Have you heard of them? They were mentioned at a 6th form college open evening I took my son to last night. I think the teacher talking about them was the only person who'd heard of them. I'm afraid I didn't pay a huge amount of attention, as they weren't directly relevant, but they seem to be something that's being introduced as another attempt to bridge the gap of what happens after GCSEs. Like the current BTechs and Extended Diplomas they are going to be 'the equivalent of' three A levels, but they're not replacing those (at least not yet, that might be the plan in the long term).