AQA and TQUK join forces to deliver new Level 3 pathway
Published: Wednesday 13 Sep 2023
AQA and Training Qualifications UK (TQUK) are combining their academic and vocational assessment expertise to provide a new Level 3 pathway.
AQA announced in December last year that it had taken a major step into vocational qualifications through the acquisition of TQUK.
AQA is now joining forces with TQUK to develop a new qualification pathway following the Department for Education's review of the post-16 qualifications landscape.
As a result of the review a number of vocational qualifications are being defunded, and new qualifications are being introduced. At Level 3, learners who want to progress to further or higher education, who do not want to study purely A-levels (or a T Level programme), can now choose a mixed study programme.
AQA is working with TQUK to combine their respective academic and vocational assessment expertise to develop a new pathway in the mixed study programme comprising A-levels and alternative academic qualifications (AAQs).
TQUK is developing engineering, health and social care, and IT AAQs for learners from September 2025. A wider range of subjects – including performing arts, sport, and film and video production – will be available in two years' time.
The benefits of AAQs are:
- they support progression in academic subjects that are not available through A-levels or T Levels
- they are funded for three years, which supports curriculum planning
- they will be approved in performance tables.
There will be two webinars about AAQs – one for further education on 19 September and the other for higher education on 22 September. Find out more and sign up for a free place
