Linking London HE Admissions and Widening Participation Teams Forum: Understanding T Levels

The event began with a warm welcome from Andrew Jones, Director of Linking London, and a brief overview of Linking London’s work in this space and highlighting some of our T Level resources and support available. All our resources can be found on our Partner Area.

Colleagues first heard from Suzanne Hall, Head of Sector Development at Pearson, who set the scene with an overview of T Levels, the structure of T Levels and recent developments including changes to awarding organisation contracts under re-tendering processes and the discontinuation of some subject routes. Ria Bhatta, Head of Stakeholder Engagement at Pearson then discussed setting entry requirements and making offers to T Level applicants. Making several recommendations including, to state T Level acceptance on websites, specify grade requirements clearly, consider subject-specific component grades rather than requiring additional A Levels. Ria highlighted several resources provided by the Department for Education and Pearson, including provider approval lists, tariff calculators, grade aggregation tools, and provisional results data. Pearson also offers free institutional briefings to support admissions and outreach teams.

Delegates then heard from Jack du Pille, Head of UK Recruitment and Outreach at Middlesex University, who shared an update on their outreach work with T Level learners and presented a case study of Middlesex’s work with Saracens High School to support students on the T Level in Health. Jack acknowledged several challenges, including the difficulty of sourcing sufficient industry placements, the resource intensity of delivering bespoke outreach to small cohorts, and the need for clearer institutional entry requirements.

This was then followed by a group discussion, where colleagues could reflect on their experiences of supporting T Level learners, including any challenges encountered, and explore opportunities for future collaboration and how Linking London can help.

The event concluded thanking all participants for their valuable contributions throughout the afternoon.