What are T-levels and what are the grades worth?

Overall this year, 82% of university applicants have been accepted on to their first choice course. Of these, a select 7,000 have completed T-levels. The T stands for Technical.

These two-year courses are still fairly new and combine study with career experience.

More than 100 universities and other higher education institutions accept them as A-level equivalents but if you have not heard of them, here are a few more details.

T-levels, introduced in 2020, are vocational qualifications aimed at 16-to-19-year-olds, external in England, which focus more on practical subjects than academic ones.

Each course lasts two years and is roughly equivalent to three A-levels.

The qualification includes a mixture of both classroom learning and on-the-job experience, with a work placement of at least 315 hours - or about nine weeks - making up roughly 20% of the course.

T-levels are designed to cater for students who want an alternative to A-levels but do not wish to take an apprenticeship, which usually requires as much as 80% of a student's time to be spent with an employer.

Final grades are based on a combination of exams, coursework and completion of the industry placement.

In 2023, the overall pass rate for the 3,448 students taking the qualification was 90.5% (3,119).

But figures show that only two-thirds completed the course (5,210 students began a T-level three years ago).

That compares with a retention rate of 95% for A-level students and 92% for those taking applied general qualifications in the same year.

T-level qualifications are equivalent to three A-levels.

Students get one of four grades, ranging from a distinction* to a pass. Their certificate shows their overall grade and lists their experiences on the course.

A distinction* is worth 168 Ucas points - the same as three A*s at A-level - and a merit is equivalent to three Bs at A-level.

For those wanting to go on to higher education, the Department for Education (DfE) says T-levels are accepted as an entry qualification by more than 150 UK universities and colleges, external.

The number of T-level courses has expanded each academic year since 2020, with a total of eight subjects sat by students in 2023.

They include accountancy, digital business, finance, healthcare and manufacturing, external.

T-levels in legal services, and agriculture, land management and production rolled out in September 2023.

From September 2024, three more courses will begin:

Another, in catering, has been delayed until "after 2024", and a marketing T-level is due to roll out in 2025.

A T-level in hairdressing, barbering and beauty therapy was due to begin in 2023, but was delayed before eventually being scrapped altogether.

As part of the roll-out of T-levels, the previous government had been withdrawing funding for other post-16 courses, like BTecs, which were deemed to "overlap" with the new T-level programmes.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has confirmed the rollout of T-levels will continue but said the defunding of some BTecs would be paused ahead of a review.

In the first three years, T-levels have faced delays, high dropout rates and an exam board being fined £300,000 over "major failings" with the papers.

In 2020 there were more than 12,000 vocational qualifications at all levels, offered by more than 150 awarding bodies, according to Ofqual, which oversees qualifications.

T-levels were brought in by the previous government to streamline post-16 education and make things less confusing for students and employers.

Under those plans, funding was set to be withdrawn for some other vocational qualifications.

However, days before the first changes to funding were due, Ms Phillipson said the new Labour government would pause and review the plans.

But campaigners want the review to be extended to include BTecs and other qualifications due to be scrapped in the coming years.

The Sixth Form Colleges Association said Ms Phillipson's announcement was "deeply disappointing" and that there was still uncertainty around the fate of other courses due to be scrapped further down the line.

Other vocational courses available in the UK include:

Have you taken a T-level? Tell us about your experiences. Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk, external.

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