The planning cycle for industry placements

Overview

The Industry placement planning cycle is a practical tool to help schools and colleges plan, deliver and review high-quality T Level industry placements. It brings every stage of the process together in one place – from early strategic setup and employer engagement through to student matching, delivery and improvement – providing a clear structure that supports consistent, high-quality delivery year after year.

The tool is designed to be used as part of normal business planning. It supports collaboration between curriculum, employer engagement and quality teams, ensuring placement activity is built into timetables, curriculum intent and self-assessment processes.

Each of the five phases sets out key actions, points for reflection and links to supporting tools available on the DfE’s T Level support for schools and colleges site. Use the task tables to plan, record progress and note lessons learned across the cycle stages:

1. Strategic setup and planning
2. Employer engagement and relationship building
3. Curriculum alignment and student matching
4. Placement readiness and delivery
5. Review and improvement