Member Article

College calls for employers to take advantage of work placement cash boost

A leading college group is urging employers to take advantage of the new government incentive to help provide young people with invaluable workplace experience.

WCG (formerly Warwickshire College Group) will be delivering T Levels from September and the Government has announced that businesses which support the qualifications with industry placement opportunities will be able to claim a £1,000 cash boost.

It has been announced that employers will be entitled to £1,000 per placement offered – of which students must complete a minimum of 315 hours over two years to pass their T Level.

T Levels (or Technical Levels) are part of the Government’s flagship reforms to technical education in England and are equivalent to three A Levels.

The qualifications are based on employer-designed standards and will have a focus on gaining workplace experience to help students be employment-ready.

As part of this a significant industry placement is required, which is equivalent to 45 days and must be completed in a workplace setting.

WCG will be among the first to introduce the new technical qualifications, which are primarily aimed at learners aged 16 to 18 years.

WCG is offering the Level 3 Digital Support Services T Level at its Royal Leamington Spa College site from September and will be delivering Health and Science, Engineering and Manufacturing, and Construction routes from 2022/23.

The college is seeking employers in the digital sector to offer placements in areas including desktop support, infrastructure engineering, desktop engineering support, helpdesk, networking and infrastructure security.

Debbie Parkes, industry placement manager at WCG, says the Government incentive is a great boost to enable employers to still host placements following disruption caused by the pandemic.

“This cash boost will help even more Warwickshire employers to experience the benefits, while also providing young people with invaluable first-hand experience in the workplace,” she said.

“The incentive fund is designed to offer support to employers impacted by the pandemic, to ensure they can continue to host placements. Employers will be able to claim for up to 20 students for Digital Support Services at WCG from 27 May 2021 until July 2022.

“T Levels are designed to generate the skilled workforce that businesses need for the future. They will give students the experience they need to progress into well-paid jobs, further study or an apprenticeship.  

“We believe T Levels offer local businesses an excellent chance to nurture and build a skilled talent pipeline for the future.

“They also give students the chance to gain vital hands-on experience and invaluable insight of the world of work, setting them up for success in the next steps of their career.”

WCG virtual ‘T-party’ takes place on Friday, July 2, between 11am-12pm, and gives employers the opportunity to find out more about T Levels and the benefits of being involved.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matt Joyce .