The government is to pour £38m into new classrooms, building refurbishments and equipment upgrades ahead of the introduction of T Level construction and building services engineering courses.
The money will come from the T Level Capital Fund, announced by the Chancellor in the 2018 Budget.
T Levels will be the technical equivalent to A Levels, combining classroom theory, practical learning and an industry placement. The first seven T Levels in: onsite construction; building services engineering; health; healthcare science; science; digital support and services; and digital business services will be taught by over 50 further education and post-16 providers from September 2020.
The T Level Capital Fund will be delivered in two parts. From 30 January, eligible further education providers are being invited to bid for funding to refurbish their existing buildings or to build new spaces. Funding for specialist equipment such as digital and audio-visual kit, will be allocated to all providers in spring 2020.
Apprenticeships and skills minster, Anne Milton said: “T Levels are a once in a generation opportunity to transform technical education in this country. They will give young people the opportunity to gain the skills they need to get a great job, go on to do a higher-level apprenticeship or further study.
“It will be vital that they have access to the latest, high quality equipment and state-of the art facilities during their studies. The T Level Capital Fund will help those further education providers at the forefront of delivering these important reforms to be ready to teach T Levels from September 2020.
“To support the further education sector to deliver the new T Level programmes, the government will provide an additional half a billion pounds every year once they are all fully rolled out.”
