Understanding V Levels: The New Post‑16 Qualification Pathway

The current Labour government, further to their education review, have indicated that they will be initiating new Level 3 qualifications called V Levels. Some will be major updates and restructuring of existing level 3 vocational qualifications, some may be a re-branding of AAQs. We await the publications of the new specifications to find out.

What are V Levels?

V Levels are new Level 3 vocational qualifications being introduced to replace the large number of existing courses, including many BTECs and other applied general qualifications. The aim is to create a clearer system with three main post‑16 routes:

• A Levels (academic)
• T Levels (technical, with an industry placement)
• V Levels (flexible vocational)

V Levels will allow students to sit alongside A Levels and let students explore sectors before committing. The new qualifications will be rolled out over a four-year period from 2027–30.

You can read more on the Government's vision for post-16 education in the following white paper.

In the meantime we have resources now available for new Cambridge Advanced Nationals (AAQs) from OCR and the new BTEC Nationals (AAQ) from Pearson.