New V-level courses to be brought in for students after GCSEs

New vocational courses called V-levels will be rolled out for 16-year-olds under government plans to simplify a "confusing landscape" of qualifications in England.

They are set to replace Level 3 BTecs and other post-16 technical qualifications.

Ministers also plan to reduce the number of teenagers resitting maths and English GCSEs by introducing a new "stepping stone" qualification.

The Sixth Form Colleges Association warned that V-levels may not fill the gap left by BTecs.

Ministers are expected to lay out proposals for higher education funding, including university tuition fees, on Monday afternoon.

The government has launched a consultation on its V-level plans, which form part of its post-16 education and skills white paper.

They come after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer stressed the importance of vocational training, announcing a target for two-thirds of young people to go to university or study a technical qualification.

Lola Marshall, 17, hopes to do an apprenticeship after her health and social care extended diploma at Leeds City College, and said there wasn't enough discussion about vocational routes at school.

"Everyone always talked about university and no one ever really helped me decide whether I wanted to do university or an apprenticeship," she said.

Plans to scrap BTecs have been under way for a few years, and campaigners have stressed the importance of students having an alternative to A-levels and T-levels.

Bill Watkin, chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, said students must be able to enrol on BTecs and other courses for the next two years.

"While the detail has yet to be established, there is a risk that the new V-levels will not come close to filling the gap that will be left by the removal of applied general qualifications," he said.

David Hughes, the chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said V-levels might bring more "clarity and certainty" to further education.

"We've seen before lots of attempts to raise the profile of vocational and technical learning – we've got to hope this time we get it right as a nation," he said.

Myles McGinley, managing director of the Cambridge OCR exam board, said V-levels could be a "tremendous opportunity for young people", adding that the sector would need time to work together and develop courses that meet students' needs.

Baroness Smith also said a new qualification would be introduced as a "stepping stone" to GCSE resits, helping students who "too often have been on this demoralising roundabout of taking exams and failing them".

In England, pupils who don't get at least a grade 4 in GCSE English and maths have to continue studying for it alongside their next course, and are expected to resit.

However, the resit pass rate is low and the policy has proved controversial.

The government said offering a different qualification would "break down barriers to opportunity", because white working class pupils were twice as likely to need to resit than their better-off classmates.

Ministers still expect pupils who take the new qualification to work towards resitting their GCSEs, although not everyone will.

Its white paper will also propose that teenagers are offered a choice of two "pathways" - one focused on study and one on work - which will set out which qualifications they'll need to achieve their goals.