Rise in numbers passing construction T levels

The proportion of students passing construction-related T levels has risen, data released today (14 August) shows.

A total of 107 students qualified with onsite construction T levels, out of 125 enrolled on courses across the country, according to provisional Department for Education (DfE) data.

Meanwhile, 506 passed their building-services engineering course, out of 539 who attempted it. Only 317 students took the course in the previous academic year, while 138 took onsite construction.

The pass rate for onsite construction was 85.6 per cent, with building-services engineering seeing 93.9 per cent of participants qualify.

Both courses had a lower pass rate than the national average of 95 per cent.

Last year’s pass rate for onsite construction was 80.4 per cent, with building services seeing a 93.1 per cent level of success.

This year, onsite construction had the second-highest rate of unclassified or failed grades, behind only design and development for engineering and manufacturing with 17.3 per cent.

In December 2024 it was announced that the onsite T level, introduced in 2021, would be scrapped in future academic years due to insufficient demand.

Onsite construction T levels include bricklaying, painting and decorating, plastering, and carpentry and joinery, while building-services T levels incorporate electrotechnical engineering, plumbing and heating engineering.

The DfE said its data should be treated with caution because T Levels are still in their rollout phase.

In March, the National Audit Office said the government should boost the number of students taking T Levels and do a better job of raising awareness of the technical qualifications.