06 September 2022 - T Level Newsletter

This week's newsletter includes updates on:

• T Level Industry Placement Incentive Fund
• T Level Transition Programme: publication of Wave 4 national technical outcomes
• Gatsby Talking Futures Campaign
• Become a Sector Delivery Partner for Teaching T levels
• FE Workforce Data Collection opens shortly
• An introduction from our SME Growth Partners
• Launch of the 2022-23 Further Education mentoring programmes
• Awarding Organisations Updates

T Level Industry Placement Incentive Fund

As providers will be aware the Industry Placement Employer Incentive scheme has now closed.  We have recently contacted all providers to confirm what their unspent funding is based on the records they have provided, and therefore the amount of money we will be reclaiming.  If you have any queries regarding your proposed clawback figures, please contact IP.EmployerIncentiveFund@education.gov.uk.  The fund has helped employers to host industry placements and we are currently considering what further support might need to be put in place now that this scheme has come to an end.

T Level Transition Programme: publication of Wave 4 national technical outcomes

On 1st September 2022, the Department for Education published the T Level Transition Programme national technical outcomes for subject areas aligned to Wave 4 T Levels introduced from 2023 in Agriculture, Environmental and Animal Care, Catering and Hospitality, Creative and Design, and Hair and Beauty, available here on gov.uk. 

This follows publication in December 2021 of the revised Framework for Delivery for providers delivering the T Level Transition Programme from September 2022 onwards and national technical outcomes for the first 7 T Level routes, a student guide and resources to help providers develop their programmes. 

The T Level Transition Programme provides a high-quality route to T Levels, which is so important for those young people who will benefit from the additional study time and support the programme gives them, to prepare for their next step and to achieve their aspirations and T Level ambitions.  

You contact the T Level Transition Programme Team on TLevelTransition.PROGRAMME@education.gov.uk.

Gatsby Talking Futures Campaign

As you may have seen, Gatsby Education have launched a new communications campaign to promote T Levels. The campaign is aimed at parents, carers and guardians of 14- to 16-year-olds considering further education.

We know that parents and carers still play a significant role in big life decisions, but many lack the confidence or knowledge to effectively engage with their children about education.

The campaign aims to inform parents and increase support and consideration of T Levels, leading to an increase in the number of parents who would encourage their child to take a T Level.

Assets

• A parent/ carer/ guardian facing website including case studies, testimonials, FAQs and useful information about T Levels. This website also links to HMG T Levels website and the National Careers Service website.
• A ‘Hero film’ which can be downloaded here. This will be airing on commercial online channels like All4, Sky and the ITV Hub from 15th August, as well as other online video environments and on our Facebook page. We'd love it if you could like, share, and use on your own channels to help reach as many parents as possible
• Static images and videos for social media channels can be downloaded

If you have any questions about the campaign, or comments, suggestions, or success stories you’d like to share, don’t hesitate to contact Harriet.Evans@Gatsby.org.uk.

Become a Sector Delivery Partner for Teaching T levels

The Education and Training Foundation (ETF) are currently looking for a provider from the North to join them as a Sector Delivery Partner (SDP) for the Teaching T Level course which is part of the T Level Professional Development (TLPD) offer.  As an SDP you will be provided with the necessary training to delivery these courses to other learning providers in the sector who are delivering or preparing to deliver T Levels.

Providers who are interested in becoming a SDP must be rated as Good or Outstanding by Ofsted, a wave 1 or 2 T Level provider currently delivering T Levels and located in one of the following regions:

• North West
• North East
• Yorkshire and Humber

There will be a commitment to nominate 4 staff to complete the training and for them to be available to deliver a mix of live online courses as well as face-to-face for in-house requests. Funding will be provided for completion of thetraining and then for delivery of events as they take place throughout the academic year.  Should you wish to find out more information or to request an application form, please contact TLPD@etfoundation.co.uk. 

Deadline for applications will be Thursday 29th September 2022, with contracts awarded w/c  3rd October 2022.

FE Workforce Data Collection opens shortly

The FE Workforce data collection will open for returns on 12 September covering the 2021 to 2022 academic year. This year’s collection is mandatory for all eligible providers.

This Collection will help:

• provide a better understanding of the implications of government policy reforms and their impact on the composition of staff and their specialisms, for example the impact of the introduction of T Levels 
• provide a better understanding of the sector and allow us to view changes overtime, which will help us to tailor more effective support for FE Providers. 
• reveal skills gaps in the sector and model skills gaps and their impacts

We will be publishing outcomes in Spring 2023, for the benefit of providers and key stakeholders, such as Ofsted and sector representatives. 

We have released guidance documents for the collections to support staff who are completing the collections. You can find them here: Further education workforce data collection - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

An introduction from our SME Growth Partners

We recently procured support from 3 Growth Partners, whose primary role is to engage and grow industry placement capacity across small and medium- sized enterprises from the following 3 sectors: Construction, Digital and Business Operations (umbrella term for management, legal, finance and accounting T levels). See below an introduction from each of the Growth Partners and details on how to contact them.

Supplytrain CIC

Supplytrain is a not-for-profit that helps young people access a fairer start into work. We do this through recruitment, careers advice and linking employers to government-funded initiatives such as T Level industry placements. 

As a DfE T Level Growth Partner, we support small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) that are interested in offering business, administration, accounting, and legal industry placements.

Contact Sarah Andrews, Careers & T Level Manager, for more information about this project or visit our website for details of our wider work:  

0191 820 1440

sarah@supplytrain.co.uk

www.supplytrain.co.uk

eVolve your future

At eVolve your future we are working with SME’s in the Construction Sector to introduce T levels in a number of disciplines such as Design, Surveying and Planning for Construction Building Services Engineering for Construction and Onsite Construction. We work with each individual employer and support them to design and create a tailored industry placement opportunity for students within the world of work. We then liaise with a local T Level provider who will match a suitable student for the placement. eVolve your future will then support the start of the placement by ensuring the employer and provider create a unified and appropriate action plan to the course being studied. Please visit www.evolveyourfuture.co.uk and you can contact us via email at enquiries@evolveyourfuture.co.uk or call our office on 01933 358250

MyPocketSkill – Digital T-Levels Placements

MyPocketSkill can help you to source Digital T Levels placements. There is no cost to schools/colleges to access this service which is funded directly by the DfE. MyPocketSkill helps providers to secure placements by: 

• Raising awareness with employers 
• Sourcing potential employers 
• Screening employers and screening for suitability
• Assisting T Level providers and employers with candidate selection and reimbursement of expenses/remuneration

You can find out more MyPocketSkill on our website here or email our team at TLevels@mypocketskill.com

Launch of the 2022-23 Further Education mentoring programmes

There is still time for providers to apply for the 2022–23 cohorts of the ‘New to mentoring’ and ‘Advanced mentoring’ programmes, designed to support high-quality mentoring skills in the FE sector. Delivered by the Education and Training Foundation (ETF), these DfE-funded programmes will run between October 2022 and February 2023 and will be supported with a grant to each participants' organisations of up to £4,000. 

Please note that this programme is independent from our T Level Professional Development (TLPD) offer but would seek to complement your organisation's ongoing development. Applications will close on 30 September 2022 and so we encourage you to register via the ETF's mentoring homepage to avoid missing out on this opportunity. For targeted T-level planning support for middle leaders and mangers, please visit ETF's T Level Leadership Mentoring homepage.

Awarding Organisations Updates

Highfield

T Level Technical Qualification in Catering – TQ Specification

Highfield is producing a qualification specification for the T Level Technical Qualification in Catering as a guide for providers. This specification contains all the information needed to deliver this brand-new qualification and sets out the knowledge, understanding, skills and behaviours that students need to learn.

The draft TQ Specification is being shared with providers during development for information purposes. If you would like to see this early draft version, then get in touch with Highfield today on 01302 363277 or email us at tlevels@highfield.co.uk

City & Guilds

Resources and guidance documents have been updated and are now available on the City and Guilds T Levels Resource Hub for providers delivering T Levels from City & Guilds:

• Webinars, Microsoft Teams meetings and face-to-face regional events for both in-delivery providers and pre-delivery providers hoping to deliver T Levels from 2023, will be held throughout the year. Registration links will be made available shortly from the T-Level Events Page.
• The registration window for all new T Level learners is now open. Please register your leaners between 1 September – 1 November 2022 to avoid late fees.
• Assessment booking windows for second year leaners are also open. This is for existing Onsite Construction and Building Services Engineering (BSE) learners starting their second year.
• The booking window for autumn core exams and Employer-Set Project (ESP) is open 1 - 30 September. The booking window for Occupational Specialism assessments is open 1 September - 16 December.
• The Technical Advisors for Onsite Construction and BSE, Rob Mallender and Paul Brown, are hosting a webinar for providers who will be booking learners onto the autumn series of core exams and ESP. The registration link for this event can be found on their Events page.