Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on improving the standard of placements available to young people studying Catering T Levels in Cumbria.

The department is examining what provision will best meet the needs of employers and students in this important sector, which plays an important role in Cumbria.

There are 143 level 2 and level 3 qualifications in the hospitality and catering sector for 16-19 year olds that are approved for funding in 2024/2025. Catering qualifications are not due to be defunded as part of the post 16 qualifications reform.

There is a wide range of support and guidance available for employers and providers to ensure that T Level students have a high quality experience on their industry placement. This includes workshops, webinars, continuing professional development support and online guidance. Providers also receive £550 per industry placement student as part of their wider 16-19 funding allocation to support the costs of sourcing and setting up industry placements and can use their 16-19 bursary funding to support disadvantaged students to access placements.

The latest data shows that 78% of 2021 T Level starters who completed an industry placement were ‘very’ or ‘quite satisfied’ with it.