Where next for post-16 science qualifications?

From September 2025, schools and colleges in England can begin teaching new qualifications in applied science for post-16 students aiming for university. Examination boards designed the new alternative academic qualifications (AAQs) to sit alongside A-levels and to fill current knowledge gaps for university starters, including providing scientific investigation skills.

The new AAQs have guaranteed funding, but the review defunded many existing BTECs and Cambridge technical qualifications. The DfE has granted a short funding extension for some of the larger qualifications for the 2025–2026 academic year, but not beyond. These include Pearson BTEC level 3 national diploma and extended diploma in applied science, Pearson BTECs in forensic and criminal investigation and OCR level 3 Cambridge technical diploma in applied science.

How AAQs fit with A-levels

The AAQs sit between A-levels and T-levels with fewer technical elements than T-levels, making them highly accessible for secondary schools and sixth form colleges. There are no published numbers yet on how many establishments are taking up the AAQs but, according to Amy Brewer, science subject advisor at OCR, there are early indications they are growing in popularity with centres that have not previously provided vocational qualifications.

The government now gives education providers and students the freedom to combine qualifications as they see fit. It has recently relaxed the rules insisting students need to take an AAQ alongside two A-levels.

To ensure the qualifications mix well together, education boards minimised the overlap between the syllabuses for AAQs and A-levels, following DfE guidance. For example, a student could take two AAQs in applied science and human biology, together with one science A-level. As Amy explains, with an AAQ ‘you would complement your entire programme because you’re designing your investigations, carrying out meaty research and being really analytical about the techniques that you’re using and the understanding that you’re applying.’

But as Becky Thorn, product manager for applied science and sustainability at Pearson, points out, ‘it may also be that for some students it’s better to do an alternative vocational qualification in a different subject.’

What’s in a Cambridge advanced national?

OCR’s AAQ in applied science is a Cambridge advanced national, provided at both certificate and extended certificate, equivalent in size to an AS and A-level respectively. The qualification includes mandatory units on the fundamentals of science, investigating science and science in society. There are also optional units on environmental science, analytical techniques in chemistry, forensic biology and medical physics. OCR has set examination components at just 40 per cent, the lowest level permitted.

According to Amy, OCR created the investigating science module in response to feedback from higher education institutions that students had lost confidence in practical skills and found it challenging to design investigations and analyse data. ‘Students have lost the skills of questioning,’ she says, ‘and of being critical of research and information’.

She explains that the OCR team took the ‘best bits’ from the now defunded Cambridge technical for this AAQ. ‘There’s some good chemistry in it,’ she says. ‘The subject content is pitched at level 3, as you would expect, but we have restricted it to only what is necessary.’

Students come up with their own research question, pick a method and conduct an experiment, and the process ends with a mini viva. The AAQs are designed so that every mark a student achieves will count towards a final qualification. If a student fails an exam, they can still pass overall.

What’s a Pearson national?

Pearson’s AAQ BTEC national in applied science, which is equivalent to an A-level, has four mandatory units covering biology, chemistry, physics and practical scientific procedures and techniques. Becky says that as well as covering the three sciences, it also focuses on skills development aligned to progression to higher education.

Students can choose one of two optional units covering scientific investigation skills and contemporary scientific issues, including the reliability of sources of scientific information and their associated validity.

According to Becky, the science investigation module is ‘about taking an investigation from its very beginning – the idea, concept and production, all the way through to performing the investigation, collecting the data and analysing it. It takes a student on a whole journey.’ She adds that the module is optional because science is such a broad subject: ‘Depending on which progression pathway students are going down, these raw practical investigative skills might be really important or different skill sets may be more appropriate.’

The contemporary scientific issues module may be particularly useful for students looking to progress to degree programmes where they may need to think about the societal implications of science or to communicate scientific theories.

Future concerns

The difficulty for education providers when it comes to larger qualifications, including T-levels, is not knowing what the landscape will look like after 2026. There are concerns over whether there will be enough options and course places. In addition, students who found that BTECs suited their style of learning may not feel able to take exam-focused A-levels, while the T-levels may be too specialised for them.

The DfE is running a longer-term curriculum and assessment review and will invite awarding organisations to submit further level 3 qualifications, including for science, in spring 2025.

Not sure where to start discussing post-16 options with students? This Study options information will help.