We recently brought together education leaders and NHS colleagues to discuss creating more T Level placement opportunities within the NHS.
T Levels are the new vocational qualification for 16–19-year-olds and are equivalent to three A Levels. T Levels offer young people the opportunity to undertake a 45-day placement in a workplace during their two-year course. The NHS has recently begun offering placements to students from both clinical and non-clinical courses. The purpose of the summit, which took place at St Mary’s Stadium in Southampton on 14 December, was to discuss ways to implement a consistent, scalable approach to placements across NHS trusts in the region.
Addressing delegates, Solent NHS Chief Nurse Jackie Munro stressed how vital T Levels are for giving young people that important first step into the workplace. We heard from the Department for Education’s T Level team on the vision and plans for T Levels, and from assessing body NCFE on the regulatory landscape. Also speaking were past and present T Level students from HSDC, two of whom are on clinical placements in the NHS.
“T Levels offer a practical route into the NHS, which is a great place to start and build a career,” said Hilary Todd, Director of the Education to Employment Programme for NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight. “With T Levels rolling out across more colleges and gaining greater recognition from employers and universities, this really is a moment of opportunity for the NHS and other employers to see how we can offer these young people the best possible start.”
