The employer engagement offer for T Level providers
Employer engagement is central to successful T Level delivery. By working closely with employers, providers can shape the curriculum, bring industry insights into the classroom and offer high-quality industry placements that equip students with real-world skills.
We work with the Department for Education (DfE) to design and deliver professional development that helps providers strengthen employer engagement and industry placement activity. Our support helps colleges, schools and training providers build lasting employer relationships and develop sustainable, high-impact approaches.
Our employer engagement offer includes:
- Practical tools and resources to support your team
- Professional development masterclasses for employer engagement staff (coming soon)
- A LinkedIn forum connecting colleagues across the T Level community
Professional Development – Summer Series
These sessions draw on practical approaches, resources and insights gathered through our work with providers, employers and the T Level Co-Lab networks. They are designed to support colleagues involved in employer engagement, industry placement planning and delivery with takeaway ideas, tools and approaches that can be applied in day-to-day practice.
Each session will be practical and focused with an emphasis on building employer confidence, improving placement quality and supporting better outcomes for students.
Updated DfE industry placement guidance – What it means for T Level providers
Following the publication of the revised DfE industry placement guidance, this masterclass will support providers to design placements that are both compliant and effective in practice.
- what has changed in the updated guidance
- what providers can now do more confidently within the new delivery framework
- the delivery approaches now set out in the guidance, including multiple employers, remote hours, small team projects and skills hubs
- why industry placement planning needs to be embedded within curriculum delivery, student preparation and employer partnership work
- what the changes mean for high-quality, sustainable industry placement delivery
Webinar: 2nd June, 10am – 11am – Find out more and book your place here
Employer engagement: what employers tell us and practical tools for placements
This masterclass brings together key insights from employers and providers alongside a suite of practical resources developed through the T Level Co-Lab networks.
- what builds employer confidence and what leads to hesitation or drop-off
- how employers experience industry placements in practice
- what makes placements more meaningful for both employers and students
We’ll also share practical tools to support employer engagement, including
- the employer engagement conversation toolkit
- employer-facing brochures and role-specific annexes
- approaches to building confidence and sustaining employer relationships
Masterclass: 1st July, 10am – 12pm – Find out more and book your place here
LinkedIn skills and techniques for employer engagement
This practical masterclass will support employer engagement colleagues to use LinkedIn more effectively to identify contacts, build relationships, raise awareness of T Levels and generate new placement opportunities.
- build a strong professional presence
- understand a little about the algorithm
- find and connect with the right employers and key decision makers
- share content that engages and builds credibility
Masterclass: 9th July, 2:30pm – 4 pm – Find out more and book your place here
Student readiness and preparation for industry placements
This masterclass will introduce a suite of practical resources developed through the T Level Co-Lab networks to support student readiness and preparation for industry placements.
- what effective student preparation looks like in practice
- tools and approaches to build confidence, behaviours and expectations
- resources to support students, parents/carers and providers
- how readiness links to successful placements and employer confidence
Masterclass: 16th July, 10am – 12pm – Find out more and book your place here
Practical tools and resources to support your team
Practical tools and resources have been developed to help T Level providers plan, design and deliver effective employer engagement and industry placements.
All materials are hosted by the Department for Education on the T Levels: Support for Schools and Colleges website, which includes resources from SDN and other organisations.
Tools and resources are available to support you with:
Internal preparation: strategy, roles, capacity, stakeholder alignment, systems.
Employer sourcing: mapping, networks, outreach, market scanning.
Employer engagement and relationship building: intro conversations, capability discussions, trust building, co-visioning.
Placement design and setup: co-design, tasks, learning goals and objectives, logistics, roles, agreements.
Placement management and review: live delivery, support, monitoring, feedback, recognition.
The resources are all available here, on the T Levels Support for Schools and Colleges website. However, with so many resources available to you, it can be a bit daunting to find what you’re looking for. We have done the hard work for you with this PDF navigation tool. Each resource tile in this PDF links directly to the document.
Virtual employer engagement forum and community
Be part of a thriving space for staff to connect, collaborate, and succeed in securing exceptional T Level industry placements. This community supports you in planning and embedding employer engagement activities, driving impact from strategy to delivery and shaping the curriculum through feedback.
- Connect: Network with like-minded providers.
- Learn: Gain insights from sector experts.
- Thrive: Access top tips, tools, and resources.
Follow us, share your success stories, and let’s continue creating meaningful opportunities for T Level students!
Join the LinkedIn Employer Engagement Forum here