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Post-16 Provision Explorer
Explained · Post-16 provision

Tech Levels explained

Tech Levels are occupationally specific Level 3 qualifications. They are not T Levels — that is a separate qualification family entirely.

England · 2024/25 · DfEPlain-English guide
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Tech Level is not T Level. They are different qualifications with confusingly similar names. This page is about Tech Levels. For the difference, see Tech Levels vs T Levels.

What they are

Tech Level is the DfE performance-table category for approved Level 3 qualifications that prepare students for a specific occupation or occupational group — engineering, construction, hair and beauty, land-based industries, motor vehicle, hospitality.

They sit alongside Applied General qualifications at Level 3, but where Applied General is broad and progression-focused, Tech Level is occupationally specific.

How they appear in this Explorer

855 institutions recorded Tech Level entries in 2024/25 — 29,745 entries, worth 58,440 A-level equivalents, across 45 subject areas.

It is the smallest of the four families by institution count, and heavily concentrated: general further education colleges account for much of it. The median Tech Level institution records entries in a single subject area.

Sizes vary widely

As with Applied General, one entry is not one A level. Level 3 VRQs within the Tech Level cohort carry size factors from 0.5 to 3.25, and the same qualification can appear at several sizes. Use the A-level equivalents toggle when comparing volume with A level.

Related guides

Explained
Tech Levels vs T Levels
Two different Level 3 technical qualifications with similar names. What separates them, how each is counted, and why they sit on different tabs of this Explorer.
Explained
Applied General qualifications explained
BTEC Nationals, Cambridge Technicals and Level 3 VRQs: what Applied General qualifications are and how they appear in this Explorer.
Explained
What are A-level equivalents, and why weight entries?
One BTEC Extended Diploma entry is worth three A-levels. One Extended Project is worth 0.3. Comparing raw entry counts across qualifications is misleading.
Sources & methodology: All figures come from the DfE’s Schools and colleges — subject entries and grades and institution information data sets for academic year 2024/25 (final), joined on school URN. Only the Total exam entries category is used, so no entry is counted twice. Coverage is measured against the number of institutions with recorded entries in the relevant qualification family, not against all establishments. Sixth-form consortia and partnership centres are excluded from all totals, denominators and percentages, because DfE excludes them from its national figures; they remain listed and flagged in the Explorer. On that basis the England A-level total of 787,688 entries reconciles with the DfE national comparator to within 0.16%, and the four families together to within 0.15%. Institution coordinates come from Get Information About Schools. T Levels do not appear in this release; they are shown separately on the Explorer’s T Levels tab, from DfE provider-level T Level results, and are never added to any entry total here.

Last checked 17 August 2026. Observed provision is based on recorded exam entries. An institution with no recorded entries in a subject may still have offered it — see what subject provision means.