Refreshing our Entry and Level 1 Pathway qualifications
Our Entry and Level 1 Pathway qualifications are designed to support learners who are beginning their educational journey or who would benefit from a highly accessible, skills‑focused route. They provide a positive first step into vocational learning, helping learners to build confidence, develop practical skills, and establish strong foundations for further study, training or employment.
We are now beginning a programme of work to review and refresh the suite of Entry and Level 1 Pathway qualifications and units. This work will ensure that they continue to reflect current practice and meet the needs of learners, centres and progression destinations.
As part of this process, we are keen to hear from teachers, practitioners and other stakeholders. We are particularly interested in understanding:
- what is working well in current delivery
- where improvements could be made
- how units might be updated or repackaged to better support learner progression and real‑world outcomes
Our intention is to publish updated specifications in the autumn, ahead of first teaching from September 2027.
Our approach to this review
Through this development work, we intend to:
- retain units that are widely used by centres and continue to meet identified learner needs
- revise units where content or assessment contexts have become outdated, but where the purpose and value of the unit remain relevant
- withdraw units that have seen no centre uptake over the past three years and/or where content is no longer fit for purpose
- introduce a limited number of new units where there is clear evidence of demand and benefit to learners
Next steps
We’ll share more details about how you can get involved as the review progresses – please check back soon for updates.