Anth Brannen, Director of Study Programmes at Stoke on Trent College, looks at how invaluable support from employees, combined with expert staff and big investments in facilities and equipment, is helping drive the T Level success story.
“We’ve had a close eye on T Levels for a while but only started delivering them in September 2023, we currently offer T Levels in Early Years and Design and Development for Construction and the Built Environment.
We did a lot of preparation to develop, promote and deliver the courses and our philosophy was let’s get it right with a small number first.
As a College, we now have a really good product and so are looking to expand to 13 T Levels from this September, covering our four main skills hubs of Construction and Green Technologies, Health & Social, Engineering and Creative and Digital media as well as focusing on our Specialist Academy areas too.
One of the reasons it has been successful so far has been the combination of employer contribution, the skilled staff who run the courses and the significant investment we have made in T-Level tailored facilities, so I want to look at those areas in the rest of this article.
Employers
From the offset T Levels have been developed with employer involvement at their heart. They are based on discussions about what qualifications and experiences are need for young people to push them forward to fill the industry skills gaps.
They are also focussed in on specific areas within each sector. So, for instance, in health, students can choose pathways in midwifery, adult nursing, care for children and young people.
That again has been develop with employer involvement and based around what they need in the workplace. It also makes people effective and focussed in the roles they want careers in.
“Industry placements are really effective and a big part of the T Level programme. We try to involve employers at every level of delivery and we have a range of employers who sit with us to look at the course specifications and curriculum delivery. Their advice is invaluable in shaping the content and informing us of what skills elements need to be added in to ensure our courses are meeting their skills gaps. We want our learners to be ‘Skills ready, Future ready’ when they leave us.
Employers also help us focus on what kind of equipment we need to invest in. For example, there is no point buying something for the students to train on if the businesses are telling us they don’t use them in the workplace. They are also involved in meeting with and developing students. Supporting our learners by carrying out mock interviews at the start of their courses allowing them to feel they are involved in a workplace-style environment right from the start’
“They also deliver guest lectures, host site visits and work-based scenarios.
All in all, employers are very receptive and that is not surprising – after all, they are dealing with people they may employ one day – so they are contributing to the upkeep of their future workforce.
Facilities
In terms of our T Level facilities we have just made a £3.5 million investment.
Around £2.5 million of this is in capital projects – we have built a new construction T lab and launched our new Advanced Construction Centre at our Burslem Campus and work has just begun on the construction of a mock health ward, science lab and classroom at our Cauldon campus. Work will also start here on a media broadcast and content creation studio, providing further exciting choices for young people across the city.
The other £1 million investment is in specialist equipment – sourcing and buying the same kit used in industry so that we can train our learners on the very latest technologies and equipment. All this will directly benefit our T Level students as we gear up to expand the programmes.
Skilled staff
Finally, one of key things we do is to ensure we get the right members of staff delivering the T Levels.
In this respect they have to be relevant, current and up to date with their teaching knowledge, so getting staff out to industry and back to industry days is essential.
It is also why we like to employ staff who’ve worked or still work in the industry and teach on a part-time basis. This mix of skills, equipment and employer involvement is the combination we need to successfully deliver what is a technical and very relevant qualification.”
