Pathways to Success: Progression after T Levels

Pathways to Success: Progression after T LevelsEarlier this year, the Education and Training Foundation held two ‘T Level Learning From’ events, bringing together T Level practitioners from across the country. Here, Ruth Coyle, Roz Hicks and Lucy Whitwood reflect on the practical learnings and advice from a breakout session they designed for the events. With the new academic year under way, thousands of students across the country will be embarking on their T Level journey, likely filled with a mix of nervousness, hope, and excitement about what pathways this qualification will offer. Those working at FE colleges, schools and sixth forms delivering T Levels for the first time will probably be sharing in many of those emotions.Those feelings are something Ruth Coyle, Roz Hicks, and Lucy Whitwood can all relate to. Now experienced in delivering T Levels, they remember how it felt starting on their T Level journey.Earlier this year, all three worked together to develop a breakout session for the Education and Training Foundation’s (ETF) ‘T Level Learning From’ events in Leeds and London , which brought T Level practitioners together to network, learn from one another, and access support from the Department for Education-funded T Level Professional Development (TLPD) offer. Ruth, Roz and Lucy’s session on Progression from T Levels shared their learnings and advice for those new to, or already delivering, T Levels.Having now passed the milestone of the second ever T Level results day this August – and having seen their students progress onto a rich range of pathways – Lucy, Roz and Ruth share their reflections on their Progression from T Levels session and the key points they would reiterate to providers on their T Level journey.THE ROAD AHEADWhy hold a session specifically on the topic of progression from T Levels?“You always want to have the end goal in mind,” says Ruth. “Introducing T Levels is a challenge, it’s a new thing. You need to think about what this is doing for learners. For us, the key aim for our learners is to achieve social mobility and give them access to opportunities such as going into large corporates and getting experience. So, from the start, we’ve got to be thinking about what engages them and what they are going to excel at, so we can bring that out of them.”Lucy agrees: “It’s so important to think about progression of the learner from day one. So, when you are talking about and marketing your T Levels, you’re looking at the career opportunities for those learners, what journey they will go on, the types of placement opportunities they can have, and the opportunities within the programme that will give them successful progression at the end. Selling the career, rather than the qualification, is so important.”Roz adds: “From a teaching perspective, it’s also about building confidence of staff. One thing we promote at City College Norwich is the Industry Insights part of the TLPD offer, so staff can do their own industry placements, update their skills and bring new and relevant knowledge back into the classroom. That means our learners are ready to enter the workforce with up-to-date skills and can more easily access those progression opportunities as a result.”PROVIDING REASSURANCEThrough the Progression from T Levels breakout session, Ruth, Roz and Lucy were keen to provide reassurance to other providers, particularly those new to delivering T Levels.Roz says: “For providers who have started delivering this September, or that are due to start next September, we recognise there is still a lot of anxiety in the sector about what the qualification is and how it compares with A levels, BTECs and other applied general and technical qualifications at Level 3. The ‘T Level Learning From’ events provided opportunities for people to bounce ideas around and discuss challenges and work through solutions together.”Lucy recounts the range of topics that were asked about in the session: “Delegates had a lot of ques...