Supporting students to complete their industry placement successfully

Introduction

Most T Level students complete their industry placement successfully, and most of the reasons for not completing it can be avoided with the right planning and support. This resource:

- Explains the main reasons why students may not complete a placement
- Gives practical ideas about how employers and providers can anticipate and avoid these risks
- Shows how to make a placement work well so that students are motivated to complete it successfully

Who it’s for

The resource will be useful for employers that:

- Already offer industry placements
- Are thinking of offering placements in future
- Want to understand how to make placements work well for students

It is relevant to employers of all sizes and in all sectors.

What’s in the resource

- Reasons for non-completion and how to manage them
- Guidelines on professional conduct – template
- Motivating students to complete the placement – review and planning template

Reasons for non-completion and how to manage them

The table below:

- Lists some of the reasons why students may not complete their placement
- Suggests practical steps employers and providers can take to manage these risks

Reasons for non-completion	What employers and providers can do
The placement isn’t sufficiently interesting or relevant for the student	Give students enough information about the placement role to make a well-informed choice about whether to apply for it Select a student who’s likely to fit in well with the culture of your organisation and the team they’ll be joining Talk with the student about their interests and career and what they want to gain from the placement before they start Give the student a chance to see different parts of the organisation, e.g. through job shadowing or a rotational placement – there may be parts of the business that the student ends up being more interested in
The student can’t complete the required number of hours	Plan the placement jointly with the provider so the student can fit in all the hours before they finish the T Level course Use all the working hours available, as long as they don’t exceed 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week Consider extending the placement after the student has finished their Year 2 exams, to make up any missing hours
Activities that the student carries out during the placement aren’t well aligned with the T-level course content	Match activities with the student’s placement learning goals Organise tasks and projects that allow the student to apply the knowledge and skills learned on the course Find out from the provider what the student is currently learning at school or college and ask them to check that the placement tasks or projects are relevant Talk to the student about how the experience they’re getting in the placement will help to prepare them for work
The student doesn’t feel well supported in the placement	Identify early on the student’s preferred communication style – do they prefer information to be conveyed over email or talk through things in meetings, etc. Make sure line managers and mentors understand their role in supporting students throughout the placement, e.g. by checking in regularly to make sure the student understands what they’ve been tasked to do and feels supported Encourage the wider team to welcome and support the student as well Provide coaching and mentoring training to help staff support students effectively Consider whether the student would benefit from extra support, e.g. for neurodiversity or have special education needs/disabilities (SEND)
The student’s ill health leads to withdrawal from the placement	Find out before starting the placement whether there are any health issues, including mental health, which may affect the student’s progress on the placement Agree what extra support the student will get during the placement Talk with the student about any health issues they may be having and be flexible in managing the placement to take account of them
The student is asked to leave the placement for inappropriate behaviour	Make the student aware before the placement starts of what is expected of them in terms of professional conduct and appropriate behaviour Explain how their performance and behaviour will be managed during the placement, so the student knows what happens if they fall below standards and how to address this Provide clear, comprehensive guidelines during induction (see the downloadable template in the next section of the resource) Use specific examples during the placement to show the student what professional behaviours are and encourage questions and discussion about behaviour

Guidelines for professional conduct

Learning how to behave and conduct themselves professionally is a valuable lesson that students should learn during their placement.

Use these guidelines (see downloadable version below) to help the student understand how you expect them to behave during the placement.

You should:

- Adapt the guidelines to match your organisation’s expectations
- Give the student a printed copy of the guidelines
- Go through them with the student at induction and explain the workplace culture
- Provide constructive feedback and promptly address any concerns about the student’s professional conduct
- Keep a record of any employability skills training the student receives
- Model professional behaviour in all interactions with the student

Motivating students to complete the placement

Students benefit most from placements that are relevant, interesting and well-organised. They also make it more likely that the student will feel highly motivated to perform well, complete their placement successfully, and want to work for the organisation once they’ve finished the T Level course.

Key factors that motivate students are:

1. Meaningful work – real tasks and projects that build the student’s skills
2. A supportive environment – mentoring and milestones
3. The feeling of belonging and being included – becoming part of the team and the workplace culture
4. A safe space for learning – support and managing mistakes
5. Acknowledgement of what they are doing and achieving – feedback and recognition
6. Structured development – learning opportunities and next steps

Use the downloadable review and planning template to:

- Look at how you support students now
- Identify and implement improvements that motivate students to succeed

Motivating the student to succeed - review and plan v1-1 (002).docx

File size: 30 KB

Professional conduct guidelines v1-1 (002).docx

File size: 20 KB

Last updated: 18 November 2024 08:58

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