Withdrawal of approval from T Level technical qualifications
Published 2 June 2025
Applies to England
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This guidance has been transferred from the previous skills body the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) following its closure on 31 May 2025. The guidance is under review and may be subject to change.
Withdrawal criteria
The following withdrawal of approval criteria will be considered when deciding to withdraw approval of a T Level technical qualification (T Level TQ) or T Level occupational specialism:
- where there are concerns that the T Level TQ no longer adheres to the service requirements, as set out in the T Level TQ contract
- where a qualification is no longer aligned with the occupational standards it was approved against and sufficient changes to the T Level TQ cannot be made to retain approval
- where there is a retirement of a recognised occupation and or standard on the
- where a suitability and viability analysis of a T Level TQ or T Level occupational specialism is undertaken, and the subsequent analysis recommends withdrawal of approval
- where a T Level TQ or T Level occupational specialism consistently has low or zero starts for an extended period
- where the ability of a T Level TQ to deliver for employers is bought into question
- where the quality of a T Level TQ is brought into question through the ongoing oversight of the contracts
The above list is not exhaustive. Legislation allows us to take into account other matters that we consider appropriate in a particular case.
The process for deciding whether to withdraw approval
Where Skills England decide that revision or withdrawal of a T Level TQ or T Level occupational specialism 聽must be considered, we will take the following steps:
- change requests raised by Skills England or by the Awarding Organisation (AO) will first be internally assessed to understand the changes required
- a triage meeting will be held to assess whether the change falls into the inclusive or external change process
- if an exclusive change is required and relates to the removal of an T Level occupational specialism, this will be reviewed and discussed by the triage group. If removal is deemed appropriate, then the exclusive change removals process will be followed
Withdrawal outside of the change process
Outside of the change processes, a T Level TQ may be flagged for potential withdrawal through a number of channels:
- through the annual review process
- by Ofqual as the regulator
- by the AO
- the route group
- by the senior contract manager
- by the Department for Education (DfE)
The T Level TQ withdrawals process
If a T Level TQ is recommended for withdrawal, the recommendation will be agreed by the Skills England Technical Qualification Programme Board and then passed to the CEO to decide. If agreed, Skills England colleagues will work with DfE to make a recommendation to Ministers. If Ministers agree the T Level TQ should be withdrawn, then the necessary contractual procedures will take place.
Where possible, proposed withdrawal of approval will be communicated to the relevant AO more than 6 months before the start of a new academic year.
AOs have the right to聽聽of our withdrawal decision.
The information published on this page may be revised or replaced and new versions may be published accordingly.