Warwickshire College group to share plans for first T-Level courses

Employers will find out how they can help mould the next generation of digital workers at an online event hosted by a leading college group WCG (formerly Warwickshire College Group).

The live virtual event is being billed as a ‘T-party’ because it will see the college share plans for its first ever T-Level courses.

Digital support service courses will be offered at Royal Leamington Spa College in Warwickshire and from the college’s facility at Malvern Hills Science Park in Worcestershire from September.

T-Levels are new national qualifications that form part of the Government’s flagship reforms to technical education in England. They combine classroom theory and practical learning with industry placements of at least nine weeks to gives students real experience of the workplace.

Courses are equivalent to three A-Levels and have been developed with employers to ensure they meet the needs of the industry and provide students with a clear pathway to entry level skilled roles, a higher apprenticeship, or further study including at university.

Students will gain the essential knowledge and skills they need to work in digital roles, such as understanding data and digital systems, how software and business interact, security, testing, planning and legal issues.

By offering work placements, employers themselves will get early access to new talent and new ideas in the workplace, support the development of their existing employees through mentoring opportunities, improve productivity by getting help with specific projects, and get the opportunity to offer masterclasses at WCG to help shape skills and knowledge of their potential future workforce.

WCG virtual ‘T-party’ takes place on Tuesday, March 23, between 11am-12pm, to talk in more detail to employers across the region about T-Levels and the benefits of being involved.

The event is free to attend, but places must be booked in advance at wcg.ac.uk/tlevelemployers.

Steve Ellis, head of WCG’s business and digital technology department, said: “T-Levels will offer students another avenue into fruitful employment and give employers an opportunity to take an active role in ensuring that they are learning the most appropriate skills to succeed in their careers.

“Employers should see these new qualifications as a way of bringing talented young people into their busines to assess them as a potential employee, as well as benefiting from new ideas that they could bring to help them grow their business.

“We hope to see as many employers as possible from our area join us at our online ‘T-party’ so they can hear first-hand the long-term benefits that these are new qualifications can offer.”

WCG plans to expand its T-Level offer further in 2022 with courses in engineering, construction, and health and social care, and business in 2023.