-levels are helping to engage a younger generation and strengthen talent pipelines into the sector, with flexible industry placement models providing hands-on experience across departments and projects, and developing specialist skills within the theatre, such as lighting, AV and sound technology.

We are expanding T-levels so that more young people benefit from their progression opportunities and outcomes. That is why we are considering further creative and design T-levels in art, performing arts and visual effects subjects for introduction from 2029 or 2030. As I have said, we will work closely with employers, providers and the creative sector to ensure the content accurately reflects what employers want and delivers what the sector and young people need. That is why the noble Earl, Lord Effingham, was wrong to say that we are defunding prematurely. As I have pointed out, there will not be defunding up to the point at which those T-levels and V-levels are introduced.

I take the very important point made by my noble friend Lord Knight about the nature of the creative sector and the breadth necessary for those who are engaged with it. We recognise that many creative careers involve portfolio working, self-employment and movement across multiple occupations throughout a career, and we know that the future qualification landscape must reflect that reality. That is why we are in ongoing discussions with Skills England on occupational standard development, where there are gaps in future T-level areas, with a view to developing standards that are needed to support future skills pipelines.

My noble friends Lord Knight and Lady Kingsmill made points, as did others, about the nature of assessment, whether in V-levels or in T-levels. Of course, it cannot be right that there is only a traditional exam focus in courses that are precisely about more practical application and different styles of learning. That is why we are already working on how we can develop new forms of assessment, doing that carefully with Ofqual in order to ensure that those remain of a high quality.

There is also an important point about how we get the message out about new qualifications. Our network of more than 1,400 T-level ambassadors champion T-levels and industry placements across the business community—including the National Theatre, which acts as a T-level ambassador for the creative industries.

Quite rightly, several noble Lords, including my noble friends Lady Caine, Lady Warwick and Lady Gill, talked about both the benefits and the challenges of developing sufficient industry placements for T-levels. That is why we have already introduced significant reforms to industry placement delivery. They are providing fantastic opportunities for students. Around 25% of students who progress into work get jobs with their industry placement employer. I have already identified how the National Theatre, for example, speaks very positively about the benefits of hosting T-level students.

However, we recognise that a conventional placement could be challenging in the creative industries. The reforms to industry placements that have already been introduced will allow providers to better tailor provision to meet the needs of the sector, including more scope for remote placements, which help freelancers and SME employers. We will work with the creative sector advisory group that I am setting up to consider whether further adaptations for placements are needed for these subjects.

V-levels will be the new flagship vocational qualification that supports young people who want more applied learning and practical assessment. We are in the early stages of the development of V-levels, and we are determined to do that—as my noble friend Lady Gill noted—on the basis of thinking about different routes and ensuring that the system works together to provide pathways. I am pleased that we moved quickly to publish the national content for the first V-levels in accounting and finance, digital systems and data, and education on 9 July. These V-levels will be taught from September 2027. We are working with Ofqual, which has consulted on assessments and grading for V-levels.

As I have already suggested, the proposals aim to give students more opportunities to show what they know and can do through a mix of different types of assessment, taken over the course of their studies. We have already set out that we are exploring future V-levels in art, the performing arts, and creative media and design. I know that these will not necessarily be appropriate for those who want a large qualification, but, as I have said, given the breadth of the creative sector, they may well be appropriate for people who want to put together a set of qualifications to recognise that breadth. The first teaching for these is planned for 2030. The nationally set content there will also be developed in partnership with those with deep experience of the sector. Importantly, existing qualifications will continue to be funded until replacement qualifications are introduced.

The noble Lord, Lord Addington, suggested that people do not know much about V-levels at the moment. That is a fair charge, given the earliness of their development. That is why, to ensure that providers are well supported through this transition, we have established a group of qualification pioneers. They will play a vital role in supporting our work to support provider transition plans, share effective practice and advise on the support required to help providers successfully navigate this change. It is why we have provided information, graphics and resources to schools, colleges and careers guidance, to help explain V-levels.

As noble Lords have pointed out, it also important to ensure that the pre-16 curriculum delivers, in the areas of arts and music, what is necessary to create that pipeline. That is why there is considerable work going on as a result of the curriculum and assessment review to ensure—for example, in music—that this is now, from key stage 1 to key stage 4, a rigorous, equitable and inclusive curriculum that will support more people to be able to take A-levels. I understand my noble friend’s concern about the fall-off in the numbers taking A-level music. It will also be supported by continued investment in music hubs and the new national centre for arts and music education, which will help schools deliver new curriculum content effectively.

We have also touched on A-levels today. There are A-levels in art and design, dance, drama and theatre, music, music technology, design and technology, and film studies. While uptake varies between those creative subjects, entries have grown steadily in areas such as art and design, and media and film, since 2019. Although the curriculum and assessment review concluded that A-levels were generally working well, we will certainly want to make updates, where necessary, to ensure that A-levels remain coherent, particularly with the revised GCSE qualifications. We will update AS-levels and A-levels, ready for first teaching in 2031 and 2032.

I will also say in relation to higher education that I share the view that it is important that new qualifications have good progression to higher education. That remains central to our thinking. Almost 200 higher education providers across Britain accept T-levels for at least some courses, including the majority of Russell group institutions, and 81% of T-level applicants secured a higher education place in the 2025 admissions cycle. We will continue to push HE to recognise T-levels and we will develop V-levels and their content with higher education to ensure progression and, to the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Effingham, to ensure progression on to level 4 and 5 courses as well.

We cannot deliver this change—the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, is right—without the workforce and capacity to deliver them. That is why this Government are significantly investing in relation to level 3 in further education. We have announced additional funding of £120 million for this academic year, rising to £365 million in the next academic year, to help support particularly the workforce that we need. Together with wider post-16 funding increases, that means that funding for 16 to 19 year-old students has increased by more than 12% over two years. At the same time, our increases in teacher pay are helping us to deliver that 6,500 target for additional teachers that we have set out. We will provide new technical and vocational subjects for the specific professional development programme to help support our teachers to deliver the new qualifications.

We all share the same goal: ensuring that young people can develop their talents, pursue their ambitions and contribute to the continued success of our creative industries. The Government are committed to a qualification system that is ambitious, coherent and responsive to the needs of learners, employers and the economy. We recognise the strength of feeling across the creative sector about maintaining high-quality progression routes. That is why we are proceeding carefully, engaging closely with stakeholders and investing in the workforce, the creative sector, the qualifications and institutions that will support the next generation of creative talent.

I again thank my noble friend Lady Keeley for bringing this debate before the House and all noble Lords for their valuable contributions, and I look forward to continuing this important dialogue as we build a qualification system that serves both learners and the creative sector as they deserve to be served.