Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of withdrawing funding from applied general qualifications in 2026 on the number of students.

This government is fully committed to the future of T Levels. Where a student wishes to study a large qualification and a T Level exists, they should undertake the T Level. Where we identified that qualifications in T Level routes should be retained for longer, we are retaining these until reformed alternatives are available.

For students who do not wish to take A levels or T Levels, there will be other qualifications in the system, including smaller qualifications in T Level areas which can be combined in mixed programmes. Newly reformed qualifications are now available for delivery at levels 2 and 3.

We published an Equalities Impact Assessment alongside the outcome of the Review of Qualifications Reform, which is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-level-3-qualifications-reform-equality-impact-assessment.

The department expects the impact on student numbers to be mitigated by the phased withdrawal of funding, allowing time for reformed alternatives to bed in.