The government is announcing the creation of new V Levels qualifications for students age 16-19 in what is being billed as a major overhaul of the education system.
The Department for Education says the aim is to give young people “new vocational qualifications tied to rigorous and real-world job standards”.
Vocational education has been “an afterthought for too long”, according to education secretary Bridget Phillipson.
The announcement comes after Sir Keir Starmer’s pledge to ensure that two-thirds of young people go to university or study a technical qualification after leaving school.
Details will be unveiled in a new white paper on post-16 education and skills, set to be published on Monday.
The Conservatives accused Labour of “failing young people” with its schools bill.
V Levels will replace the 900 vocational qualifications for 16 to 19-year-olds, and are “designed to strengthen skills across industry, including in the government’s priority industries”.
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They will sit alongside A Levels and T Levels, and students will be able to combine study of new V Levels courses with existing A Levels. They will be designed to be broader than existing qualifications, allowing young people “more choice and flexibility” in their future study or career paths.
For example, the government says a student thinking about a career in the creative arts or media industry could choose to take a traditional A Level alongside two V Levels (one in Craft and Design; and one in Media, Broadcast and Production).
Or a student considering health or fitness as a career, but who is also thinking about digital, could do three V Levels – in Sport and Exercise Science; Digital; and Health and Care services.
These reforms will be backed by an additional £800m of funding for 16-19 education in 2026/27, and 14 new Technical Excellence Colleges in sectors key to the government’s Industrial Strategy.
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Ms Phillipson said in a statement: “Technical and vocational education is the backbone of this country’s economy and central to breaking the link between background and success, helping hundreds of thousands of young people get the skills they need to get good jobs.
“But for too long it has been an afterthought. Young people have been left to navigate an overcomplicated landscape and repeatedly labelled as ‘failures’ by a system that has held them back from all-important English and maths grades.
“Through our Plan for Change we are turning the tide. Our reforms are building a post-16 education system that truly matches young people’s aspirations and abilities, delivering the opportunity and growth our economy needs.”
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‘An important opportunity to deliver greater fairness’
The plans have also been endorsed by the general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), Daniel Kebede, who described this announcement as “a significant step forward for vocational education”.
He said: “For too long, the post-16 qualifications framework has lacked coherence and clarity. While students following academic routes have benefited from a clear and structured pathway, those pursuing vocational options have too often faced a confusing and under-resourced system. These reforms present an important opportunity to deliver greater fairness, consistency and quality for all learners.”
But he also called for the government to address “the chronic issue of low pay among post-16 teachers and lecturers”, and said that this must be solved for these reforms to succeed.
Alongside this new qualification, the government is announcing a new qualification aimed at students who do not achieve a pass in GCSE English and Maths as a “stepping stone” to resitting the exam.
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The government says this will be of particular benefit to white British pupils who are eligible for free school meals – 64% of whom do not achieve a passing grade in those two subjects at GCSE level, compared to 28% of those who are not eligible for free school meals.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said they are “pleased with the recognition that a new approach is needed to support post-16 students in English and maths”, adding: “This must move us away from the current morale-sapping system of mandatory GCSE resits.
“We need an approach which builds confidence in these subjects and gives young people the best possible opportunity to achieve qualifications of which they can be proud.”
The Conservatives’ shadow education secretary Laura Trott said: “Labour is failing young people.”
She accused her counterpart of being “more focused on appeasing union bosses to further her own leadership ambitions than doing what’s right for children”, and of pushing a schools bill that would “tear up” important reforms.
Ms Trott pledged the Conservatives would “scrap debt trap degrees, double apprenticeship funding, and make sure every young person is set up with skills they need to [sic] the future”.
