Research into T Levels and industry placements in councils in England

This is the final report from an independent research study into T Levels and industry placements in councils in England. The research was commissioned by the Local Government Association (LGA) and undertaken by York Consulting LLP between January and March 2023. It obtained input from 46 different councils via a combination of an online survey and qualitative focus groups. 

Introduced in 2020, T Levels are two-year courses broadly equivalent to three A Levels. They include an institute-approved Technical Qualification developed in collaboration with employers, an industry placement and occupationally specific elements to help prepare students for work, further training or future study.    

Engagement

There was near unanimous agreement amongst the research participants that T Levels are a valuable addition to the qualification landscape. Central to this view are the industry placements and the preparation for working life that T Levels can offer. 

Across the 46 councils, more than 20 different services had either hosted students on industry placements or had committed to doing so. These services typically offer career pathways that align well with local T Level provision and tend to have been involved in other work-based activity for young people (e.g. apprenticeships and work experience). Some services chose to become involved because they are experiencing considerable recruitment and retention challenges.  

LGA support

Thirteen of the 46 councils represented in the research had accessed Department for Education (DfE) funded support on T Levels and industry placements from the LGA. Those that hadn’t often said they did not require any such support or that they had received support through the Gatsby-funded LGA offer. 

Views towards the DfE-funded support were consistently positive. It has raised the profile of T Levels and industry placements in councils, informed better decision making and accelerated progress. In several cases it has also strengthened the relationship between councils and their local skills provider(s).   

A large majority of the research participants had accessed the LGA’s T Level toolkit, T Level case studies and the T Level information on the LGA website. Views towards each of these were generally positive.  

Challenges

T Level provision can vary considerably from area to area. This has a direct impact on councils’ involvement with industry placements. The research found examples of large council areas where very little T Level provision currently exists and where the councils are therefore unable to offer industry placements, despite wanting to do so. Other areas with similar populations have numerous providers offering T Levels, some of whom have ambitious expansion plans.  

There have also been occasions where councils’ preferences and requirements for industry placements have been different to the arrangements offered by providers. This is most relevant to the construction and engineering/manufacturing T Levels, where councils would prefer a block release arrangement but the provider offer has been for a day release model. 

Incorporating industry placements within remote and hybrid working arrangements has been a further challenge. DfE guidance on this topic has recently been updated and now allows for 20 per cent of a student’s placement hours to be delivered remotely. This has been welcomed by the councils participating in the research, although only one had made firm plans for delivering industry placements via a hybrid model at the time of the study. 

The most prevalent challenge to the adoption and expansion of industry placements in councils is the time and resource constraints faced by services. More than two-thirds of the research participants said it was difficult to commit to the supervision time required on an industry placement, and more than half said accommodating placements of that length was a challenge. More than half also said they do not currently have the financial resources to expand their T Level offer as much as they would like. 

Looking ahead 

The general view from the research participants was that further support on T Levels and industry placements would be useful but is not essential. There is some demand for locally tailored information together with ongoing support to help those working in central functions (HR, workforce development etc.) engage services in industry placements. There is also evident demand for a mechanism through which councils can share experiences, lessons and delivery approaches. 

Several councils suggested that the LGA and/or its partners might offer training or guidance aimed at those responsible for supervising T Level students while on placement. In practice, however, various resources on this topic already exist. 

There was also some interest in in-work support from skills providers for students on industry placements.

Recommendations

When designing a future support offer on T Levels and industry placements, the LGA and its partners are advised to consider the following: 

• Enabling and promoting cross-council networking: councils are very keen to learn from one another’s experiences, especially on engaging services, working with skills providers and managing industry placements. They would welcome a forum or other structured arrangement to help them do that.
• Ongoing promotion of supervision and mentoring guidance/resources: concerns over supervision and mentoring are a barrier to industry placements in some councils. Good quality guidance materials already exist on these topics, but the research suggests that their reach could be wider. Renewed efforts to raise their profile are therefore recommended. 
• In-work support from providers: councils contributing to the research are keen to discuss this in more detail with the LGA. The researchers have shared details of the councils concerned (with their permission) with the LGA. This dialogue could help frame subsequent discussions with providers, should the LGA wish to pursue any in-work support propositions. 

In October 2022, the LGA commissioned York Consulting LLP to undertake primary research with councils in England on the subject of T Levels and industry placements. The research took place between January and March 2023 and obtained input from 46 different councils. 

York Consulting would like to thank everyone that has contributed to the research. Particular thanks are owed to Nigel Carruthers, Sadique Miah and Kieran Hurley at the LGA for their ongoing assistance and support.  

This is the final report from the research. It has been written by Tim Allan, Managing Partner at York Consulting LLP.  

T Levels and Industry placements 

T Levels are two-year courses equivalent to three A Levels. Introduced in 2020, they consist of: 

• approximately 80 per cent practical and knowledge-based learning at a school or college
• approximately 20 per cent gaining on-the-job experience on an Industry placement (minimum of 315 hours). The only exception is the Early Years Educator occupational specialism (within the Education and Early Years T Level) where the industry placement must be for a minimum of 750 hours.
• any other occupation-specific mandatory additional requirements needed for entry to employment or to start an Industry placement. 

At the time of writing, T Levels were available in eight subject areas (Figure 1.1).

T Level industry placements must be external to students’ normal learning environments, except for students with SEND or in young offender institutions where alternative approaches can be taken. Placements should develop up-to-date technical skills and specialist knowledge. Where necessary for breadth of content and/or where beneficial for the student, placements can be split across two employers. Placement hours must align with working time regulations. 

There is no fixed model for industry placements. They can take place in a block, through day release or via a combination of the two. Before starting a placement, providers should ensure that students have the requisite technical and employability skills, understand professional standards of behaviour and can adhere to employer policies and procedures.  

To complete their placement, students must demonstrate sufficient progress towards their learning goals, work directly with an external employer, and have been on placement for the minimum number of hours.

LGA support on T Levels and industry placements  

Over the past two years, the LGA has offered flexible and tailored support to councils across England to help them plan for, and begin delivery of, T Level industry placements. Funded through the DfE and the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, this support has included: 

• raising awareness and understanding of T Levels and Industry placements within councils
• providing advice and guidance on industry placements, including how to engage services in conversations about them
• brokering conversations and forging relationships with local skills providers
• providing access to a T Level newsletter, toolkit and case studies
• signposting to other sources of information about T Levels and/or Industry placements.

Research focus  

Summarised below, this research has had five main lines of enquiry, within each of which were specific research questions. The rightmost column of the table indicates the chapters of this report in which each of the questions are addressed.

Source: York Consulting survey

The research has been structured around two main activities: 

• an online survey of councils
• qualitative focus groups to explore the survey results in greater depth.

Each of these activities is explained in more detail below.    

Online survey of councils

The survey questions (included for reference at Appendix A) were written by the researchers and approved by the LGA and the DfE. Throughout January 2023, the survey was promoted by the LGA via the following channels:  

• Chief Executive’s bulletin
• Chairman’s bulletin
• T Level bulletin
• Workforce bulletin 
• LGA social media
• Targeted mailout to councils using the LGA’s CRM database.

When the survey closed in mid-February 2023, 46 responses had been received. As shown in Table 2.1, the majority of those councils had either hosted a T Level student(s) on an industry placement or had committed to doing so. Twelve councils were still to decide and one did not intend to deliver industry placements. 

The 17 councils in the top row of the table had hosted (or were hosting) a combined total of 59 T Level students. This is an average of 3.5 students per council, although most had either hosted one student (six councils), two students (two councils) or three students (four councils).

Source: York Consulting survey

An achieved sample of 46 responses equates to 14 per cent of all councils in England. As such, the results presented in subsequent chapters of this report will not necessarily be representative of any larger group of councils, nor councils across England as a whole. 

A sample of this size also means that relatively little cross-tabulation (where the survey results are broken down by type of council or region, for example) can be undertaken. Occasional commentary is provided in the report to compare the views of councils that have already hosted T Level students with those that have not, but in reality it is difficult to draw conclusions from that given the relatively small numbers involved.

Figures 2.1 and 2.2 show the geographic distribution of the councils responding to the survey. London is covered separately in Figure 2.2 in order for the location of responses from the capital to be represented more clearly. Both figures are also presented in table format (Table 2.2 and 2.3) for compatibility with screen readers. 

Source: York Consulting

The survey was typically completed by staff working in, or with a remit that included, organisational or workforce development, HR, apprenticeships, early careers and talent, or entry to work.

Qualitative focus groups

Three qualitative focus groups were held in February and March 2023 using Microsoft Teams. The focus groups attracted 23 delegates from 18 different councils. A profile by region is shown in Table 2.4.

Source: York Consulting

Views towards T Levels and industry placements

Each focus group began with a short discussion to establish attendees’ overall views towards T Levels and industry placements. Almost without exception, those views were positive, with delegates in near unanimous agreement that T Levels are a valuable addition to the qualification landscape.  

Central to those views were the following factors: 

• the inclusion of industry placements and the duration of those placements
• the quality and relevance of the preparation for working life that T Levels can provide
• the progression opportunities they offer, be that to higher level study or employment.

“T Levels add the missing piece – real work experience.” 

“We see T Levels as a big part of our ‘growing our own’ strategy in the future.” 

A small number of delegates were less sure, reflecting their limited progress with T Levels and industry placements at the time of the research.  

Understanding industry placements

The survey respondents generally said that their understanding of industry placements was ‘good’. Thirty-six of the 46 respondents answered in this way. Four said their understanding was ‘excellent, four said it was ‘ok’ and two said it was ‘not very good’. 

The vast majority of the survey respondents (42 of the 46) also said their understanding of T Levels and industry placements had improved in the 12 months preceding the survey: 

• twenty one reported a significant improvement over that time
• twenty one said their understanding had improved ‘somewhat’
• the remaining four respondents said their understanding had not changed. 

Nineteen of the respondents – including both of those rating their current understanding as ‘not very good’ and three of the four rating it as ‘ok’ – said they would like to understand industry placements in greater depth. When asked for specifics, they highlighted the following: 

• onboarding processes, including student interviews
• information on policies and procedures for supporting T Levels in the workplace from councils have already done it
• placement planning, to help ensure that workplace tasks and objectives complement the classroom based elements
• structuring industry placements to ensure that students obtain the right experience whilst also being manageable for the council.
   

Engaging services

Table 3.1 shows the services that had hosted T Level students on industry placements at the time of the research, or which had committed to doing so. ICT and digital dominates, followed by health and social care. In total, more than 20 different services were identified. 

Source: York Consulting

The focus groups explored why the above services had been targeted. There were four main reasons, listed here in the order with which they were cited most regularly: 

• Availability of local provision: this is the most fundamental factor. With councils looking to work with local providers on industry placements, they can only target services that align with the local T Level offer. 
• Familiarity with work-based activity: councils often look to engage services that are already familiar with some or all of apprenticeships, internships and Year 10/11 work experience. These services (or key members of staff within them) have often overcome the initial barriers associated with work-based provision and are aware of the benefits it can offer. As such, they may be more willing to pursue industry placements than those for whom work-based education programmes are a newer concept.   
• Recruitment and retention challenges: around half the councils represented at the focus groups have targeted services with known recruitment and retention issues. These issues include high levels of staff turnover, persistent and unfilled vacancies and ageing workforces. T Levels and industry placements are often being promoted to these services as a potential addition to longer-term succession strategies.  
• Senior level support: several delegates were candid in saying they had targeted services where the directors or other senior managers were known advocates of work-based activity for young people. Having this senior level support had proven decisive in securing services’ involvement in industry placements, had removed barriers and accelerated progress.

Most of the councils represented at the focus groups had used more than one of the above approaches, and some had used all four.

DfE-funded support

Thirteen of the 46 survey respondents said they had accessed DfE-funded support on T Levels and industry placements from the LGA. Nine of those councils were also represented at the focus groups.  

The regularity with which the 13 councils had accessed the LGA support varied: 

• three had done so on a monthly basis (or thereabouts)
• six had done so every two to three months
• four reported having had one conversation or meeting with the LGA. 

The regularity of each council’s engagement does not signify its level of satisfaction with the support, i.e. the research found no evidence to suggest that less frequent engagement indicates low(er) levels of satisfaction. Rather, the extent to which councils have engaged has been determined by:   

• local T Level provision (number of providers, number of students, breadth of subjects)
• the commitment or otherwise of services to participate in industry placements
• the need that the council has for support on industry placements. Some only require an initial meeting/conversation in order to be largely self-sufficient from that point on.

As shown in Table 4.1, the 13 councils had most commonly accessed advice and guidance on industry placements from the LGA, followed by conversations/resources to improve their understanding of T Levels.

Source: York Consulting survey (multi-response question)

Views towards the LGA support were consistently positive, with council representatives typically agreeing that it had: 

• improved their knowledge of T Levels and industry placements
• raised the profile of T Levels and industry placements within their council
• helped them make better plans or decisions about industry placements
• accelerated the progress they have been able to make on industry placements
• strengthened their relationship with a local skills provider(s). 

“The LGA has been extremely helpful. They’ve helped us to make informed decisions and to address some issues with local providers.” 

“Without the support from the LGA, we wouldn’t have been able to host students this year.”

When asked if or how the LGA support could have been better, none of the 13 councils made any tangible suggestions. Some acknowledged that the LGA could not be expected to resolve all local issues (especially a lack of local T Level provision), but were also keen to stress the efforts the LGA had made to assist with these issues wherever they could.   

“The support from the LGA has been instrumental to our progress.”

Why have some councils not accessed DfE-funded LGA support? 

Thirty-three of the survey respondents said they hadn’t accessed DfE-funded support from the LGA on T Levels and industry placements. Twenty-eight of those explained why – their responses are summarised in Table 4.2.

Source: York Consulting survey (multi-response question)

The top row of the table – ‘we have had contact with other staff from the LGA’ – is important in the context of this research. It refers to the LGA support that is funded by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation (see ‘Gatsby-funded support’ below). This support is similar in nature to that which is available via the DfE funding, and the LGA has therefore been careful not to duplicate its engagement activities with councils across the two funding streams. At any given point in time, a council will have one nominated point of contact at the LGA for T Level support, rather than two. 

It is also of note that eight councils said they are making sufficient progress with T Levels and industry placements without LGA support. For these councils their reason for not engaging is a positive one. Five of these eight councils had hosted industry placements at the time of the survey and two had committed to doing so.  

Gatsby-funded support

The online survey briefly covered the Gatsby-funded support, although intentionally did not do so in any detail as the research was primarily concerned with DfE-funded activity. 

Seventeen of the 46 respondents said they had accessed the Gatsby-funded support. The feedback they provided on that support was unanimously positive. In particular, they praised: 

• the knowledge of the LGA staff member in question
• the work that staff member had done to broker relationships with local skills providers
• the information and resources they had supplied to the councils
• the other avenues of support on T Levels and industry placements to which the councils had been signposted. 

“Always available. Really impressed with their contribution…gave us loads of tips, information and guidance.” 

“Provided us with lots of information to help us decide whether to take on a T Level student. Was also there to support and guide us when organising the placement.”

Website, case studies and toolkit

Thirty-seven of the 46 survey respondents had used the LGA website to access information on T Levels. All but one of those respondents had found the information at least quite useful (Table 4.3).

Source: York Consulting survey 

The pattern of responses was similar on the topic of the LGA’s T Level case studies. As shown in Table 4.4, those that had seen the case studies were quite positive about them, although more than one third of the sample had either not seen them or did not know they were available. 

Source: York Consulting survey 

The same pattern continues for the LGA’s toolkit (Table 4.5). Note that for each of these topics (website, case studies and toolkit), the same councils typically appeared in the ‘haven’t seen’ or ‘didn’t know it was available’ answers. In other words, if a council had not seen or was not aware of the T Level information on the LGA’s website, then they were also unlikely to have read the case studies or used the toolkit. 

Source: York Consultancy survey

Both the online survey and the qualitative focus groups explored the challenges faced by councils on T Levels and industry placements. Summarised below, a number of common themes emerged. 

T Level provision   

T Level provision can vary considerably from area to area and this can have a direct impact on councils’ involvement with industry placements. To demonstrate the contrast: 

• The largest FE college in Cambridgeshire currently offers one T Level. 
• In Leicestershire, the two largest FE colleges offer more than 15 (including specialisms) and eight T Levels respectively.  
• The populations of the two areas are broadly similar: 650,000 in Cambridgeshire and 700,000 in Leicestershire. 

Both Cambridgeshire County Council and Leicester City Council contributed to this research. The former had not yet hosted any students on industry placements but would like to, while the latter had hosted students in housing, neighbourhood services and waste services. They are also working closely with local providers with a view to offering more industry placements over the months ahead.  

Other councils shared anecdotal examples of providers not being able to recruit their target numbers of students onto specific T Levels, in some cases resulting in no students being available to the council for industry placements. This is frustrating for the councils and can also dampen the enthusiasm of services that had previously agreed to be involved.  

It is important to note that this research has not involved any consultation with skills providers. As such, no judgement is being formed here on the local availability of T Levels. Nonetheless, there are cases where a lack of T Level provision (relative to other areas) is the most significant constraint on industry placements and where services feel disappointed that their expectations have not been met. 

“It would be good if local colleges and schools offered T Levels.”

“An expansion of T Level courses in local schools and colleges would really help us.”

Delivery models and working arrangements 

The focus groups uncovered examples of where councils’ preferences and requirements for industry placements have been different to the arrangements offered by providers. Specifically: 

• There have been occasions where providers have offered a day release model but councils would prefer block release. This is particularly relevant to construction and engineering/manufacturing T Levels, where the councils in question feel that both the students and their host teams would derive more benefit from a block release arrangement. 
• Certain councils would rather take students on an industry placement towards the end of their second year. This is for two reasons: a) the students arrive with a level of knowledge and skill that enables the councils to make their placements more meaningful and work-related; and b) it enables both the councils and the students to make more informed decisions on progression, including offers of employment.  

“For students working in the trades, the placements ideally need to be in blocks, not day release. That lets them see a job through from beginning to end.” 

Around half the delegates at the focus groups mentioned hybrid, agile or remote working as a challenge for industry placements. Many services now operate on a hybrid model, which makes the workplace supervision of T Level students more complicated.

“Agile working has made supporting this type of arrangement more complex, as will be the case for many councils.”

“A barrier for us is doing the placement remotely. Many of our teams work now under a hybrid working model.”

New DfE guidance on this subject was published in January 2023, allowing 20% of a student’s placement hours to be delivered remotely in the following T Level subjects:  

• accounting
• digital
• finance 
• legal services
• management and administration
• media, broadcast and production.

Under the new guidance, the provider and employer should agree in advance which elements of the placement can be undertaken remotely. The guidance also states that only by exception should placement hours be worked from home and that the provider must be satisfied there are no safeguarding concerns. The student should also have an appropriate home environment in which to work. 

The new guidance has been welcomed by the councils participating in this research, but in itself it does resolve the issue. Councils still need to co-ordinate and align the working patterns of staff with the 80 per cent on-site placement requirement. None of the councils suggested this is insurmountable, but they were also keen to stress that it can be logistically challenging.     

At the time of the research, only one council had made firm plans for delivering placements via a hybrid model. Their intention was to allow students on the business and administration T Level to work from home once every six weeks. On those days, the students will be encouraged to use Teams, to consider the advantages and disadvantages of remote communications/meetings and to feed back to their host team on the experience. 

Time and resources 

In both the survey and the focus groups, the challenge mentioned with the greatest regularity was the time and resource constraints faced by councils. For example: 

• Supervision time: 32 of the 46 councils responding to the survey said it is difficult to commit to the supervision time required on an industry placement. Thirteen of those councils flagged this as a significant barrier.
• Placement length: 26 of the councils said it is hard to accommodate placements of the length required by T Levels (11 flagged this as a significant barrier). 
• Arrangements: 33 councils said it can be difficult for them to find the time/capacity to make the necessary arrangements for an industry placement (17 said this was a significant barrier).  
• Finances: 27 councils said they do not currently have the requisite financial resources to expand their T Level offer, 13 of which said it was significant barrier. A representative from one council explained that the prospective IT costs (e.g. laptops for T Level students) could constrain their expansion plans.   
• Services unwilling to commit: the above points are reflected in the fact that 31 of the 46 councils said that services being unwilling to commit to industry placements was a barrier for them, including 17 for whom it is a significant barrier. 

Delegates at the focus groups explained the array of competing priorities faced by services and the challenge of making T Levels one of those priorities. Several councils also suggested that services can become jaded by what they might consider to be ‘another education initiative’. This applies in particular to staff in services that are not especially familiar with post-16 education nor the policy evolution that has taken place within it. 

“Management time is so stretched that there is insufficient capacity to think about, organise and accommodate the placements at this time, but we hope that will change.” 

“Whilst colleagues are generally supportive of industry placements, we have the ongoing challenge of ensuring staff have the capacity to offer a quality and supportive placement alongside other entry routes, such as other work experience placements, internships and apprenticeships.”

Tips    

The following pieces of advice were offered at the focus groups by councils that have already hosted one or more T Level students on an industry placement. They are aimed at their counterparts in other councils that intend to deliver industry placements but have not yet done so.

• The relationship that the council establishes with the local skills provider(s) is vital. Work with them to design and agree a timetable that is achievable for both parties. Do this as an early priority in the planning for industry placements. Confirm it with the provider once it has been agreed.
• Ensure that the delivery model for industry placements (day release, blocks, hybrid etc.) is agreed and clearly documented before delivery begins. This will help to avoid any misunderstanding or confusion at a later date.
• Introduce services to the T Level skills provider(s) at an early opportunity. This enables services to ask questions and to explain firsthand what they would like to get from the industry placement. Doing so helps secure their buy-in to the process.
• Make efforts to engage and secure the support of senior stakeholders in the services being targeted for industry placements. This will help to remove blockages and accelerate progress.
• Research the services being approached for industry placements. They will respond better if the ‘pitch’ feels tailored and is grounded in an understanding of how they operate and the (workforce) challenges they face. A generic pitch about industry placements is unlikely to work as well.
• Share case studies of industry placements (from the LGA or other councils) with services. They bring the industry placements to life and help services to visualise how they could work for them in practice.

The online survey briefly asked councils whether they were working with a Skills Development Manager (SDM) from the DfE and, if so, how useful they had found the support. The results are presented below. 

Skills Development Managers

Nineteen of the 46 respondents said they were working with an SDM at the time of the research. Seventeen said they were not and 10 were unsure. Discussions at the focus groups suggest that the term ‘Skills Development Manager’ is not universally recognised amongst those that completed the survey, hence the relatively high number of ‘not sure’ responses. 

As shown in Table 6.1 (which covers views towards SDMs as a whole) and Table 6.2 (which looks at the constituent parts of the support), those that have worked with an SDM have generally found it useful. Noting the small samples, there may however still be room for improvement. 

Source: York Consulting survey

 Source: York Consulting survey

LGA support on T Levels and industry placements  

As shown in Table 7.1, two-thirds of the survey respondents indicated that ongoing support from the LGA on T Levels and industry placements would be useful but is not essential. Nine councils said they do not need further support. Most of these nine councils:  

• had either already hosted T Level students or were committed to doing so
• described their understanding of industry placements as either ‘excellent’ or ‘good’
• were less likely to flag barriers as ‘significant’ than the survey sample as a whole. 

By contrast, none of the three councils who said that more support was essential had hosted any T Level students at the time of the research.

Source: York Consulting survey

The survey also explored the types of support that councils would like in the future. Summarised in Table 7.2, there appears to be a demand for locally tailored information and support to help managers engage with young people (see ‘Supervision and mentoring training/guidance’, below). Just under half the councils said that support to help them engage services would be useful and/or that they would like more information about industry placements.

Source: York Consulting survey (multi-response question)

“When different training providers start delivering T Levels, it would be good to have someone advise us of this.”

“Help in liaising with local colleges would be useful.”

The focus groups also explored the issue of further support from the LGA. In addition to the points already made above, three suggestions arose, each of which is explained below.

Networking and knowledge sharing 

Consistently during the focus groups, delegates said they would welcome the opportunity to share experiences, lessons and delivery approaches with other councils. Many are facing the same challenges with industry placements, albeit with local variations, and there is a clear appetite for a forum where these can be discussed. The same applies to effective approaches for engaging services, working with local providers and incorporating industry placements within hybrid working models. 

To some extent this is already happening. The LGA has facilitated some cross-council communication and several of the focus group delegates exchanged contact details at the sessions.  However, a more systematic and larger-scale knowledge sharing mechanism would seem to have great potential and, based on the evidence gathered for this research, is likely to be heavily used. 

“We’ve made really good progress and had 15 students on industry placements, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t made mistakes. We have! We can share those mistakes with other councils and doubtless learn from their experiences too.”

Supervision and mentoring training/guidance

As reported in Section 4. LGA support, the supervision of T Level students is a prominent barrier to the growth of industry placements amongst the councils contributing to the research. In addition to concerns around finding the time for good quality supervision, the focus groups also uncovered anecdotal examples of services being resistant to industry placements on the grounds that staff are not confident or experienced in supervising or mentoring young people. 

Several councils therefore suggested that the LGA and/or its partners might offer training or guidance aimed at those responsible for supervising or mentoring T Level students while on industry placements. 

In practice, resources of this kind already exist: 

• the helping students learn webpage provides advice on setting tasks, monitoring progress and giving feedback
• the managing young people who are new to the workplace webpage provides a range of tips designed to help students and their host teams avoid common challenges
• the effective mentoring for industry placement students webpage explains the mentoring role and how to apply it in the workplace.  

Rather than designing new materials or resources, it may therefore be more appropriate for the LGA and the DfE to consider further promotion of the resources already available.

In-work support from providers

Related to the point above was the suggestion that services may be more willing to engage with industry placements if skills providers offered in-work support to the students. 

This would seem more relevant to students on block placements rather than those on day release. It would also be important not to duplicate or overlap with providers’ existing responsibilities on industry placements, which are to: 

• maintain regular communication with students, obtain their feedback and provide support to them as needed
• maintain regular contact with employers to monitor students’ progress and welfare
• conduct a minimum of three review meetings to discuss students’ progress towards their learning goals.  

However, if additional in-work support could persuade more services to become involved in industry placements, then it would be worth the LGA and its partners considering how it could work in practice.

Conclusions 

This research adds to the evidence base on industry placements in councils in England. It points to a high level of enthusiasm for both T Levels and industry placements amongst those that have contributed to the study. If that enthusiasm is reflected across the wider population of councils, then the potential to significantly grow industry placements in the local government sector appears strong. 

There are, of course, several other factors influencing that growth potential. Local T Level provision varies considerably, as do the relationships that councils have with local providers. It can be far from easy to engage services in industry placements, and even those that are willing to engage are invariably facing a host of other competing priorities. This is unlikely to change and, as such, the adoption of industry placements by councils is likely to be a gradual process rather than a quick one. 

The LGA’s T Level support offer – both through the DfE and Gatsby funding channels – appears to have been well received. It also seems to have been catalytic, evidenced by councils telling the researchers that their progress on industry placements would have been markedly slower had the support not been available. Sample sizes make it difficult to speculate on the demand that exists nationally for that support going forward, but the offer itself appears to the right one, especially if it can be augmented with the suggestions made under ‘Recommendations’, below. 

Recommendations 

When designing a future support offer on T Levels and industry placements, the LGA and its partners are advised to consider the following: 

• Enabling and promoting cross-council networking: councils are very keen to learn from one another’s experiences, especially on engaging services, working with skills providers and managing industry placements. They would welcome a forum or other structured arrangement to help them do that.
• Ongoing promotion of supervision and mentoring guidance/resources: concerns over supervision and mentoring are a barrier to industry placements in some councils. Good quality guidance materials already exist on these topics, but the research suggests that their reach could be wider. Renewed efforts to raise their profile are therefore recommended. 
• In-work support from providers: councils contributing to the research are keen to discuss this in more detail with the LGA. At the time of writing, the researchers had shared details of the councils concerned (with their permission) with the LGA. This dialogue could help frame subsequent discussions with providers, should the LGA wish to pursue any in-work support propositions.