Equivalent to one A-Level
A new vocational qualification in law is set to launch in 2028 as part of a sweeping overhaul of post-16 education in England, the government has announced.
The legal V-Level will form part of a broader “legal, finance and accounting” route, sitting within a second wave of subjects to be introduced under the government’s new V-Level framework. The first V-Levels, covering education and early years, finance and accounting, and digital, are due to launch a year earlier in 2027.
V-Levels are designed to sit alongside A-Levels and T-Levels, with each V-Level equivalent to one A-Level. The idea is that students will be able to mix and match academic and vocational subjects, with learning built around real jobs and the skills employers say they actually need. Other subjects joining legal in the 2028 cohort include business and administration, construction, engineering and manufacturing, health and science, and sales, marketing and procurement.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has billed the reforms as a way of ending what she called the “snobbery” in post-16 education, saying they will give young people “real choice and real opportunity to build secure, future-proof careers.”
The announcement comes amid growing concern about the number of young people not in education, employment or training, a figure that has crept towards one million.
Given that a Law A Level is already looked down upon by most top universities and employers (who would much rather see English Lit, History or something else that displays similar skills within a more sophisticated curriculum), it is not clear to me how this will be in any way useful or end this so-called “snobbery” (not that I think we should be making any apology for academic elitism).
I did law at A-levels and got into top RG uni to read law. I say this to not dissuade people from taking it if they are genuinely interested and can smash a top grade. I’d say you need to get an A* to be considered, whereas History and English even an A is respected.
Unless there’s an ironclad guarantee that top unis will not discriminate against V levels when making offers, the V levels will be nothing more than an expensive rebranding exercise
Why would they give that? We all know that in reality these parallel qualifications are designed for people who aren’t capable of getting top A Level grades.
Throwing money at rebranding exercises for no apparent reason seems to be in style these days. Just look at the train wreck they call the SQE!