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OPEN CONSULTATION, DOCUMENT
Youth work in Wales:
delivering for young people
(consultation document)
We want your views on a proposed new statutory framework
for youth work.
First published: 7 October 2024
Last updated: 7 October 2024
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Contents
Overview
Introduction
The need for a consistent definition of youth work within a legislative
context
Youth work strategic plans
Partnership working
The youth work entitlement and youth work offer
Youth participation structures
Consultation questions
UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)
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Overview
We are seeking views on draft new statutory guidance and statutory directions
for youth work in Wales. These proposals form a key part of work to develop and
take forward a series of recommendations made by the Interim Youth Work
Board in their final report, ‘Time to deliver for young people in Wales’.
Introduction
The Interim Youth Work Board, in place from October 2018 to July 2022, was
tasked with providing advice and guidance to the Welsh Government on a
number of areas relating to youth work in Wales. This followed on from
an inquiry by the Children, Young People and Education Committee in
2016, a review of ‘Extending Entitlement’ in 2018, as well as Estyn’s survey
of services for young people in Wales in 2018.
The Interim Youth Work Board’s report, published in September 2021, set out
14 recommendations aimed at achieving a sustainable delivery model for youth
work in Wales. One of those was to strengthen the legislative basis for youth
work. Legislating for a new framework for youth services in Wales is a
Programme for Government commitment.
Following detailed work with the Youth Work Strategy Implementation Board,
practitioners and other representatives from across the sector and beyond, as
well as young people, we are now inviting responses to draft proposals for
strengthening the legislative basis for youth work.
These proposals focus on the introduction of new statutory directions and
statutory guidance for youth work in Wales, referred to in this document as the
new statutory framework.
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This statutory framework incorporates the following key elements:
• a definition of youth work as part of wider youth support services
• the introduction of a new youth work entitlement for young people
• a revised strategic planning and reporting mechanism for youth work
Work continues on a number of the Interim Board’s other recommendations, and
further details on the current focus of this work can be found in a statement
made by the then Minister for Education and Welsh Language in December
2023.
The need for a consistent definition of youth work
within a legislative context
The status of youth work in Wales and the absence of a strong and consistent
definition has been a central and recurring theme in recent policy deliberations.
For example, a thematic review undertaken by Estyn in 2018 concluded as
follows.
The need for a robust definition of youth work was highlighted in the Interim
Board’s final report.
“ There is a lack of clarity among service providers and policy makers about
the terminology used when discussing services to support young people.
The term ‘youth work’ is often confused with ‘work with young people’. ”
“ The current legislative basis for youth work services in Wales is weak and
open to interpretation… moreover, current legislation does not define
youth work services as a statutory function of local authorities, which can
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This has also been echoed in our engagement with many stakeholders who
have spoken of the need to protect youth work as a service so that its
distinctiveness as an approach to working with young people is fully understood
and appreciated.
To address these concerns, we propose that each local authority is directed to
provide a distinct youth work service within the broader youth support services it
provides for young people. To achieve this, we have enshrined a definition of
youth work within legislation so that each local authority can be held accountable
for its delivery.
Our proposal is that youth work is defined as:
Youth worker qualification and youth support worker qualification in this context
are those set out in Schedule 1 and 2 of the Education Workforce Council
(Registration of Youth Workers, Youth Support Workers and Youth Based
Learning Practitioners) Order 2016. The list of youth worker and youth
support worker qualifications can also be found on the Education Workforce
Council’s website.
This definition draws on the existing understanding of youth work as a key
component of wider youth support services, driven by the voluntary engagement
of young people. It also aims to protect youth work as a recognised profession
lead to a situation in which local authorities view youth work services as a
luxury rather than an essential service for young people. ”
“ ‘services provided within the youth support service using a distinct
educational approach based on the voluntary engagement of young
people delivered by persons holding a youth worker or youth support
worker qualification’. ”
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and emphasises the value of recognised qualifications.
As well as delineating youth work in this way, we also acknowledge the
important role played by a wider community of allied professionals as well as
volunteers who support the delivery of youth work and enrich the quality of the
provision for young people in Wales.
Q1. Do you feel that the proposed definition of youth work is clear and helps
differentiate youth work from other services supporting young people?
Q2. Are there any unintended consequences in taking this approach?
Youth work strategic plans
Effective planning of youth work is considered to help ensure provision is
designed and delivered strategically, taking a longer-term view to addressing
young people’s needs rather than reacting to short-term problems and issues.
The new statutory framework will require a local authority to develop a youth
work strategic plan (‘the strategic plan’) with their partners. The strategic plan
must include objectives for youth work aligned to the seven well-being goals for
Wales as set out in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.
The strategic plans will be submitted to the Welsh Government for approval.
Each local authority will be required to publish monitoring reports annually,
setting out progress made against the objectives in the strategic plan.
Q3. Do you feel that the requirement for a youth work strategic plan will help
strengthen the design and delivery of youth work?
Q4. Do you feel the youth work strategic plan will provide an effective
accountability structure for youth work?
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Partnership working
The engagement with stakeholders to date has emphasised the value of
collaboration in designing and delivering support for young people. The statutory
framework places a duty on each local authority to engage and consult with
partners to ensure provision is driven by the needs of young people.
Q5. The proposals are intended to ensure local authorities design and deliver
youth work provision in a collaborative way according to local need. Is this a
helpful approach or is there is a need to be more prescriptive?
Q6. Are the accountability arrangements proposed in the statutory framework
sufficiently robust and clear?
The youth work entitlement and youth work offer
The new statutory framework introduces a new youth work entitlement for young
people, defining how Welsh Government require youth work to be designed and
delivered.
The youth work offer is the local interpretation of that entitlement, tailored to
what young people need and want in that area.
Q7. Does the proposed youth work entitlement clearly encapsulate how we
collectively wish to see youth work designed and delivered?
Youth participation structures
In our engagement to date, young people have told us of some of the barriers
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that may prevent them from accessing youth work, including lack of transport to
reach a setting, lack of awareness of provision, or a feeling of intimidation
relating to who else they may encounter at a setting. The active involvement of
young people in the design and delivery of provision can help identify strategies
to eliminate such barriers as well as to ensure clear pathways for discussions
between young people if such challenges do emerge.
The statutory framework requires a local authority to ensure young people
influence decisions about the design and delivery of youth work. They must also
put arrangements in place so that young people can hold the local authority to
account on progress made against the youth work strategic plan.
Q8. The statutory framework requires a local authority to ensure young people
can participate in the design and delivery of youth work. The precise approach in
achieving this would be determined by local need and structures. Is this a helpful
approach or is there is a need to be more prescriptive?
Consultation questions
Question 1
Do you feel that the proposed definition of youth work is clear and helps
differentiate youth work from other services supporting young people?
Question 2
Are there any unintended consequences in taking this approach?
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Question 3
Do you feel that the requirement for a youth work strategic plan will help
strengthen the design and delivery of youth work?
Question 4
Do you feel the youth work strategic plan will provide an effective accountability
structure for youth work?
Question 5
The proposals are intended to enable local authorities to design partnership
structures according to local need. Do you consider there is a need to be more
prescriptive?
Question 6
Are the accountability arrangements proposed in the statutory framework
sufficiently robust and clear?
Question 7
Does the proposed youth work entitlement clearly encapsulate how we
collectively wish to see youth work designed and delivered?
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Question 8
The statutory framework requires a local authority to ensure young people can
participate in the design and delivery of youth work. The precise approach in
achieving this would be determined by local need and structures. Do you
consider there is a need to be more prescriptive?
Please use the consultation response form to respond to the above questions.
UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK
GDPR)
The Welsh Government will be data controller for Welsh Government
consultations and for any personal data you provide as part of your response to
the consultation. Welsh Ministers have statutory powers they will rely on to
process this personal data which will enable them to make informed decisions
about how they exercise their public functions. The lawful basis for processing
information in this data collection exercise is our public task, that is, exercising
our official authority to undertake the core role and functions of the Welsh
Government. (Art 6(1)(e)).
Any response you send us will be seen in full by Welsh Government staff
dealing with the issues which this consultation is about or planning future
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Youth work in Wales : delivering for young people (consultation document)

1 
Foreword 
Welcome to our annual report. In this report you will find how the Welsh education and training 
sectors have performed over the year. In addition to our early insights, published in October 2024, 
this report will feature both my own reflections on the year but also greater detail and nuance around 
our findings along with some featured analysis. With over 400 annual inspections, Estyn continues to 
develop its ethos to one of providing accountability and supporting improvement. We will, therefore, 
shine a light on some of the best practice seen along with focusing on areas where we are seeing 
national trends that need addressing if Wales is to achieve its ambitions for all learners. 
I would like to thank all the providers we visited during the year and the system more widely for their 
efforts and commitment to learners. The most rewarding part of my role continues to be regular visits 
to all types of settings across Wales, meeting learners and the passionate teams, devoted to 
education and training. 
In addition to our thematic reports, this year we will again include some selected evaluations focusing 
on how well providers tackle some of the specific challenges facing learners in Wales, including: 
Towards an anti-racist Wales 
Teaching & the curriculum 
Self-evaluation and improvement planning 
Recruitment and retention 
The Welsh language 
2 
Attendance 
The outcomes of this work have been illuminating. For example, we have seen commendable efforts 
by schools to integrate anti-racism into their ethos and practices, although the depth and breadth of 
this integration vary. 
The implementation of the Curriculum for Wales has progressed, but many schools still do not align 
curriculum development with effective teaching and assessment strategies well enough. In some 
cases, schools’ planning for progression is underdeveloped and teachers’ expectations of what pupils 
can achieve are too low. 
Self-evaluation, in particular, remains a crucial area for improvement. Only a minority of providers 
demonstrate strong practice that drives improvement, while others do not evaluate the impact of 
teaching on learning closely enough and therefore struggle to plan precise and impactful 
improvements. 
Recruitment, especially in areas such as the Welsh language, science and mathematics, has been a 
significant challenge, impacting the quality of education. This is particularly concerning in secondary 
schools. The failure to attract new entrants to the profession has impacted on the quality of teaching 
and learning. 
While there is a need to strengthen the provision to develop learners’ grasp of Welsh in all sectors, we 
have also observed strong practice in the promotion of Welsh language and culture, which serves as 
models for others. 
We have again this year sought to enhance in our approaches to communicate our findings. For 
example, we have worked with practitioners to create podcasts that offer greater detail and 
reflections on anti-racism and the implementation of the Curriculum for Wales, which we hope will 
support progress in these areas. 
3 
Turning now to our inspections, whilst there are many strengths in the Welsh education and training 
sectors in Wales, there continue to be areas for improvement. The clearest themes emanating from 
our work this year have been: 
In too many cases, the quality of teaching and assessment is not high enough. For example, in just 
under a half of schools and PRUs, there are shortcomings in teaching that directly impacts 
learners’ progress. 
There are notable gaps in how providers plan for the development of learners’ literacy, numeracy, 
and digital skills. 
Safeguarding and well-being support are consistently strong across most schools and other 
providers. However, despite modest improvements, attendance remains too low, especially for 
learners living in poverty. 
Self-evaluation and improvement planning across the majority of sectors, including maintained 
schools and independent schools, remain areas of concern. These processes are often weak, with 
insufficient focus on the impact of teaching on learners’ progress. This is compounded by 
governance issues, where a minority rely too heavily on information from school leaders alone. In 
these cases, governors are not fully equipped to evaluate school improvement priorities or assess 
the impact of funding on pupil outcomes. 
A minority of providers have successfully integrated professional development with broader 
improvement priorities, ensuring that staff training aligns with identified shortcomings in teaching. 
Across the sectors we inspect, Early Years provision has continued to perform well, utilising local 
authority support and providing a strong foundation for learning. Provision in these settings, and in 
nursery and reception classes in schools, has responded well to changing needs in their communities 
and the readiness of children to learn. 
4 
The majority of primary and secondary schools demonstrated a strong focus on pupils’ well-being and 
their care, support and guidance. This led to positive pupil attitudes to learning. Both sectors have 
made good progress in the implementation of the new additional learning needs in education act, 
although some variability remains in terms of schools’ provision. In terms of disadvantage, although 
there are many challenges outside of their control, school staff continue to work diligently to mitigate 
the impact of poverty on educational achievement. 
Attendance remains substantially below pre-pandemic levels. It showed slight improvement, 
increasing from 88.5% to 89.0% during 2023-2024, but pupils still, on average, lost more than one 
day per fortnight of school. The gap compared with pre-pandemic levels is starker in secondary 
schools despite their best efforts and the attendance of those receiving free school meals is a 
continuing concern. Whilst there is some good news that the gap is narrowing, it remains too high. 
Very low attendance in some of our more deprived communities is a particular concern. There 
continues to be too much variation in local authorities’ focus and impact on improving attendance. 
There is substantial variation in how well schools have developed their curriculum. Planning for 
curricular transition remains an issue as learners progress from primary to secondary phases. 
In schools, the provision for developing basic numeracy and literacy skills has strengthened, with 
learners making good initial progress. However, learners do not always make enough progress in the 
latter years of the primary phase and beginning of the secondary phase to ensure that they develop 
more advanced literacy and numeracy skills. It’s worth remembering that the Programme for 
International Student Assessment (PISA) tests for higher level numeracy and literacy skills is an area 
in which Wales has under-performed. 
The success of the Welsh Government’s School Improvement Programme will be critical in supporting 
the changes needed as will the role of the newly announced professional learning agency in 
supporting high-quality teaching and improving leadership. Local authorities have a strong 
professional relationship with leaders in the sectors and on-going critical support for schools is 
essential. High expectations, monitoring progress and improvement, under-pinned by sound 
evaluation coupled with subject-specific support, will be essential elements of the new school support 
landscape. The new collaborative model will only succeed if the purposes for collaboration are clear 
and evaluation robust and have a clear and sustained focus on improving learners’ progress. 
School leaders continue to note challenges in the system that hamper progress including finance, 
pupil behaviour and the availability of support services such as Child and Adolescent Mental Health 
Services (CAMHS) or pupil referral services. We have already raised the fact that there is very limited 
capacity at pupil referral units and special schools and that too few suitable pupils return to the 
mainstream, limiting capacity within those specialist services to support more pupils. Special schools, 
specialist resource bases and PRUs are generally providing an effective, individualised curriculum, 
with strong care and support which fosters well-being. In a few cases, the lack of staff specialist 
expertise or inadequate facilities limit impact. PRUs educate a high proportion of pupils with ALN and 
local authorities are too inconsistent in how they use Individual Development Plans (IDPs) to facilitate 
Additional Learning Provision (ALPs). 
Despite some evidence of strong provision in the Initial Teacher Education Training (ITET) sector, 
recruiting suitably qualified teachers remains a risk for the education system. The recruitment 
challenges were more acute for secondary education and particularly for mathematics and sciences. 
Worryingly for the ambition to reach one million Welsh speakers, the lack of suitably qualified 
5 
teachers able to teach through Welsh is a particular issue. ITE providers have failed to recruit a third 
of the target for new Welsh speakers for the past three years. 
In the Post-16 education and training settings inspected, learners were engaged but often didn’t 
receive sufficient stretch. The proportion of learners achieving higher grades in graded provision, both 
on vocational and A-level programmes, is too low. Common issues persist such as signposting and 
progression and the availability of Welsh language provision. Overall, there is still too much unhelpful 
competition, which impacts on the information learners get about next steps and the overall 
coherence and choice of pathways. 
Many further education learners displayed strong subject or vocational skills and others had been re-
engaged by education. Junior apprenticeships, a feature of a recent thematic review, showed 
significant promise for some learners aged 14-16. Youth services, an area that Estyn has recently re-
commenced inspecting, demonstrated significant value in helping learners overcome obstacles, build 
resilience and grow confidence. 
A challenge in further education was to provide sufficient stretch for learners to achieve their 
potential. 
Work-based learning apprenticeships continued to demonstrate strengths, with most learners 
developing comprehensive practical skills that they could apply in work. Whilst learners developed 
verbal and communications skills well, the teaching and learning of literacy, numeracy and digital 
skills was overly skewed towards preparation for often unsuitable external assessment. Completion 
rates in some priority areas, such as health, public services and care and hospitality, were too low 
although there are several factors in play, including suitable assessment routes. The progress of 
apprenticeship providers in developing bilingual resources was noteworthy. 
Adult community learning provided a vital path for many learners but often provided poor value for 
money due to large and short-term injections of unsustained funding through the Multiply 
programme. The strength of the relationships between tutors and their learners was a particular 
strength, although the provision of Welsh language services, even in predominantly Welsh-speaking 
areas, was poor. 
The Justice sector demonstrated that, where teaching was strong, learners could develop valuable 
skills including literacy and numeracy skills. However, the quality of teaching was variable, and did 
not contribute well enough to learners’ prospects on release. 
Finally, the Welsh for Adults sector again demonstrated significant strength. In addition to providers, 
we inspected the National Centre for Learning Welsh and found a well-structured environment where 
learners were skilfully immersed in the language. Tutors facilitated strong learning, providing the 
impetus for many to continue their learning on subsequent and higher-level courses. 
Overall, this year demonstrated that the Welsh education and training sectors have significant 
strengths but areas that continue to require improvement. Estyn remains committed to supporting 
improvement through our activities and we have highlighted key areas that could strengthen 
provision. 


Estyn Annual Report 2023-2024

Carrying out Childcare Register compliance inspections : updated 31 January 2024

Accreditation visits to online providers handbook : Updated 1 February 2024

Social care common inspection framework (SCCIF): voluntary adoption agencies : Updated 2 February 2024

Social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) : adoption support agencies : Updated 2 February 2024

 
Outcomes of the 
review of the Initial 
Teacher Training 
Core Content 
Framework and Early 
Career Framework  
  
January 2024 
2 
Contents 
 
Introduction 3 
Key changes and improvements 4 
Repetition 4 
Contextualisation to subject and phase 4 
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) 5 
Evidence underpinning the framework 5 
Mentoring 6 
Ongoing improvement 7 
 
3 
Introduction 
The quality of teaching is the single most important in-school factor in improving 
outcomes for pupils – and it is particularly important for pupils from disadvantaged 
backgrounds. No one is born a great teacher, and evidence shows that high quality 
professional development is the best way to help teachers improve. 
That is why, despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Department for 
Education (DfE) implemented the Early Career Framework (ECF) reforms nationally in 
autumn 2021 – building on the introduction of the Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Core 
Content Framework (CCF), which took effect from 2020. Together, these create an 
entitlement to three or more years of evidence-informed, structured training and support 
for all entrants to the profession.  
Two academic years later, we have made significant progress. All ITT courses now 
incorporate the CCF, and 96% of schools are using the fully funded training on offer to 
provide an ECF-based induction programme for their early career teachers (ECTs). All 
the lead providers of ECF-based training were rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted in 
2023. 
We have always been clear that transforming the training and support that all new 
teachers receive is a long-term commitment, requiring continued investment and 
improvement. That is why we committed to a review of the CCF and ECF as the 
evidence base evolves and, importantly, so too do the experiences and needs of trainees 
and ECTs. And it is also why evaluation and continuous improvement are hardwired into 
the design of the ECF programme – both as part of lead providers’ programme delivery 
and through the process evaluation of national rollout commissioned by the DfE.  
We have now finished our review, combining an EEF-assured review of the ‘Learn that’ 
statements and underpinning CCF and ECF evidence with evaluation data, lessons 
learned from the first years of implementation, and extensive expert and sector feedback. 
Based on this, we are making important changes to the design and content of the 
frameworks and to ECF-based training delivery to improve the support all trainees and 
ECTs receive from September 2025. 
 
4 
Key changes and improvements 
This section sets out the 5 key areas for improvement that were highlighted in the review 
of the CCF and ECF and the actions we are taking to address them. 
Repetition 
The sector told us that elements of the ECF programmes can feel repetitive of ITT. 
The most substantial change we are making in response to feedback is a move to a 
combined framework for ITT and ECF-based training: the Initial Teacher Training and 
Early Career Framework (ITTECF). This recognises that we now have a 3 or more year 
introduction to the core body of knowledge, skills and behaviours that define great 
teaching, and that the role of ITT and ECF providers is to appropriately support all new 
teachers to build their expertise across all aspects of the framework.  
The CCF and ECF’s similar but separate nature sometimes meant that there was 
unintentional repetition of ITT elements in ECF-based training. The ITTECF includes new 
wording on progression, setting out how knowledge and skills should develop across ITT 
and through ECF-based induction, to reduce unnecessary repetition. We know that a 
teacher’s understanding and confidence with the elements of teaching develops as they 
grow in experience, and that they require less expert support over time. But we also 
know that this is not a linear process and ECTs should purposefully revisit the 
components of great teaching throughout their training to strengthen and deepen their 
expertise. ECF programmes will be consciously designed to build on prior learning, with 
delivery tailored to what each ECT needs to develop their expertise. 
Alongside the move to a combined framework, we will ensure ECF lead providers pitch 
their programmes in recognition that most ECTs will begin induction with a greater 
understanding of the framework, having completed ITT courses that incorporate it. We 
will introduce a new requirement for ECF lead providers to create diagnostic tools that 
ECTs will use alongside their mentors to appraise their expertise. We will give ECF 
mentors greater flexibility to focus on the aspects of self-study most needed to support 
their ECT’s development while continuing to cover all areas of the training curriculum in 
sequence. ECF lead providers will develop high quality resources to support this tailored 
delivery, such as extension materials to deepen expertise and resources to support 
mentors to break down teaching skills further for ECTs to practice.  
Contextualisation to subject and phase 
The sector told us that more tailoring to specific contexts and subjects would 
strengthen the ECF programme. 
5 
The CCF and ECF were designed to work for all teachers, across all phases and 
subjects – and this is an important principle. As such, the new framework does not 
include increased subject-specific content. ITT providers have the autonomy to 
incorporate the ITTECF as part of a full curriculum appropriate for the subject and phase 
that the trainee is training to teach. This is also vital in early career training – in line with 
the feedback received and emphasis on the need for greater tailoring – that ECTs are 
able to relate their training directly to their own specific contexts and needs. As such, 
ECF lead providers will develop enhanced subject-specific materials, designed 
specifically for their programmes. Mentors will continue to play a vital role in supporting 
tailoring in their school and their resources will help them to do this. In addition, subject-
specific materials to support trainees, ECTs and their mentors are freely available via 
Oak National Academy. Oak will work with ITT and ECF providers to support them to 
enhance their existing provision with more subject-specific content. 
While the framework remains applicable across different phases, in response to feedback 
on the content relating to younger primary-age pupils in the CCF and ECF, we have 
included additional statements in the framework with an emphasis on, but not restricted 
to, younger pupils. 
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) 
The sector told us that trainees and ECTs need further support in supporting 
pupils with SEND. 
The ITTECF has been designed in the knowledge that high quality teaching is the most 
important way to improve outcomes for pupils – particularly those with additional needs. 
The framework is designed to enable trainees and ECTs to take their first steps towards 
becoming expert teachers who can transform the lives of their pupils.  
Our review of content for the ITTECF paid particular attention to the needs of trainees 
and ECTs when supporting pupils with SEND. There is now significantly more content 
related to adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with SEND, some of which has been 
adapted from the new National Professional Qualification (NPQ) for SENCOs to be 
relevant for trainees and ECTs. We have also made some edits to existing statements to 
improve inclusivity for SEND throughout the framework.  
Recognising the importance of ensuring trainees and ECTs are confident in supporting 
pupils with SEND to succeed, we will also be enhancing the requirements on ECF lead 
providers when creating SEND exemplification materials. 
Evidence underpinning the framework 
The sector told us the frameworks need to evolve as the underpinning evidence 
evolves. 
6 
The content of the ITTECF has been updated based on a Call for Evidence launched in 
spring 2023 which invited submissions from across the sector. The outcomes of the Call 
for Evidence have been considered alongside feedback from experts, including lessons 
learned from the first few years of CCF implementation and delivery of ECF-based 
induction. The changes include updates and enhancements regarding supporting pupils 
with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), high quality oral language 
(sometimes known as oracy), and early cognitive development. In addition, a new 
statement has been added to the body of the framework to address trainees’ and ECTs’ 
evidence literacy. 
The framework sets out a minimum entitlement to training and is not a full curriculum. It 
remains for accredited ITT providers and ECF lead providers to integrate additional 
analysis and critique of theory, research, and expert practice as they deem appropriate 
for their curriculum.  
Mentoring 
The sector told us that mentoring is vital but workload is too high. 
High quality mentoring is deliberately at the heart of our ITT and ECF reforms; we know 
that trainees and ECTs value mentoring as a core element of their training and 
development. But we have heard feedback about the workload and demands of the role 
for mentors. To support ITT mentoring capacity, we have introduced a new ITT lead 
mentor role and have made up to £25 million available to schools and accredited ITT 
providers in AY 2024/25 to support this, and to allow mentors time off timetable to access 
high quality mentor training. ITT providers will consider any prior learning that mentors 
might have completed, including as an ECF mentor, in order to avoid unnecessary 
repetition of training.  
We will also make a number of changes to ECF mentoring to reduce the workload for 
mentors while ensuring they continue to receive high quality support. ECF mentors will 
continue to provide support to ECTs throughout their two year induction, but training for 
mentors will be shortened to one year. A new ECF provider-led training programme for 
ECF mentors will bring together all of the training elements mentors said they found most 
valuable and remove any unnecessary workload. It will also allow more flexibility in how 
training for new mentors is delivered. 
From 2025, ECF lead providers will support mentors with more detailed resources for use 
in preparing and delivering one-to-one sessions with ECTs. This will ensure mentors use 
their time to support their ECT without having to create materials. These resources will 
include content on how to support ECTs who need extra help to master a topic, and how 
to effectively contextualise the learning for their ECT. Mentors who have already 
undertaken ECF mentor training will have full access to these resources, and live 
7 
sessions will be held for new mentors to cement and deepen their understanding in their 
first year in the role. 
These changes will continue to place mentors at the centre of these reforms to teacher 
development and build the role of mentoring as integral within the profession.   
Ongoing improvement 
These changes to design, content and delivery will make a difference for trainees and 
ECTs – and for everyone involved in supporting them through these crucial first years in 
the profession. We will continue to listen, learn and adapt ITT and ECF-based training to 
make sure every new teacher is equipped to deliver great teaching. 
 
 
  
8 
 
© Crown copyright 2024  
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0, 
except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit 
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Where we have identified any third-party copyright information, you will need to obtain 
permission from the copyright holders concerned. 
 
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Outcomes of the review of the Initial Teacher Training Core Content Framework and Early Career Framework : January 2024

  
Review of post-16 
qualifications at level 
3 in England 
Equalities impact assessment of the 
provisional list of qualifications that 
overlap with wave 4 T Levels rolled out 
on or before 2024 
January 2024 
2 
Contents 
Introduction 3 
Public Sector Equality Duty 4 
Methodology 5 
Data and data sources 5 
Analysis of impacts 7 
 
3 
Introduction  
In October 2023, the Prime Minister announced plans to develop a new Baccalaureate-
style qualification framework at 16-19, over the next decade – the Advanced British 
Standard (ABS). Ahead of the introduction of the ABS we are continuing our ambitious 
technical education reforms to post-16 qualifications at level 3 and below which will lay 
the groundwork for the ABS. The reforms will streamline and strengthen the technical 
offer and provide greater clarity for students. We want all publicly funded qualifications to 
be high quality and lead to good outcomes so that all students leave education with the 
skills employers need. 
The first phase of the reform process is now complete, with the withdrawal of funding 
approval, in 2022, for more than 5,000 qualifications at level 3 and below that had 
sustained no or low enrolments. However, we still have a confusing and duplicative 
landscape of at least 7,000 available qualifications at level 3 and below, which we are 
actively working to address through our current reform programme. 
The second phase of our reforms is to remove 16-19 funding approval for qualifications 
that overlap with T Levels, which will reduce complexity for learners and employers. 
Thousands of young people who have completed T Levels have gone on to 
apprenticeships, jobs with top employers, and places at university. T Levels will be the 
backbone of the new ABS, forming the foundation of the technical options. Core 
modules, occupational specialisms and industry placements will continue to be key 
features within the new qualification.  
In March 2023, we published the updated final list of qualifications that overlap with 
waves 1 and 2 T Levels, which will have funding removed in August 2024, along with an 
equalities impact assessment. On 19 October 2023, we published the final overlap list of 
qualifications that overlap with wave 3 T Levels, which will have funding removed in 
August 2025. We have now published the provisional list of qualifications that overlap 
with wave 4 T Level rolled out on of before 2024. 
The third phase of current reforms is well underway, with awarding organisations 
reforming existing applied general qualifications in to either technical occupational 
qualifications (TOQs) aligned to the same occupational standards as for apprenticeships, 
or Alternative Academic Qualifications (AAQs) that will sit alongside A levels and provide 
progression routes to higher education. New qualifications will start to become available 
for first teach from August 2025. All technical qualifications will be linked to employer led 
standards and will ensure students develop the skills needed by employers, with clear 
pathways leading to good outcomes. A full list of approved qualifications at level 3 
available for first teach in August 2025 will be published in May 2024.  
This EIA provides an overview of potential impacts resulting from the proposed removal 
of public funding approval from qualifications on the provisional wave 4 T Level overlap 
list for 16 to 19 year olds. Wave 4 covers the following T Levels: 
4 
• Agriculture, Land Management and Production 
• Animal Care and Management; 
• Craft and Design 
• Legal Services 
• Media, Broadcast and Production 
A full list of the occupational standards which are covered by the T Levels is contained in 
annex A. 
Where students are identified as being disproportionately likely to be affected, this relates 
specifically to those who are more likely to be studying qualifications expected to have 
public funding approval removed for 16 to 19 year olds from qualifications on the spring 
overlap list. 
For the overall impact of qualifications review at level 3, please refer to the impact 
assessment that was published last summer along with our policy statement and 
consultation response. The nature of these impacts are not repeated in this impact 
assessment though some headline data are included for comparison.  
Public Sector Equality Duty 
Under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, the Secretary of State has a duty to have 
due regard to the need to: 
• eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is 
prohibited by or under this Act; 
• advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected 
characteristic and persons who do not share it; and 
• foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected 
characteristic and persons who do not share it. 
The relevant ‘protected characteristics’ for the purposes of the Public Sector Equality 
Duty are: 
• Age 
• Disability 
• Gender reassignment 
• Pregnancy and maternity 
• Race (including ethnicity) 
• Religion or belief 
• Sex 
• Sexual orientation 
  
5 
Methodology  
This section outlines the methodology behind the equalities impact assessment and 
provides the data underlying the figures shown in the document. This analysis provides a 
breakdown of learner characteristics for enrolments funded under the 16-19 study 
programme for qualifications on the provisional wave 4 overlap list, compared to all 
approved qualifications at level 3 and below. 
Data and data sources 
Qualifications 
The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) approves qualifications for government 
funding for students aged 14 to 19. The equalities impact assessment is based on a 
snapshot of qualifications approved for funding at level 3 or below as at January 2023. 
Students 
The equalities impact assessment uses enrolments funded under the 16-191 study 
programme. This includes enrolments for: 
• 16-19 High Needs Students 
• 16-19 Students (excluding high needs students) 
• 19-24 Students with an EHCP 
• 19+ Continuing Students (excluding EHCP) 
• 14-16 Direct Funded Students 
Student background information 
Each qualification is linked to enrolment information for the full 2021/22 academic year. 
Enrolment information is taken from the Individualised Learner Record (ILR)2 and the 
school census. The qualifications data is also linked with information on student 
characteristics. This comes from two sources: 
1. The Young Persons Matched Administrative Dataset (YPMAD)3 2021/22 provides 
information on student characteristics as recorded in the school census at age 15. 
These include: 
• Free School Meal (FSM) eligibility 
• Special education needs and disabilities (SEND) 
• Ethnic background 
 
 
1 Previously this analysis related to students aged between 16-18. This has been revised to use the 16-19 
funded group as the proposed funding withdrawal is more relevant to this group.  
2 This is the information about students and the learning they undertake, in the further education (FE) and 
skills sector, that publicly funded colleges, training organisations, local authorities and employers (FE 
providers) must collect and return to the DfE. The ILR data source for this analysis is the final collection of 
2020/21 and includes information on provision for the full academic year. 
3 This records information on the highest level of attainment and qualification studied each academic year 
matched to individual personal characteristics, as recorded in the school census at age 15. 
6 
The YPMAD also provides information on prior GCSE or equivalent in English and maths 
where available. 
2. The ILR provides characteristics information, mainly for the adult-funded groups 
who may not have data in the school census. Characteristics information in the 
ILR include ethnic background and learning difficulties and disabilities (LLDD). 
These are self-reported so may not as reliable as the information from the 
YPMAD. 
3. Data on level of deprivation is included for all ages. This is based on the Income 
Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI), part of the Indices of Multiple 
Deprivation (IMD). The index gives a score to each postcode area representing 
the proportion of children under 16 in each area who are income-deprived. Scores 
for students’ home postcode areas are grouped into bands 1 (most deprived) to 5 
(least deprived). 
  
7 
Analysis of impacts 
16 to 19 year olds 
The following analysis relates to the provisional wave 4 T Level overlap list. A full 
breakdown of the characteristics of 16 to 19 year old enrolments at level 3 compared to 
those on qualifications which are on the final overlap list can be found in table 1 below. A 
breakdown of the number of 16 to 19 year old enrolments on each qualification is 
published within the provisional overlap list document. 
Our assessment is broadly based on comparing the proportion of enrolments with 
protected characteristics on qualifications which are on the provisional overlap list to 
those qualifications available more broadly at level 3, excluding A levels. Our assessment 
excludes A levels, as they are outside of the scope of this review, and because the size 
and characteristics of the A level cohort would skew the comparison. 
We have also provided the data from the equalities impact assessment published 
alongside our second stage consultation response, as a point of reference. This is 
contained in the final column of table 1 (below). This highlights our assessment on the 
impact to 16-19s from the overall changes we are making to the level 3 qualifications 
system. The assessment highlighted that students with SEND (special educational needs 
and disabilities), students from Asian ethnic groups, students from disadvantaged 
backgrounds and males were likely to be particularly affected by the reforms. It is not 
possible to draw direct comparisons as the methodology for the overall equalities impact 
assessment is different than that used to assess the potential impact of the removal of 
public funding from qualifications overlapping with wave 4 T Levels rolled out on or 
before 2024. 
As shown in table 1 below, the following groups of people may be more affected by this 
stage of the reform process (wave 4) compared to previous analysis on the overall 
impact of removing public funding from qualifications as outlined in the second stage 
consultation impact assessment: 
• Male students 
• White ethnic background 
• Unkownn ethnic background 
• SEND backgrounds 
• EHCP (Education, health and care plan) backgrounds 
This is because students with these characteristics are more highly represented on 
qualifications having their funding removed, than on qualifications at level 3 (excluding A 
levels) as a whole. However, students who would have likely studied the qualifications 
8 
identified on the provisional overlap list will benefit in the future from our reforms to post-
16 qualifications offer. They will have access to high quality and rigorous T Levels as well 
as new qualifications which will include both revised technical qualifications which are 
much more closely linked to employers’ needs, and alternative academic qualifications 
which can be studied as part of mixed programmes alongside A levels. These reforms 
will put students in a much stronger position to progress into skilled employment or 
continue to climb the ladder into higher education. T Levels contain a meaningful industry 
placement of at least 45 days in a genuine workplace, equipping young people with key 
workbased skills, knowledge and experience necessary to access skilled employment or 
further technical study – setting them apart from  current technical qualifications. The T 
Level Foundation Year also provides a high-quality progression route onto a T Level, for 
those learners who need additional study and preparation before  progressing onto a T 
Level . 
 
All level 3 
qualifications 
All level 3 
qualifications 
(excl. A levels) 
Impact from 
removal of 
funding from 
qualifications 
on 
provisional 
wave 4 T 
Level overlap 
list 
Overall impact at 
level 3 from 
removal of public 
funding (from 
second stage 
consultation 
response impact 
assessment)4 
16-19 
enrolments 2,286,000 738,000 32,000 356,000 
% Female 54% 52% 51% 46% 
% White 66% 69% 82% 71% 
% Mixed 5% 5% 4% 4% 
% Asian (inc. 
Chinese) 14% 11% 2% 12% 
% Black 6% 7% 4% 6% 
% Other ethnic 
group 2% 2% 1% 2% 
% Unknown 
ethnic group 6% 5% 6% 5% 
% SEN Support 
at 15 (special 
education needs) 
6% 9% 14% 9% 
 
 
4 The figures for the ‘overall’ list are based on a previous methodology, that considered enrolments and 
characteristics for 16-18 year olds, rather than those funded through 16-19 study programmes. It is also 
based on a different cohort i.e. academic year 2019/20. As such, they are not directly comparable. 
9 
% EHCP at 15 
(Education 
Health Care 
Plan) 
1% 2% 4% 1% 
% FSM (Free 
School Meals) 11% 15% 15% 12% 
% IDACI 1 (Most 
disadvantaged) 19% 24% 22% 25% 
% IDACI 2 19% 21% 20% 22% 
% IDACI 3 19% 19% 20% 19% 
% IDACI 4 20% 18% 20% 18% 
% IDACI 5 (Least 
disadvantaged) 22% 17% 18% 16% 
Table 1: 16 to 19 study programme enrolments characteristics at level 3, 2021/22 
  
10 
Adults 
The removal of public funding from qualifications that overlap with T Levels only applies 
to 16-19 enrolments. We have not therefore provided an assessment of the impact on 
adults, as qualifications on the final overlap list that are currently approved for adults will 
continue to be funded for adults in 2026. These qualifications are still subject to our future 
quality and other criteria. 
We recognise that some awarding organisations, and or providers, may no longer wish to 
offer some of these qualifications, given potential impacts on viability. However, 
notwithstanding our removal of funding from qualifications with low and no enrolments, 
we have seen that AOs can operate qualifications with very few, or even no Education 
and Skills Funding Agency funded enrolments, sometimes for many years. As such, this 
risk may be relatively minimal. 
  
11 
 
© Crown copyright 2024 
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0, 
except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit 
nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3.  
 
Where we have identified any third-party copyright information, you will need to obtain 
permission from the copyright holders concerned. 
 
About this publication: 
 
enquiries  https://www.gov.uk/contact-dfe   
download  www.gov.uk/government/publications  
Follow us on Twitter: @educationgovuk 
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Review of post-16 qualifications at level 3 in England -

Equalities impact assessment of the provisional list of qualifications that overlap with wave 4 T Levels rolled out

on or before 2024 : January 2024

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