Industry Placements: The Bridge Between Education and Employment

The interim report from the Curriculum and Assessment Review (CAR), published in March 2025 (DfE 2025), reaffirmed the government’s commitment to T Levels as a flagship technical qualification. With the full report due this autumn, the sector is preparing for further clarity on how qualifications policy will evolve. What is already clear, however, is the centrality of high-quality industry placements in bridging the gap between education and employment.

Supporting Successful Industry Placements

To support successful industry placements, the further education and skills (FE) and skills workforce need to maintain and develop their industrial expertise and dual professionalism. Sustained investment in professional development is essential to support this critical engagement with employers.

Industry placements are at the heart of FE and skills, offering young people not just qualifications but real-world readiness for skilled employment, higher education, or apprenticeships. For providers, the challenge is not simply to secure placements, but to ensure they are high quality, aligned with industry needs, and sustainable for the long term (DfE, 2022).

Effective providers go beyond replicating workplace tasks in the classroom. The real opportunity lies in embedding the culture, behaviours, and expectations of industry into teaching and learning. Approaches such as project-based learning, industry-informed case studies, and simulated environments help learners develop not only technical skills but also the professional behaviours and problem-solving abilities that employers expect (Ofsted, 2023). This helps to close the gap between education and work, making learning applied, meaningful, and directly aligned with employer expectations.

Dual Professionalism

A defining strength of the sector is its commitment to dual professionalism, ensuring that teachers and trainers combine deep industry expertise with high-quality pedagogy. Many T Level educators enter the classroom from industry, bringing invaluable experience and knowledge but often requiring support to develop their teaching practice. Professional recognition routes such as Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) and Advanced Teacher Status (ATS) enable practitioners to demonstrate this blend of expertise formally, reinforcing the professional status of the FE and skills workforce (ETF, 2022).

Employer Engagement

Industry placements succeed or fail on the strength of employer engagement. The most successful partnerships are collaborative, reciprocal, and enduring. Employers benefit by shaping the pipeline of future talent and gaining fresh perspectives from learners, while providers enhance the relevance and authenticity of their teaching. Curriculum co-design, case studies, and networking opportunities all support providers in maintaining these relationships, ensuring placements are not just one-off arrangements but part of a continuing collaboration.

The launch of T Levels marked a significant evolution in how FE and skills providers engage with employers and these relationships continue to strengthen and grow. Meaningful employer engagement and high-quality placements are not only critical for learners’ futures, but also for the skills pipeline that underpins the economy.  

The Curriculum and Assessment Review calls for qualifications that are ambitious, relevant, and inclusive, and recognises the need for flexibility and responsiveness to local and sectoral needs. So the move away from blanket restrictions and towards a more pragmatic, evidence-led approach is a welcome shift, giving providers and learners greater confidence in the long-term stability of the T Level offer.

Structured CPD and opportunities for direct employer engagement are as vital as each other in keeping teaching relevant and up to date.

ETF’s T Level Professional Development (TLPD) programme had over 11,800 engagements from more than 6,300 individuals in 2024–25 alone. This scale of engagement demonstrates the sector’s commitment to making T Levels successful and to building the workforce capacity required to sustain high-quality placements. However, challenges remain: low uptake, difficulties in securing placements, and concerns over cost and popularity compared to other level three qualifications such as BTECs reflect systemic hurdles (NAO 2025).

ETF’s TLPD programme is evolving to meet these new demands. Expanded subject-specific support, tailored resources for schools, and new courses to embed English, maths, and digital skills are helping staff deliver T Levels more effectively. Industry insights placements and employer engagement activities are also enabling staff to stay connected to current workplace practice, ensuring curriculum and assessment remain aligned with industry expectations.

Looking ahead, providers must work together to deepen employer engagement, expand opportunities for staff to gain industry experience, and promote collaboration across the sector. Robust monitoring and evaluation are essential to track impact and inform continuous improvement. With sustained investment in professional development, leadership training, and recognition pathways such as QTLS and ATS, the sector is well placed to deliver T Levels that are responsive, workplace-aligned, and underpinned by lasting employer partnerships.

Ultimately, strong and lasting employer engagement is not only vital for learners’ futures, but also for the wider skills pipeline that supports national economic growth. T Levels are one of the bridges that connects education and employment, ensuring young people are equipped to thrive in the industries of tomorrow.

By Dr Vikki Smith, Executive Director, Education and Standards, Education Training Foundation

References

Department for Education (2025) Curriculum and Assessment Review: Interim Report. London: DfE.

Department for Education (2022) T Levels: next steps for providers. London: DfE.

Education and Training Foundation (2022) Professional Standards for Teachers and Trainers in Further Education and Skills. London: ETF.

Ofsted (2023) T Level thematic review. Manchester: Ofsted.

T Level Support Portal (2024) TLPD reach and engagement data. London: DfE/ETF.

National Audit Office (2025) Investigation in to introducing T Levels. London NAO