Countering common misconceptions

Introduction

This resource uses the experience of employers that already host T Level students to counter some of the misconceptions around industry placements.  

Who's it for

It will be useful for any employer that may be interested in hosting an industry placement but:

• • Hasn’t made up their mind yet
  • Thinks it may be too much trouble or too complicated
  • Wants to learn from the experience of others

What’s in the resource

The resource considers 12 of the most common misconceptions about industry placements. It  gives factual, up-to-date information that should encourage employers to offer a student the opportunity of a placement in their organisation.

Links are given to other resources on the website that provide more detailed information and guidance.

The 12 misconceptions are:

• • Industry placements are too time-consuming
  • Placements are inflexible and disrupt normal business
  • Hosting a placement is too costly
  • Legal and insurance issues are too complex
  • There’s too much paperwork and bureaucracy
  • Safeguarding responsibilities are too onerous
  • It’s too difficult to host students with special educational needs and/or disabilities
  • Smaller organisations can't offer meaningful placements
  • Industry placements aren’t suitable in rural areas
  • Students don't have the skills needed to contribute
  • Students aren't mature enough for a work environment
  • We'll invest the time, but the student won't stay with us

 

Industry placements are too time-consuming

• • Employers who host placements for T Level students often say that the time invested in setting them up pays off over the course of the placement
  • Many employers find that students quickly become valuable team members who do useful work and contribute to their team
  • Because students spend at least 315 hours on their placement, they have time to integrate well into the team, become more productive and need progressively less support
  • Using apprentices as mentors and buddies spreads the time needed to supervise and support the student across the team or department, rather than leaving it all to the line manager – it’s also a chance for them to develop valuable coaching and mentoring skills

“We integrate students as part of the team to make sure they get the best possible opportunity while they’re with us”

Catherine Ashcroft, Eric Wright Group

“We have a buddy system where new students are buddied up with a current employee – they can then lean on them if they need to know anything or there's specific challenges that they have”

Jo Godsmark, Bruce’s Doggy Day Care

 Additional reading

1. This video shows some of the ways in which employers benefit from offering industry placements to T Level students.

       2. Exploring the benefits and costs of an industry placement

       3. Effective mentoring for industry placement students

 

Placements are inflexible and disrupt normal business

• • Many employers have found that the different delivery approaches allowed makes T Level industry placements more flexible than they thought
  • They see placements as an opportunity not a distraction – they decide what students do, so they can make the placement useful and relevant to their organisation
  • Some have successfully integrated placements by linking tasks and projects to business needs or timing placements for busy periods
  • Others split the placement between departments, giving students a fuller experience of the organisation and spreading the responsibility across different teams
  • Some employers say that hosting placements encourages them to review and improve their own processes, leading to improvements overall

“T Levels have the flexibility to provide an answer to the issue of skills in our sector”

Bridgette Farrow, Low Carbon Construction

“Our big thing is, we can be flexible - looking at what the students need, and what projects we have on ourselves, we can decide whether to do the placements for a day a week, two days a week or in a block”

Wendy Benfield, InTandem Soultions

Additional reading

Industry placement delivery approaches

 

Hosting a placement is too costly

• • It doesn’t cost much to host a placement – employers are not required to pay students
  • Many employers find that any costs incurred are more than offset by the contribution students make by generating revenue or saving money – a student in one employer made a saving of £10,000 during their placement
  • Placement students aren’t included in headcount, so they can provide an extra resource if there’s a recruitment freeze
  • Hiring students who have completed placements reduces time and costs in recruitment and onboarding
  • Some employers have found creative ways to manage costs, such as rotating placements among different departments or aligning placements with periods of increased workload

Additional reading

1. Exploring the benefits and costs of an industry placement
2. Making payments to industry placement students

 

Legal and insurance issues are too complex

• • Most employers find that the legal and insurance aspects of hosting placements are more straightforward than anticipated
  • Many say that their existing employer's liability insurance covers T Level students without additional premiums
  • Some employers have found that going through the process for T Level placements has helped them streamline their overall approach to work experience, apprenticeships and internships

Additional reading 

1. Legal compliance for industry placements
2. Webinar recording: T Level industry placements – compliance, legal responsibilities and safeguarding

 

 There's too much paperwork and bureaucracy

• • Most employers find the administration of industry placements less onerous than expected
  • Most have found that once initial systems are set up, managing subsequent placements becomes much more straightforward
  • Many say they reuse processes and paperwork for work experience, internships or taking on temporary workers – often with very little need to adapt them
  • T Level providers – schools or colleges – provide templates and guidance and help to make sure the necessary paperwork is completed correctly
  • Providers also support employers with health and safety checks, risk assessment, DBS checks and safeguarding
  • Smaller employers sometimes say that the process has helped them formalise and improve their own documentation

“We've got started with the initial paperwork between ourselves and the school, and we've put a memorandum of understanding in place to make sure we have really strong foundations for the partnership”

Clare Davy, The Francis Crick Institute

Additional reading

How Industry Placements Work in Practice

 

Safeguarding responsibilities are too onerous

• • Providers (schools and colleges) are primarily responsible for the safeguarding and welfare of T Level students, including when they are on industry placements
  • Providers should:
    • Check that the employer has policies and procedures in place to protect students from harm – this may include a site visit
    • Design the placement with the employer to avoid situations where adult staff members are on their own with placement students, in closed or isolated working environments
    • Advise the employer whether a Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS) check is needed on members of staff supervising students
    • Stay in regular contact with the employer and the student throughout the placement, to check that the student feels safe
    • Share the contact details of their safeguarding lead so they can be contacted to help, if required
  • Providers may also offer basic training in safeguarding to employers’ staff supporting students during industry placements

“Safeguarding is our priority, and we need to ensure that we are fully prepared to support any students prior to their placements being agreed Our safeguarding protocols are clearly explained at induction.”

 Tracy Taylor, White Road Preschool

Additional reading

Webinar recording: T Level industry placements – compliance, legal responsibilities and safeguarding

 

It’s too difficult to host students with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND)

• • SEND should never be a barrier to hosting a student on an industry placement – young people with SEND learn and work successfully, make a valuable contribution to their placement teams, and go on to have a successful career
  • Many employers say that offering industry placements to students with SEND helps them to recruit more young people from a diverse range of backgrounds
  • Getting a placement ready for a student with SEND needs a little extra planning on top of the normal preparation – the student’s line manager and mentor should be involved in getting to know the student, understanding their specific needs, and planning the placement, and the whole team should also be ready to welcome and support the student
  • Some adjustments may be needed to help students with SEND access industry placements and get the best out of them – most of these adjustments are about doing things a little differently, are easy to implement and don’t cost much
  • The most important thing for employers that host a student with SEND is to ask them what helps them to work best, feel included and get the support they need
  • The student’s wellbeing is key – so it’s important to talk to them regularly about their feelings and follow up straightaway on any concerns

“This student produced an amazing project and presentation that really made a difference. The student became someone that people went to, to ask about accessibility on this particular website or project.”

Jo Simovic, Amazon

“If it’s a special needs student, we plan what the structure of the day looks like, which tasks and activities the student can do, and who’s going mentor the student for their specific needs. I also offer to train the line manager and mentor, so they know what to expect and feel confident about working with the student.”

Halima Bhayat, Ursuline High School

Additional reading

1. Hosting students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)
2. Hosting neurodiverse students

 

Smaller organisations can't offer meaningful placements

• • Many smaller organisations offer students a wider range of experience and more direct contact with senior staff
  • In return, students bring energy and new perspectives, which in some cases have led to improvements in processes or customer engagement
  • Some small organisations align placements successfully with project cycles or seasonal demands, maximising the benefit for both the student and the business
  • Many SMEs find that the benefits of developing future talent and bringing in new skills far outweigh the initial investment

“The biggest thing that I bring to the team is ideas – because new, innovative ideas are what keeps business going”

Tom, T Level student (Digital Production, Design and Development)

Additional reading

1. Hosting placements in smaller organisations
2. How sole traders, micro businesses or freelancers can get involved in industry placements
3. This video shows the range and variety of work that T Level students do in industry placements and the types of projects they contribute to

 

Industry placements aren’t suitable in rural areas

• • Employers offer placements to T Level students  all over England, including in rural areas – local schools or colleges can help to find a student in the right location
  • Travel links may be less good than in rural areas – employers sometimes flex attendance times to fit in with public transport, and they may pay the student an allowance to cover travel costs
  • Where several students attend placements on the same site at the same time, the school or college may provide transport to the site
  • Students on some T Level courses spend part of their placement hours working remotely, as long as they are in a suitable environment and carrying out tasks that are set and supervised by the employer

“Because of our rural location, which isn’t easy to reach due to transport links, we selected a college as our provider based on how far students would need to travel to get to the placement”

Melanie Gibbard, FCDO Services

Additional reading

Providing industry placements in rural and remote areas

 

Students don't have the skills needed to contribute

• • Many employers are impressed with the level of skills and knowledge T Level students bring to their placements
  • They often say that students are quick learners who adapt well to workplace technologies and processes
  • Some have found that the skills students have in areas such as digital marketing or data analysis complement and add to their existing workforce
  • Employers are keen to help students become familiar with current industry practices and standards, as this makes them more employable in future

“They fitted in straightaway, they knew people, and they understood what’s expected – after a few weeks we found they could do a job properly on their own, and they all did a very good job”

Rob Dudds, Unipress UK

Additional reading

1. How T Level students can progress after an industry placement
2. Webinar recording: Helping students learn and giving them the right experience

 

Students aren't mature enough for a work environment

• • Employers are often surprised by the maturity and professionalism of T Level students, and by their commitment to their chosen industry and career path
  • Many employers say that students have a strong work ethic and are eager to learn
  • The length of T Level placements allows students to develop their professional skills over time – employers often notice a significant growth in confidence and capability throughout the placement
  • Employers that have health and safety concerns from having young and inexperienced students in higher-risk occupations use skills hub and training centres to prepare them before they come into the workplace

”She’s shown us that she’s got the maturity to deal with confidential information – and when she does have questions, she’s got the confidence to come and ask us”

Debra Holgate, ITV

“We see what their work ethic’s like -  I think it’s a good way for any employer to get to know someone before you employ them”

David Elsom, Sandhills Court

Additional reading

1. Lloyd's Banking Group Case Study
2. Industry placement delivery approaches

 

 We'll invest the time, but the student won't stay with us

• • Many employers view industry placements as an opportunity to develop their talent pipeline, even if students don't immediately join after completing their T Level
  • A significant percentage of students progress into apprenticeships or entry-level positions with the employer that hosted their placement
  • Even when students don't stay, the experience of developing and mentoring young talent often has positive effects on the morale and management skills of existing staff
  • Some employers say that hosting placements enhances their reputation in the local community and among potential future employees

“Something you want to do right from the start is to see where you could bring someone in who could quite easily be integrated into your workforce”

Joanne Copping, Climax Molybdenum

Additional reading

Student Progression with T Levels