'V Levels' among new plans to simplify skills landscape: Make UK reaction
20.10.2025
The government has announced plans to introduce new “V Levels” as part of its Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper. The new qualifications will replace a large number of existing vocational courses at Level 3 and are designed to align more closely with the skills needs of employers.
V Levels will sit alongside A Levels and T Levels, giving students more flexibility to combine academic and technical study across subjects such as engineering, digital, and creative industries. The reforms are supported by £800 million in additional funding for 16–19 education in 2026/27 and the creation of 14 new Technical Excellence Colleges linked to key industrial sectors.
While the changes aim to simplify the complex post-16 landscape, clear communication will be essential to ensure employers understand how the new qualifications fit with existing routes and what skills and knowledge they provide.
University Technical Colleges (UTCs) and Further Education (FE) Colleges are well placed to deliver high-quality provision, ensuring that V Levels and T Levels help young people gain the technical competencies modern industry demands.
For manufacturing, the focus on high-quality technical education and clearer routes into apprenticeships could help strengthen the sector’s future workforce and address ongoing skills shortages.
With a large majority of manufacturers identifying a lack of technical skills as the biggest barrier to successful recruitment, they will welcome the Government’s focus on improving technical and vocational training options for young people. Following the announcement of additional funding for engineering skills in the industrial strategy, and the Prime Minister’s party conference speech putting gold-standard apprenticeships on an equal footing with academic routes, today’s publication of the post-16 education and skills white paper is another important step forward.
"Employers often find the post-16 landscape difficult to navigate – the Government is right to try to address this by streamlining the large number of qualifications with the introduction of V Levels. However, care must also be taken to ensure that employers understand these new qualifications – the skills and knowledge they will give to young people, and the expectations on employers to provide industry experience, must be made clear.
"Manufacturers will be optimistic that reformed and improved training options through new V Levels and continued support for T Levels will boost their apprenticeship recruitment, which is critical to developing the future workforce the sector needs. We look forward to continuing to work with the Government on making these reforms a success and improving employer investment in the technical skills that are crucial to the success of manufacturing.
