T Levels follow-on from GCSEs and are equivalent to three A levels.

They offer students a mixture of classroom learning and in industry experience with a work placement of a minimum of 315 hours spread over two years.

T Levels, developed by education company Pearson since September 2020, offer students the chance to form definitive career paths before/without University and prepare students for work, further training, or study.

The Finance T Levels launched this morning consist of a placement within the profession across nine weeks and include occupational specialist learning covering knowledge of insurance practice, investments, wealth management, financial compliance, and risk analysis.

The CII has endorsed a specific Insurance T Level, which will be offered to college students from this year.

Alan Valance, chief executive of the CII, said it is important for Financial Planning firms to support the training of young individuals as attracting top talent is key to the future of the profession.

He said: Attracting and retaining top talent is key to the future success of the insurance and financial planning profession. We are proud to work with Pearson to provide yet another route into a rewarding career, where you can improve the public’s financial resilience and help individuals achieve their life goals.”

Manuel Thompson-Oloko, early careers manager at the CII, said: “T Levels offer employers the opportunity to help shape the behaviours, enablers and technical expertise of budding students who have made the choice to study an insurance specific qualification, and ultimately creating a pipeline of future talent for our profession.

“The T-Levels aim to reach talent before they have formed definitive career paths at university, embed a value and expectation of professional learning from the earliest opportunity, improve socio-economic diversity of our talent attraction by reducing the focus on those who have been able to gain higher education qualifications and provide the right students for placements within businesses, brokered by the CII.”

T-Levels are currently supported by several finance firms who helped in the development of the Finance T-Levels, including Chartered Financial Planning firm RU Group.

Other Financial Planning firms can support the new T-levels by joining an Employer Validation Panel or supporting local providers with the delivery of the industry placement aspect of the qualification. Those looking to offer industry placements are asked to email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.