T Levels event in March for manufacturers seeking talent
- Wednesday, February 15, 2023
- Posted By The Growth Company
A free event in Manchester on 9 March aims to help SMEs in engineering and manufacturing understand how offering T Level placements can be the boost their business needs.
T Levels are a new alternative to A Levels. They are developed in collaboration with employers, involving a mix of learning at school or college and on-the-job experience.
Every T Level includes an industry placement lasting a minimum of 315 hours (approximately 45 days) focused on developing the practical and technical skills required for the occupation.
Engineering is considered one of the sectors with the biggest potential to benefit from T Levels because of the strong links employers can forge with local schools and colleges.
Employers of all sizes can work with education providers to offer placements as a block, day release or mixed approach, and can also share part of the placement with another employer if necessary.
The event on 9 March, hosted by EngineeringUK in collaboration with the Department for Education and other partners, will give local engineering and manufacturing SMEs a chance to discover how T Levels could benefit their business.
The agenda will feature speakers from across industry, case studies from employers sharing best practice, Q&As with T Level Students and a networking session with local colleges offering T Levels.
Ahead of the event, Wendy Belfield, Commercial Director for InTandem Systems Ltd, an employer that already offers T Level placements, said:
“We’re desperately short of young engineers in our industry. There’s already a real skills gap and it will be even more so in the future. We as a business are focused on encouraging young people to come into our industry.
“It’s very competitive out there for engineers. By providing industry placements we can secure a young person coming into our workplace, give them a good experience and hopefully they’ll think, ‘I really enjoyed that, that’s a good industry to be in’. Because it is an exciting career.”