Peter Symonds College in Winchester is celebrating the graduation today of students on the Education and Childcare T Level course, who are among the first ever cohort of students to study T Level qualifications.

Launched in September 2020 as an alternative to A levels, apprenticeships and other 16 to 19 courses, T Levels are equivalent to 3 A levels.

They focus on vocational skills and can help students into skilled employment, higher study or apprenticeships.

Peter Symonds was part of the first wave of colleges selected to provide T Level qualifications in September 2020, offering the Education and Childcare T Level.

This first cohort has completed the two-year course and is now going on to take up university and other higher education courses or move into the workplace.

Among students who took the new T Level qualification at Peter Symonds, there was a 100 per cent pass rate with ten out of eleven students gaining a distinction grade.

Student Charlotte Rhodes said: “It’s a direct route into teaching for those wanting to be a teacher and the Peter Symonds team delivering the course were brilliant; amazing, supportive and easy to get along with.”

Students must complete 315 hours of work experience as part of the T Level and many found this one of the most interesting aspects of the course.

Student Skye Paterson said: “Theories we cover in class we get to see for ourselves in action on placement, which really helps you understand them better.”

Peter Symonds College will be launching a second T Level in Hairdressing, Barbering and Beauty in September 2023.