New resources for delivering industry placements
Industry placements are a vital component of the T Level programme, ensuring students gain valuable, hands-on experience and are fully prepared to progress into skilled employment or further study. To support the scaling up of high-quality placements, we introduced an updated set of industry placement delivery approaches in January 2025. These changes provide more flexibility and are designed to unlock opportunities for students and adapt to the evolving demands of industry. The full guidance is available here and changes now include:
- Up to 20% of the placement can be remote in all T Level Routes (and up to 50% for Digital T Levels)
- Placements can take place at route level as well as pathway level
- Small group projects and simulated activities in skills hub and training centres can take place on the provider site
Responding to your feedback, we have developed a suite of new materials designed to help you understand and implement the updated delivery approaches. This includes:
- A new summary document for the industry placement delivery guidance, outlining the essential information for delivering industry placements
- A new delivery approaches examples document, illustrating how different delivery approaches can be used and combined across various T Levels to create a high-quality industry placement
- A new explanatory animated video which brings to life the updated industry placement delivery approaches
- Our recent webinar also explains how the updated set of delivery approaches can be used to suit a range of circumstances
Finally, whist the majority of information can be found in our full T level industry placement delivery guidance, the below Q&A aims to aid understanding of the new approaches.
In the meantime if you have any questions or feedback on these materials, you can get in touch with us at industry.placements@education.gov.uk
Delivery approaches Q&A
1. How should we log the hours spent using different delivery approaches?
To ensure an accurate record of the placement, students must complete a timesheet which records the total number of hours completed and any remote hours. Providers can decide how they want to keep track of student hours to ensure the minimum threshold number of hours are completed and students are not exceeding the hours allowable for different delivery approaches. More information on recording systems can also be found here.
2. Is there any additional funding available to support the delivery of industry placements?
Providers can use their per student industry placement funding allocation to support the infrastructure and resource required to plan, source, deliver and monitor industry placements. This funding can also be used to fund student’s travel to placements. The 16-19 discretionary bursary funds can also be used to cover travel and subsistence, to ensure eligible students are not financially disadvantaged by undertaking their placements. Providers should refer to the latest funding guidance for more information: T Levels funding guide 2024 to 2025 - GOV.UK
To clarify - the Employer Support Fund pilot was made available as a one-year trial fund and came to a close on 31st March 2024. Providers and employers can continue to make use of the extensive additional support available on our provider and employer support websites.
3. Is free-lancing work acceptable or students being their own employer?
No. It is important for all industry placement to meet our industry placement core principles (as set out on page 7 of our full industry placement guidance) – this includes students having the opportunity to work with an external employer on real employer briefs, and having clear learning goals set and regularly reviewed with their employer. This would not be possible if a student was free-lancing or self-employed.
4. What flexibilities are available for students with a physical disability or autism/ADHD who are struggling to complete or even start a work placement?
Our existing policy for students with SEND still applies. This makes it possible for a student with SEND to spend up to one third of their placement hours working in the providers’ on-site facilities, so long as it is relevant to their T Level. On-site facilities should only be used when in the best interests of the student and carefully aligned to their learning goals. The rest of the placement must take place with an employer away from the provider setting. Providers should keep the student’s parents/carers informed as the industry placement plans develop, to help alleviate any concerns about the employer match and the agreed working pattern and daily hours.
5. Using the hybrid (remote) approach
a) How can you use hybrid hours for employers who are fully hybrid / remote?
In this situation, a student could split their placement hours across two employers and complete the maximum remote hours (50% for Digital; 20% for all other T levels) with one of these employers.
b) Are you content with students doing their remote hours from home?
If the provider is satisfied that home-working is an appropriate working environment and there are no safeguarding concerns, a student may for their remote hours from home. Employers must make sure that they regularly check in with their student during their remote days to ensure they are well supported.
c) Just to clarify, would online training count as part of the remote hours?
Remote hours are defined as any time spent not face-to-face with an employer and away from the physical workplace. If online training is conducted away from the employer premises e.g. on the provider site or at the students home – this would count as part of the remote hours.
d) Can students use remote hours as part of the work taster hours, small team projects or simulated environments?
Yes – students can use remote hours as part of another delivery approach (e.g. work taster or small team project). These hours must be counted within the maximum remote hours allocation. So, for example an employer can supervise students remotely during the skills hub / small team project approach or a student may have an online induction during work taster hours – however this will count towards the total remote hours allocation.
6. Working with multiple employers
a) Do employers delivering the skills hubs / small group projects count as one of the multiple employers?
Yes – they count as one of the multiple employers.
b) How many employers can be used for work taster activities? And how this can be used alongside the multiple employer approach?
A student can use as many employers as they want for work taster hours in addition to the multiple employer approach. So, for example a student could work with 3 different employers during work taster hours, and then another 2 employers using the multiple employer approach for the main placement.
c) If a student has two placements that fall through and they have not completed all of the hours, can they use a third employer?
Yes – exceptionally, if a placement terminates through no fault of the student, the provider should make alternative arrangements with a different employer- even where this means going beyond the maximum number of employers allowed under the multiple employer approach.
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