A strong start with T Levels

Sue Lovelock, Director Professional and Technical Education at the Department for Education, explains how T Levels promise a strong start for students everywhere.

Since their creation in 2020, T Levels have offered a new way for engineering businesses to address skills shortages within their workforce and invest in future talent. The first cohort of just over 1,000 students completed their courses last summer, with a fantastic overall pass rate of 92%. Now, just over two years into offering T Levels, we have around 170 education providers across England offering the qualifications, with 16 different subject areas available.

One T Level is roughly equivalent in size to three A levels and they offer a new choice for young people after their GCSEs. The 16 T Level subjects currently on offer range from engineering and manufacturing and construction to childcare and science, and by September 2025, the total will increase to 24.

T Levels involve a unique blend of academic and technical education, thanks to the industry placement embedded into the programme. Each student spends around 20% of their qualification (45 days minimum) working with an employer to develop the practical and technical skills required for the profession or trade that they are studying. This not only gives students a chance to delve into an industry they’re passionate about, but also allows employers to grow their talent pipeline.

Positive student experiences

For many years, statistics have shown that students entering the world of work do so feeling unprepared. Research from the Chartered Management Institute shows nearly 80% of employers believe that current graduates do not arrive fully equipped with the skills they need to be ready for work. T Levels help to address this issue at its root, through the industry placement element of the qualification, which introduces young people to a work environment and gives them a chance to build those skills early on.

Alex Long chose to study a T level in Design, Surveying and Planning for Construction and for her placement spent time working at multi-billion-pound railway project Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) Alliance. It was an obvious choice for her, as someone who had always had an interest in this area and even had a shared family background within engineering. Reflecting on her experience, she agrees that the industry placement was definitely one of the highlights. She said: “I was able to see all aspects of the project and I realised that I liked planning as well as quantity surveying and I liked the civil engineering work. This is important for me to know moving forwards as I make further decisions in my career, for example whether I want to specialise in a certain area.” For her, it was the hands-on research she was able to do during her industry placement that made it all the more beneficial.

Alex is now studying for a degree apprenticeship in civil engineering at Teesside University, an opportunity offered to her through her T Level placement employer. Thinking about her future she said, “I am hugely excited and eternally grateful.”

Alex is one of thousands of students who have had doors open for them during or upon completing their T Level. As the first cohort finished their qualification last summer and are now establishing their career ambitions, she is one of many success stories that demonstrates how T Levels are enabling young people to kickstart their careers.

A helping hand for employers Students are not the only people who benefit from the T Level experience – employers do too.

Karen Vigar, Education Engagement Manager at global dynamic construction specialist, ISG, helps to manage the business’s Early Careers Programme. She said: “We actively invest in technical education because we recognise there is an ever-present skills challenge in our industry. Taking positive action and investing in programmes and initiatives that will close this skills gap and inspire individuals to look at construction through a new lens will prepare our workforce for the future – and that’s the right thing to do for our industry.”

Hosting T Levels students on industry placement is a way for employers to be proactive and promote the skillset they would like to see in applicants who enter their recruitment pipeline. Karen advises that the key to making it a smooth process is a solid relationship with the education providers with which the T Level student is studying. Speaking of ISG, Karen says, “We have forged a strong relationship with Barnsley College through our industry placement programme, proactively unlocking funding pathways and learning together on ways to improve the experience for each student.”

A beneficial investment

Overall, the benefits for all parties mean that T Levels make good business sense. For students, T Levels can lead to skilled employment, higher technical education, apprenticeships or university – helping to kick-start their careers. For employers, T Levels offer an opportunity to bring in young talent and fresh ideas. With three different T Levels on offer across the Engineering and Manufacturing skills area, and three T Levels in the Construction area, the engineering industry has much to gain from this new qualification.

If you are interested in finding out more about T Levels and hosting a student in your organisation, as well as the benefits it can bring to your business, please visit: 8 http://bit.ly/3We0ov6

This year, European Springs & Pressings have been reaping the rewards of working collaboratively with their sister companies. Making their mutual platform of products and services more accessible enables them to deliver a wider range of manufacturing capability and products to their customers than ever before.

Working more closely with our UK manufacturing partners Metrol Springs and Lesjöfors Heavy Springs UK has brought significant benefits for the respective companies, as well as allowing the group to offer an unrivalled portfolio of springs, stampings and industrial hardware.

Shared attendance at exhibitions, pooling experience at cross-company strategy meetings and developing a mutual knowledge of each other’s products and specialisms has broadened the shared capability they can offer and increased the company’s sales reach considerably.

This support brings tangible benefits to clients as well. European Springs’ commitment to providing the coiling and pressing expertise customer’s need to find custom-made solutions for their manufacturing processes remains unchanged, with the added assurance that when they claim to have the required capability in the UK to design and produce the optimal component at the most competitive price, they make good on that promise.