What is a TL badge? Why education secretary Nadhim Zahawi wore T-Level lapel badge on TV - meaning explained

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi was seen wearing the badge on This Morning
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T Levels are new courses in England which follow GCSEs and are equivalent to three A Levels, but why have they been introduced and what is the T Level badge?

Here’s what you need to know.

What are T Levels?

T Levels are two-year courses that have been developed in collaboration with employers and businesses to prepare students for work, further training or study.

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They offer students a mixture of classroom learning and ‘on-the-job’ experience during an industry placement of at least 315 hours (approximately 45 days).

What is the T Level badge?

The T Level badge is a badge of the official T Level logo, which education secretary Nadhim Zahawi was seen wearing on This Morning, later posting the video on Twitter late last year.

Alongside the video, Mr Zahawi wrote: “Enjoyed answering questions from viewers on #ThisMorning, including about our National Tutoring Programme.

“I would encourage parents to ask their child’s school about available tuition.”

What subjects will be available?

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In time, students will be able to take a T Level in the following subject areas:

  • accounting
  • agriculture, land management and production
  • animal care and management
  • building services engineering for construction 
  • catering
  • craft and design
  • design and development for engineering and manufacturing
  • design, surveying and planning for construction 
  • digital business services
  • digital production, design and development 
  • digital support and services 
  • education and childcare 
  • finance
  • hair, beauty and aesthetics
  • health
  • healthcare science 
  • legal
  • maintenance, installation and repair for engineering and manufacturing
  • management and administration
  • engineering, manufacturing, processing and control
  • media, broadcast and production
  • onsite construction
  • Science

When will they start?

There are 10 T Levels now available at selected colleges, schools and other providers across England.

The remaining courses will start in either 2022 or 2023.

The Government website has a list of the providers who are offering T Level courses up to September 2022.

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