T levels - Engineering and Manufacturing

This qualification is for 16-19-year-old learners, who wish to work within the engineering and manufacturing industry.

It has been designed to deliver a high level of knowledge about the engineering industry as well as the occupational skills required to enter the industry (known as ‘threshold competence’). A learner who completes this qualification is well placed to develop to full occupational competence with the correct support and training.

The qualification focuses on the development of knowledge and skills needed for working in the Engineering industry, which will prepare learners to enter the industry through employment or as an Apprentice. Furthermore, the completion of this qualification gives the learner the opportunity to progress onto higher education courses and training.

A Levels are for learners who wish to continue academic education, whereas T Levels are designed to offer a vocational path for learners wishing to enter skilled professions and are undertaken typically 80% in the classroom and 20% “on-the-job” through an industrial placement.

This information was sourced from City & Guilds.

Industry placements give students an opportunity to develop their practical and technical skills in a role directly relevant to their vocational course. They also give employers the chance to ensure that young people are developing the skills and experience that industry needs.

Industry placements can vary in length but must last for a minimum of 315 hours (approximately 45 days), not including lunch breaks and can be undertaken as a block, series of blocks, day release or a mix of these.

Industry placements will make up around 20% of the course, with the student spending about 80% of their time in the classroom. It is different from an apprenticeship which typically spends 80% of the time on-the-job and 20% in the classroom. An industry placement is also different from work experience, which is typically much shorter and usually involves a student simply observing the workplace.

This information was sourced from the government website. 

An educational provider is a school or college who is offering a T level course.

If you are a local employer you may already be aware of local education providers as you might be partnered with them on apprenticeships or already offer work experience. Links with local providers are useful if you recruit locally, because they are likely to have students who live within easy travelling distance.

If you are a student then your school or college is your education provider. 

In the context of T Levels, 6^th form (schools), Technical and Further Education colleges currently funded to offer 16 to 19 study programmes and with existing students funded in band 5 (the full-time national funding band) will be eligible to offer all T Levels.

Other education providers who have a contract to provide apprenticeships or adult provision only are not eligible to apply.

Check your eligibility

View a list of approved T level providers. 

So a friend told me about it and I hadn't heard about T Levels before, so I came to an open evening and since then I've been sold. The T Levels are a new qualification aimed at students from 16 to 18 who are following on from their GCSEs and at the end of the course the T Level will be the equivalent of three A levels. For employers, it's going to be really effective for them because they're going to find that students have the knowledge that they are looking for in people that they want to employ. It was really refreshing that T Levels were designed with employers so that the qualification meets industry need. And they also are valid for UCAS points, which opens up the opportunities to attend university. I think it's fresh, it's something new. It's very flexible in terms of teaching the content. The T Level qualification is a great combination of academic and workplace experience. The students spend approximately 80% of the time in college and 20% of the time in the workplace. I think that's a very good opportunity for the students, because what will happen is they will actually go in the same work environment that they're hoping to join in the future. Because it's equivalent to three A levels, it's really impressive to other employers and I think, as well, the work placement is what attracted me because you actually are doing something, you're not just learning in the classroom. You are actually going out and learning in the industry. There are three T Levels at the moment that started September 2020, but from September 2021 there will be 10. So, for students who haven't quite met the entry requirements to go directly onto a T Level, there's a transition year. It's really fun because they kind of bring the enjoyment and the activities into the classroom where we can actually understand it. Using Computer-Aided Design systems like Revit and CAD is extraordinary. It's better than anything I've done in the past. It gives you the opportunity to do placements and have a real feel-out about how the real life is and how working life is. Obviously, as teachers, we have a commitment to students, families, to give them the best options and the best future they could possibly get. After our two years, there is an option of advanced apprenticeship. For a time I've been wanting to go to university, so it's going to help bridge that gap between college and university really, really well. Although at the moment I'm thinking, well, with my experience, I might just go straight into the workplace. I can basically do whatever I want because I have those options. I say to parents: this is one of the best things that will happen to your children, because at the moment with all the skills shortage in the country, this is an opportunity for your child to develop employability skills and able to get a job. It gives you the opportunities to go onto a higher apprenticeship, which can also lead to a degree, a degree apprenticeship. Or if you want to go down the route of going to university, it also gives you that opportunity. From our perspective, T Levels carry the same weight as A levels and other qualifications. They carry UCAS tariff points at the same levels based on the depth and breadth of learning and the expected capabilities of the students and we welcome T Level completers is to come and study degree courses with us at Stanford University and we value the learning journey that those students will have taken. We, as employers, have kind of shaped how the T Levels will work. It's really important for us to be forward-thinking and really understand our skills shortages that will be coming forward and really working with our customers to tackle that skill shortage. I really hope that teachers will support T Levels. It's such a big thing and it's a new thing that's being brought to the industry and it is about those teachers being those role models and telling their students about T Levels and what the opportunities are. If I was 16, and I was leaving school, having taken my GCSEs, I would certainly be looking at the potential of taking a T Level, mainly due to the hands-on nature of the course. Although I wasn't 100% sure I'd get everything from the course at the start, that I did want, although it did seem really good, it's ticked literally every box I could have hoped for. I love the depth of the learning that the students are getting from it. Previously as a nursery manager myself, that was something that I notice that students maybe didn't have and the depth of knowledge that they're gaining from it alongside the creative and practical experience that they're getting has been fantastic for them. Some of them felt it's quite challenging at the beginning, but they've really developed the skills as they've gone on and they're actually really, really enjoying the course, and we've heard a lot of positive feedback. What I'm doing, it's getting me to that next step faster. If you want to find out more, you can visit tlevels.gov.uk. You can find out which providers are offering T Levels in your area by looking on the website. Lots of providers have open days where you can find out more. There's lots of information online, too. You can follow T Levels on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.