The catering T Level qualification isn't working for employers

The delayed T Level is beset with issues: it offers less on-the-job training than an apprenticeship and requires more GCSEs than a BTEC, leaving employers struggling to fit it into their business

The government has been introducing T Levels, a two-year technical qualification as an alternative to A-levels for post-GCSE students. But if you hoped T Levels would help solve the hospitality industry’s crippling skills shortage, you may want to think again.

The recent announcement that the catering T Level will not be launched in September as planned and that it will be delayed “beyond 2024” proves what many in the industry feared – that it is a minefield of confusion and complexity.

Significantly, the three other T Levels that have been delayed – hairdressing, barbering and beauty therapy; craft and design and media, broadcast and production – have only been deferred until 2024, leaving some to feel this industry is yet again being neglected by government.

So, why after years of talks is the launch of the catering T Level so sticky? In a nutshell, many feel that taking a vocational qualification and making it 80% academic will not meet industry needs. The general feeling from educators and employers whom The Caterer has spoken to is the qualification doesn’t allow for specialism and doesn’t deliver as much skills training and practical experience as, say, a BTEC which, like other overlapping qualifications, is expected to be phased out. Neither does it offer front of house training.

“Instead of putting together a new qualification, they should have taken what we have and upgraded it to suit changes over time,” says Jose Souto, senior chef lecturer in culinary arts at Westminster Kingsway College in London. “We produce well-rounded students for what the industry wants and in the last year we give them a chosen path – pastry, front of house or kitchen larder. With the T Level, students will leave with no specialism.”

The message, loud and clear, is that educators feel they have not been listened to; that the T Level was being pitched at the wrong level; and that the “right” employers and educators were not being included in meetings. Some who did attend meetings left because it felt they weren’t going in the right direction.

Molly Shaher, chair of the Professional Association for Catering Education (PACE), says the consensus of colleges that were looking to start T Levels in September was that they were not fit for purpose.

“The awarding body Highfield [had not provided enough] information to the colleges to start the T Levels. Many colleges held off as they had no faith in Highfield and what was planned for the T Level curriculum. It seemed it lacked many of the practical elements that are needed to support students gaining employment, especially with the staff shortages we are facing,” she says.

As The Caterer went to press, Shaher said there were still no details about why the T Level has been deferred.

Meanwhile, Highfield told The Caterer: “Highfield has supported the Department for Education and Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education with their decision to defer the delivery of the T Level in catering. This will allow time to consult with employers and sector bodies to ensure that the content of this T Level meets all the needs of the sector.”

Finding the problem

Nobody wants a T Level that is not fit for purpose and this is arguably a chance to address that. The question, having identified that something is wrong, is what needs to change?

“The current catering T Level is narrowly prescribed and focused on chefs, because it is based on the [Level 3] apprentice standard for a chef de partie or senior production chef,” says Peter Jones, director of consultancy Wentworth Jones and dean of the eHotelier Academy. “We need to think about the bigger picture. If T Levels are to become the standard for 16- to 19-year-olds, we need to look at much wider provision over and beyond the role of chef as we are cutting off other potential hospitality students and huge sections of the industry.”

In 2021, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) did conduct a consultation exercise on a hospitality T Level, but Professor Jones says: “A brief search on the IfATE website does not indicate that such a T Level is scheduled for development. The current alternatives, including BTECs, are robust and well-recognised by employers and students alike. If the funding is withdrawn from these qualifications, as the current policy suggests, the only alternative for a 16-year-old would be to do a hospitality apprenticeship.”

Speaking in advance of a Royal Academy of Culinary Arts education committee meeting to discuss the issue [week of 27 March], committee member David Foskett agrees, adding that the T Level was pitched at the wrong level.

“To do a T Level, students need to have five GCSEs, so the catering T Level will lose students who don’t achieve them. What has worked is the BTEC qualification, because the style of teaching and educational requirements suit those students and is pitched at the right level,” he says. He adds that BTECs can be taken alongside or in place of GCSEs and A-Levels and also incorporate practical learning.

“With BTEC and the National Diploma you needed four GCSEs. I have students who did the National Diploma and went on to do master’s degrees and are chief executives of companies because it suited their learning and intelligence. Educationalists understand this.”

The other question is whether students who achieve five GCSEs will want to do a T Level in catering, which is a different style of learning to A-level. “We have to recognise there are different types of learning and intelligence and we have to capture that. A student who is a high-flyer academically is probably not going to do a catering T Level. Equally, they possibly don’t have the type of intelligence needed to become a high-flyer in hospitality,” says Foskett.

Neither does he agree with the transition year to bring T Level students up to speed in maths and English. “It becomes a three-year qualification. You don’t need GCSE maths for hospitality, you need maths that is relevant,” he says. “The T Level doesn’t meet employer needs because they haven’t spoken to the right people. The educationalists who are teaching are close to industry and have been employers themselves, and they are the ones we have to listen to.”

Like Jones, he questions the logic of trying to model the T Level on the Level 3 apprenticeship. “It needs to be more generic where you give the students at that level a flavour of hospitality,” he says. “That is why the BTEC is successful. Those who didn’t want to [do catering] went on to do a diploma front of house.”

Narrow focus

Many agree that the current catering T Level is too narrow. Adele Oxberry, chief executive at training and apprenticeship provider Umbrella Training, says: “In general, we are supportive of the principle of T Levels, but would like to see a hospitality T Level in addition to catering. The current T Level doesn’t cover other elements of our sector, including front of house, housekeeping and so on. For us, it must be about student readiness and choice to embrace either a simulated environment for learning, or the offer of a realworkplace environment with the learning and wage to match.”

Industry employers value experience in the workplace and one big issue is that while apprentices spend 80% of their time on the job, T Level students will only spend 20%.

“It’s going to be a challenge to ensure the students’ cooking abilities and their experience of working in a fast-paced environment is sufficient by the time they leave college,” says Oxberry. “There’s a strong case that school-leaver apprentices will be a more attractive option for hospitality employers as it involves more hands-on experience from the outset. In addition, the catering T Level is Level 3. In apprenticeships, the culinary Level 3 is chef de partie or senior production chef standard. However, the Level 2 commis chef basic cooking apprenticeship has real work experience at its heart. Would a young person who has achieved a Level 3 T Level want to then do a Level 2 commis chef qualification to gain more complex culinary skills that they may be missing?”

As ever, the work placement will be crucial in ensuring students have the right experience, and is key in retaining students. Equally, employer expectations will need to be managed with regards to the skills that more classroom-based T Level students will have.

Into the real world

So what do employers think? At Home Grown Hotels and the Lime Wood Group, which has a vibrant apprenticeship scheme, people director Steve Rockey says: “I get that T Levels are there to fill another part of someone’s journey. So, if you are more academic and want to go to college and do hospitality, it is part of the current bit of education that isn’t necessarily there,” he says. “But I do also think they have pitched it wrong insofar as you will have a ‘qualified’ chef who would end up with higher academics, but no more experience – and possibly less experience – than [an apprentice] who has been working for two years. So I can see why it doesn’t naturally fit from the employer’s perspective, particularly when we are going so headlong into apprenticeships.

“In some ways, it almost fails on both [counts]. It doesn’t provide a sufficient bank of on-the-job experience and they don’t come out with enough academia to go on to the graduate route. I can see why it has gone back for further reviewing.”

Chris Galvin, chef-patron at Galvin Restaurants, is another employer who questions the T Level. “I felt it was reaching for a too-high degree of skills level and missing out on the fundamental skills levels that are so critical to a chef’s understanding as they start their journey to be a professional chef,” he says.

“I would like to see the industry come together and establish a clear path towards basic necessary skills and development. Start with understanding farming, sustainability, equal, inclusive work culture and a grounding in the basic disciplines of cookery. It is important we all get the message out as to what an incredible industry hospitality really is.”

One employer that is looking at T Levels as an opportunity is Compass Group UK & Ireland. Last year, the foodservice giant launched Our Social Promise, a pledge to positively impact a million lives by 2030. Part of this strategy includes maximising training opportunities such as apprenticeships, the company graduate scheme and career pathways.

“T Levels would be a great way to attract new talent into our industry and we have been doing some preliminary work into setting these up, for when they do come onstream,” says Jonathan Foot, head of apprenticeships and early careers.

“You don’t need specific qualifications to join [this industry]. We can offer skills training, career opportunities and flexibility. Promoting T Levels would be a great way to inform people about the benefits of our industry. T Levels would complement our existing suite of opportunities, and our teams have been talking to colleges and schools about implementation. The general sense is that they would work well for hospitality, providing a pipeline for our middle-management opportunities.”

Ceri Gott, chief people officer at Hawksmoor, is ambivalent: “We haven’t followed T Level proposals closely, although we do provide opportunities for apprenticeships, work experience and enjoyed being part of the Kickstart programme, which led to two permanent hires.”

What unites employers is that they want training programmes that excite young people. As Gott says: “Giving young people a chance to gain practical experience in some of the most collaborative and vibrant working communities can introduce them to new ideas, ignite new passions – whether for product, people or back of house support – and give them a sense of the wide variety of career paths on offer, so they can be best informed for their own future.”

How the catering T Level should be reworked to achieve this is what many in the industry are concerned about.

What are T levels?

T Levels are a Level 3 qualification and provide an alternative to A-levels and other courses aimed at 16- to 19-year-olds.

They are developed in collaboration with employers and education providers to meet the needs of the relevant industry and prepare students for entry into skilled employment, an apprenticeship or related technical study through further or higher education.

The two-year T Level is taken after GCSEs and are roughly equivalent in size to three A-levels. They are available at selected schools and colleges, with an industry placement of at least 315 hours (about 45 days).

They differ from apprenticeships in that T Levels offer 20% of workplace experience, whereas apprenticeships are typically 80% on the job.

Where a Level 3 qualification (such as BTEC) overlaps it is likely they will be phased out. There is a one-year T Level transition programme post-GCSE for those who need help with maths, English and digital skills.

T Level graduates will get nationally recognised certificate that shows an overall grade and separate grades for each core component and specialism. They will also receive UCAS tariff points if they wish to move into further education.

More than £400m has been made available to support providers of T Levels

More information at www.tlevels.gov.uk

Response from the Professional Association for Catering Education

Do you support T Levels?

We feel T Levels will alienate many people coming into the industry. Students come into hospitality wanting to be chefs or waiters as it a practical and hands-on career. The T Levels and what the students would be required to do would [not match] the hands-on approach we currently teach.

The catering T Level doesn’t work as it is not food or catering-based – it is too academic and not fit for purpose.

What do you think needs to be done to make T Levels a success?

There needs to be a respected think-tank around the table, with a mixture of industry and educators where it could be discussed and amended. It should be more relevant, more thought-through for the needs of the industry, for it to be less academic and more craft-relevant. It should cover front of house as well as back of house, and with different paths for different sectors of the industry.