The Department for Education has published the decisions of its ‘rapid review‘ of the previous government’s intended defunding of a raft of Level 3 qualifications including most Engineering BTECs and has chosen to spare them from the chop.
When Labour won the election in July, the Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson announced a ‘pause and review’ of the defunding decisions, which would have rendered most of the affected courses non-viable and so would have led to their closure. The review was conducted internally within the civil service with the aim of publishing findings by Christmas so that there is time for courses to recruit students and maintain necessary staff for the academic year 2025/26.
The review has opted to keep funding 13 out of the 21 Advanced General Qualifications the future of which was under consideration. This includes all the Engineering BTECS that were threatened. The reprieve is still only guaranteed for one year, but there is a clearer indication that it may well be extended and that the Government recognises the need for technical qualifications that can be offered in combination with other courses (as opposed to T Levels which are equivalent to 3 A levels and, realistically, cannot be combined).
Less than a handful of the qualifications that will still be defunded are in Engineering, although a number are in Building & Construction and Digital Technology. In most cases they have a record of vanishingly small numbers of students undertaking each qualification (although in total they amount to over 50,000 students) and alternatives are available.
Given that one in eight Engineering undergraduates holds a BTEC and that this is a particularly common pathway into engineering for students from more disadvantaged background, the EPC had campaigned vehemently for the retention of Engineering BTECs.
Chief Executive Johnny Rich has welcomed the news, commenting, “The EPC was one of many voices calling for an approach to the future of BTECs that supports a diversity of students and meets the needs of the labour market. We are delighted that this government has seen sense and has reversed short-sighted decisions that would have narrowed opportunity, stunted growth and constrained the talent pipeline.”
