One in three drop out from health T-level – report

It comes after a warning from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) last month, that the number of people studying to become nurses has “collapsed” in each region of England.

“Across the NHS alone there are tens of thousands of vacancies, and demand for services continues to rise,” RCN’s Prof Nicola Ranger said at the time.

“We desperately need more people to join the profession, but the reality is nursing numbers are going in the wrong direction.”

UK-wide Ucas data from August found 23,800 students were accepted on to nursing courses for this academic year – 340 fewer than last year and 6,350 fewer than in 2021.

The EPI report found that nearly half of health and science T-level students who drop out early end up leaving education altogether.

It also criticised the T-level transition programme (TLTP), a foundation year of study to help students prepare for the T-level, with only 2% of health and science TLTP students progressing to the full course.

T-levels were launched by the former Conservative government, which planned to make them the main route into vocational education by defunding alternative courses, like BTecs, with overlapping subject areas.

Critics have warned that many students who might not be suited to T-levels could be left with fewer options for post-16 education if the alternatives are removed.

The new Labour government said it would continue with T-levels, but it is considering whether to continue defunding other courses.

The result of that review is expected before the end of the year.

A spokesperson from the DfE said: “We welcome these findings that show T-level students are more likely to go onto advanced apprenticeships and other higher levels of study than other vocational qualifications.”