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More than 100 MPs and Lords have written to education secretary Nadhim Zahawi asking him not to scrap BTecs in favour of the new T-level qualification for children and young people. Although BTecs are at the same level as T-levels, further education colleges offering T-levels are likely to make GCSEs in English and maths an entry requirement whereas previously they would open BTec courses up to those who still needed retakes to gain maths and English GCSEs. Critics of the new qualification argue that where students do not have the GCSE grades to do A-levels or Btecs, then the entry requirements for the new T-levels will mean they have fewer options. Head of the Sixth Form Colleges Association Bill Watkins said the changes were a “hammer blow for social mobility”. T-levels include a minimum 45-day work placement that college leaders say reduces the time available for retakes. According to the government they will offer students a route into work or university. They are two-year courses based on the same standards as apprenticeships, designed by employers and approved by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, and are considered an alternative to A-levels, apprenticeships and BTecs. Earlier this year the T-level in HR was scrapped because the Department for Education was unable to award a contract for its development. On 13 October 118 MPs wrote to education secretary Nadhim Zahawi