Industry placement delivery approaches
Industry placements are a core component of T Levels, giving students the chance to apply their learning in a real workplace and develop up-to-date skills relevant to their chosen sector. Every placement must align with these core principles:
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- Be with at least one employer
- Take place in person in the workplace both physical and virtual.
- Be organised in line with the normal requirements of the industry
- Enable the student to develop up-to-date knowledge and skills relevant to their T Level
- Last a minimum of 315 hours
To support the growing number of students and ensure quality placement opportunities across sectors, a range of approved delivery approaches can be used alongside these principles. These approaches provide flexibility for employers and providers to work together in a way that fits the needs of students, organisations and the industry.
This explanatory animated video brings to life the industry placement delivery approaches.
Delivery approaches that can be used with all T Levels
| Approach | What is it? | Examples |
| Work taster activities | Up to 35 hours of taster activities before committing to a full placement. Can be used alongside any other approach. |
A Media, Broadcast and Production student spends time with five different employers across the industry. With each employer, they explore a different aspect of what it’s like to work in the sector. They sit in on a client briefing, observe a post-production session, visit a print room, review a storyboard with a junior designer, and discuss job roles and creative career journeys with staff. |
| Small team projects | Up to one third of placement hours can involve project-based work in small teams, supervised by an employer. Cannot be combined with the skills hub approach. | A small building firm offers a placement of 200 hours for a student on a particular build. Before the placement starts, the student joins a small group with five other students carrying out a project to renovate a building owned by the local council. This project includes a wide range of tasks such as bricklaying, plastering, minor demolition, general labouring, painting and decorating, and basic plumbing. It lasts 120 hours and takes place over eight weeks, with the student on site for two days each week. |
| T Level pathway placements | Allows placements across a broad working environment relevant to the overall T Level subject, not just the specialism | A micro furniture-making business in a small coastal town offers a placement to a student on a Craft and Design T Level who wants to become a furniture maker. The owner can only commit to hosting two-thirds of the placement time, so the provider arranges for the student to complete the rest of the time in a furniture store nearby, to help build confidence and general employability skills in a working environment that is related to their T Level. |
| Multiple employers | Students can split hours across two employers. Cannot be combined with the supply chain model. | |
| Part-time work | Paid part-time work may count towards placement hours if relevant to the T Level pathway. | An agricultural equipment supplier employs a T Level student part-time and converts her current working hours into placement hours. The student continues to be paid as before. The employer and provider agree which practical skills the student should develop during their paid hours, including some skills that wouldn’t normally be gained from part-time work. Shifts are scheduled so as not to interrupt the student’s T Level study. |
| Supply chain and network placements | Placement hours can be shared between up to two partners in an employer’s supply chain. Lead employer retains overall responsibility. Cannot be combined with multiple employer approach. | A large manufacturing firm uses a chain of smaller, specialist component suppliers in the area. The firm arranges for their T Level students to spend time with two of these specialist businesses. This allows the students to undertake a wide range of tasks including basic cutting and joining of materials, as well as identifying components, tools, equipment, resources and completing preparatory checks. The placement time is split roughly 50:50 between the large firm and its two suppliers. As lead employer, the large firm retains overall responsibility for the student even when working with their supply chain. |
| Skills hub and employer training centre | Up to one third of hours can take place in a structured training environment before moving to the employer site. Cannot be combined with small team projects. | An engineering firm with a history of employing apprentices has created its own training facility. Apprentices and other new recruits start their training using specialist equipment in a controlled environment. This allows the firm to overcome health and safety concerns around young people going straight into the workplace. The centre also provides training for students on Engineering and Manufacturing T Levels, including students in placements with other local engineering firms. The training takes place in a block of 70 hours, around one-fifth of the total placement time, after which the students complete the rest of their placement with their employer. |
| Hybrid (remote) placements | For T Levels in Digital, 50% and all other T Levels up to 20% (except for Early Years and Dental Nursing) of hours can be completed remotely, from a provider site or (in exceptional cases) from home. | Employees in a specialist digital business spend part of their time working remotely. The employer is keen to offer a placement to a student specialising in business improvement as part of a Management and Administration T Level. They agree that the student will spend time in the office first to get to know how the business works, then spend around a fifth of their placement time working remotely from a dedicated office space on the provider’s campus. |
| SEND students | Up to a third of hours can be spent in on-site provider facilities building technical skills before entering the workplace. | An animal care and management T Level Student spends a third of their placement time working within the colleges own Dog Grooming Salon developing relevant technical and employability skills and confidence in a supported environment prior to completing their placement with a local veterinary practice. |
| Young Offender Institutions | Full placement hours can be undertaken in a YOI’s on-site facilities when necessary. | A Management and Administration student based in a Young Offender Institution completes their full placement within the YOI’s education and admin offices. Under supervision, they support day-to-day administrative tasks such as updating internal records, helping to organise staff training sessions, producing simple reports, and managing meeting room bookings. The student also observes how rotas, staff notices and secure communications are handled, gaining insight into data protection and organisational processes. Their tasks are mapped to their T Level learning outcomes and reviewed regularly with both teaching staff and the supervising employer representative. |
Further information:
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- Full industry placement delivery guidance – This guidance will help providers and employers to deliver high-quality industry placements, which form a mandatory component of the T Level programme.
- Summary document for the industry placement delivery guidance, outlining the essential information for delivering industry placements
- Delivery approaches examples document, illustrating how different delivery approaches can be used and combined across various T Levels to create a high-quality industry placement
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