From 2006 to 2022, the higher education entry rate among UK 18-year-olds increased from 24.7% in 2006 to 37.5%, its second highest ever level. Seeing young people committed to learning is great news but results in many joining the workforce later, and many without and real-life work experience. Add in a dash of Brexit and spoonful of Covid-inspired early retirements, and we have a recipe for a reduction in the experienced workforce.
Employers are in a quandary. How do they get new employees that are committed to learning, with some real life experience, at a sensible rate? The competition for experienced talent continues to heat up, with candidates driving the market and businesses driven to offer increased flexibility, higher salaries and more benefits to attract great people.
Back in 2015 we saw the launch of degree apprenticeships and in 2020, we welcomed the new T-level qualifications targeted at school leavers. Created in conjunction employers and equivalent to three A-levels, T-levels offer a unique blend of 80% classroom study and 20% industry placement, putting skills into action and creating a ‘job-ready’ generation that have gained hands-on experience in an actual working environment within their chosen industry.
T-level subjects span many specialist areas, from construction and healthcare, to digital and engineering; all providing expert knowledge to students, helping them stand out to employers within their chosen fields. Backed by hundreds of British businesses, from Lloyds Banking Group and Siemens to The NHS – who helped to design the courses, T-levels offer young people an ideal first step into their future career. After a T-level, young people have a range of options to choose from as their next step; from going into skilled employment, to starting an apprenticeship, or further education.
To get an insight into how this works in the real world, we spoke to Ben Fielding at Blucando who have taken on two T-level students on the Digital Support Services course at Farnborough College of Technology.
“I’ve been working with Farnborough College of Technology as a member of their Career & Industry Advisory Board, helping bridge the gap between higher education and genuine industry experience. I was impressed by how well the T-level courses have been designed, with real-world industry experience core the to the student’s success. With the launch of the Digital Support Services course last year, we’ve been working closely to support the students journey and been lucky enough to take on two students on work placement. Their attitude to learning is on par with more mature Degree Apprenticeship students I’ve worked with before, something I wasn’t expecting.”
Meet Dan!
Dan is one of those students, working at Blucando since the beginning of January and became a productive member of the team in just a few weeks. When asked about his experience, Dan said, “I’ve really enjoyed the hands-on parts of the course and got to learn about things I hadn’t even considered before like ethical hacking and cyber security.
I work at Blucando every Monday until Easter, then I’ll be full-time until June. I love working here and I get to apply so much that I learn at college in the real world. I’m sure I wouldn’t have progressed so quickly if I’d simply done a standard full-time course.”
Farnborough College of Technology and the University Centre Farnborough had this to say: “Blucando has been very supportive of our new digital T-Level qualification. From giving industry insight to providing work placements to our industry dinners to showing interest in our T-level students. Currently, we have one of our students on their industry placement with two more in the works. Blucando works with us to support our learners and how we can get them ready for the future.”
Learn more about T-level qualifications here:
https://tlevelinfo.org.uk/about-t-levels
https://www.hampshirelive.news/special-features/jobs-you-didnt-know-you-6755060
We are Blucando, the Southeast’s Premier IT Support Provider
From our base in Farnborough, Hampshire; we are a full-suite IT provider offering technology support, management and consultancy to businesses across Surrey, Hampshire, London and the wider southeast region. We pride ourselves on delivering robust, dependable IT systems our clients can rely on, coupled with strategic guidance that helps unlock business potential through technology. Get in touch today to find out how Blucando could help level up your business through technology.
