Digital will be among the first tranche of subjects to be featured in the new T levels, with courses taught from 2020.

T levels are technical qualifications that will be taught to students aged between 16 and 19. The government’s aim is to simplify the technical education options on offer to school-leavers, and elevate their status to give them parity with academic courses of study.

A total of 15 T levels will be launched, with the first three subjects – digital, construction, and education and childcare – to be taught from 2020. The remaining courses, including health and science, hair and beauty, and agriculture, environmental and animal care, will all commence by 2022.

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Each of the 15 T level areas are dubbed ‘routes’, within which students can home in on various specialisms. All courses contain work placements, and a handful – including social care, and transport and logistics – will consist primarily of on-the-job learning through apprenticeships.

A number of commercial enterprises will have a hand in designing to course content, including representatives from technology firms such as IBM, Fujitsu, and Autodesk.

Education secretary Justine Greening said: “We are transforming technical education in this country, developing our homegrown talent so that our young people have the world-class skills and knowledge that employers need.”

She added: “As part of making sure that the technical education ladder reaches every bit as high as the academic one, I want to see T levels that are as rigorous and respected as A levels.”