Updates to qualification materials for T Levels following annual review

On this page, you’ll find:    

• information on the qualification specifications that have been updated 
• further detail specifically on the Health specification which has been more extensively updated 
• important surveys to complete to have your say on the approach to resits for students already on the Health T Level programme and the use of a responsive manikin as a required resource 
• support available for you. 

Please ensure you read all sections of this page that are relevant to you and your students and pass on to any colleagues who need to know this information. 

Qualification specification updates  

New copies of the qualification specifications are now available for the following qualifications: 

• T Level Technical Qualification in Digital Business Services (Level 3) (Delivered By NCFE) (603/6902/4) 
• T Level Technical Qualification in Education and Early Years (Level 3) (Delivered By NCFE) (603/5829/4) 
• T Level Technical Qualification in Health (Level 3) (Delivered By NCFE) (603/7066/X) 
• T Level Technical Qualification in Healthcare Science (Level 3) (Delivered By NCFE) (603/7083/X) 
• T Level Technical Qualification in Science (Level 3) (Delivered By NCFE) (603/6989/9).

To access the new qualification specifications, please visit the qualification pages and you’ll find them in support materials – mandatory qualification information - on our website.   

These specifications are for first teaching from September 2023 (for year one students). Both the new and previous versions of the qualification specifications will be available until after the autumn assessments, but summer 2024 assessments will be based on the new qualification specification. 

As part of our annual review process, we’ve updated the content to support your delivery, provide clarity or reflect changes in current practice. Full details of amendments can be viewed in the change history record within the qualification specifications. The change history records will help you to understand the changes and how they might impact you and your students. 

We’ve also published updated versions of the sample assessment materials where changes have been made. These changes include reviews of the equipment used within the materials to ensure alignment with the qualification specification and updates to some tasks and the assessment conditions to ensure clarity.  

See the further information and support section below for details on sessions relating to the Health T Level 

Further detail on the updated specification for T Level in Health  

We wanted to give you some further detail and support on the changes to the Health specification which has been more extensively updated to ensure that the full depth of content covered is relevant to Health. In summary, the changes are: 

• updates and amends in section A, including the addition of health and social care content where appropriate 
• extensive amends to section B1 content to directly support core science concepts 
• extensive amends to section B2 content to include further science concepts in health 
• general changes to information and guidance sections 
• updates and amends across the full specification as a result of the annual review. 

As mentioned above, for the full itemised details of changes please refer to the change history record within the qualification specification. 

Changes to assessment 

• Please note, the content changes will only impact the core exams component of the T Level in Health. There are no changes to the core skills which are assessed by the Employer Set Project (ESP) or the Occupational Specialism (OS) content. 
• Only core paper B has been redeveloped as a result of this change. The content assessed by core paper B has been updated to ensure alignment with the updated qualification specification. 
• The assessment will still be an exam paper which will be delivered in two assessment series each academic year.   

The new version of the assessment paper will target the same three assessment objectives: 

The number of marks and spread of assessment objectives remain the same but the key difference is the content targeting. 

The new versions of the papers have three sections. All sections can assess content from B1, but B2 is split into distinct categories as shown below: 

Section A – body systems 1 

• Cardiovascular system  
• Respiratory system  
• Nervous system  
• Musculoskeletal system.  

Section B – body systems 2 

• Digestive system  
• Renal system  
• Integumentary system  
• Reproductive system  
• Endocrine system.  

Section C – body systems 3 

• This section will sample from the entire content to allow students to draw on their knowledge from across the core. 

Further information and support 

Following the release of the updated health specification, we’re running a number of webinars to highlight the changes. The same session will be repeated to provide the opportunity for you to attend at a time that best suits your schedule. There is also a pre-recorded version available here. Spaces in each session will be limited, giving you the ability to ask as many questions as you need and to get answers from our team. The session schedule is as follows: 

• Monday 3 July (4-5:30pm) 
• Tuesday 4 July (4-5.30pm) 

In August, we’ll be hosting a virtual workshop focusing on adapting resources and planning for those who have already delivered the previous version of the specification. Once released, you’ll find the information on our events page. 

We need your thoughts: Approach to resits for students already on the programme and the use of a responsive manikin as a required resource  

The health specification will go live for all new registrations from September 2023, and assessments using this specification will be available for the first sitting in summer 2024. It's expected that students who have registered on the T Level prior to September 2023 will resit core paper B assessments which are aligned to the original qualification specification. 

This is due to the scale of changes in the new specification and the anticipated challenge in delivering the new content to resitting students, alongside the delivery of year two content and industry placement. 

Once you’ve had the opportunity to read and understand the changes, we’d like to know your views on the approach to resits. An alternative option is that all students will complete core paper B assessments which target the updated specification.   

As well as this, we’ve listened to your feedback regarding the use of a responsive manikin in the T Level in Health and we’re investigating the possibility of removing this as a required resource. We’d like to understand your views on this change to support with the review. 

Please share your thoughts on resits and the use of a responsive manikin by Friday 7 July 2023 by completing this short survey.