National Highways and La Retraite Legal Services

Legal Services T Level

By hosting a Legal Services T Level student on their industry placement, National Highways brought additional capacity and support into its legal team, while offering a low-risk, low-cost opportunity to help a young person gain meaningful experience of the profession.

T Levels are two-year technical qualifications for 16-19-year-olds, equivalent to three A Levels, developed in partnership with employers to meet industry needs. Alongside developing broad technical knowledge and skills, each T Level combines classroom learning with a 45-day industry placement, giving students real-world workplace experience.

Over the course of the placement, Mahdere Nebiyu, a Legal Services T Level student from La Retraite Sixth Form, supported work relating to the legal aspects of maintaining England’s motorways and major A-roads.

National Highways

Sarah Mears, Senior HR Advisor at National Highways, highlighted the impact of Mahdere’s contributions:

“Mahdere quickly became a really valued member of the team. Their support made a noticeable difference to our workload and helped increase capacity at a time we were particularly stretched.”

Mahdere supported on a variety of tasks, including research for Highways Act cases, responses to internal queries, document management and administrative support, and identification of relevant legislation to support the team’s work. They also had opportunity to observe court proceedings, gaining firsthand experience of how legal work operates in practice.

The value of the placement was clear to Mahdere:

“The team at National Highways were really supportive from the start, which made it easy to settle in and get involved. I was given real tasks and felt like I was genuinely helping the team, which made the experience really rewarding and helped build my confidence.”

The placement

Delivered on a one-day-a-week basis at National Highways’ Guildford office, the placement was structured carefully to ensure Mahdere could take on meaningful, supportive tasks with any initial queries addressed upfront, for example, around confidentiality of company data. This was supported by work readiness training Mahdere completed with La Retraite prior to the placement, helping ensure she understood workplace expectations and could settle into the team quickly.

Although this placement was delivered through day release, T Level industry placements can also be arranged in blocks, allowing employers and providers to choose the model that works best for them. Building on approaches already established through its legal apprenticeships programme, the National Highways team was able to adapt existing processes and support arrangements to set up and manage Mahdere’s placement. Mahdere worked across different functions and was supported by the wider team, including apprentices, rather than solely by senior legal staff. This helped reduce the burden on senior staff, whilst also giving apprentices experience supporting and guiding a more junior colleague.

For Mahdere, the placement helped confirm her interest in a legal career and gave her greater confidence to progress in this field. For National Highways, the placement delivered real value to the team, and the organisation is planning to host another Legal Services T Level student in the 2026–27 academic year.

Sarah Mears reflected on the experience:

“Colleagues found having that additional resource incredibly helpful, and we’re looking forward to taking on another student next year”.

More information

For employers, Legal Services T Level placements can form part of a wider talent pipeline into the legal profession. While students may progress in different directions after their placement – including university, apprenticeships or directly into employment – the qualification is designed to support progression into the sector and help young people move towards skilled legal careers. This includes progression through the CILEX route, with the Legal Services T Level designed to provide a clear pathway onto the CILEX Professional Qualification (CPQ).

Students who complete the Legal Services T Level can receive exemptions from five of the six CILEX CPQ Foundation Stage assessments, where upon completion, students are qualified as CILEX Paralegals. The exempt assessments are:

• Legal Systems 
• Contract Law 
• The Law of Tort 
• Professional Skills: Legal Environment 
• Professional Skills: Legal Research 

Students will also be exempt from the Ethics & Professional Responsibility e-learning module, leaving just one assessment to complete: Intro to Property & Private Client. 

Students can then progress up to the CPQ Advanced and CPQ Professional where you become a CILEX Lawyer.