Industry Insights

Industry Insights provide teachers, trainers, business support staff, operational middle leaders and managers with the opportunity to undertake staff placements in industry.

This includes work shadowing (one day) and more immersive workplace placements (two to five days), to raise awareness of current industry practices. Remission is available to enable participation.

Industry Insights placements aim to:

• update participants’ professional practice in terms of their knowledge of industry sectors and occupations and to enable participants to identify the knowledge, skills, behaviours and occupational competencies that employers would want T Level learners to develop
• embed latest industry practice and principles into learning activities
• provide hands-on industry experience for staff
• develop relationships with employers.

Industry Insights has three distinct components:

• Placements and workplace shadowing:
  • One day work shadowing, which encompasses visiting a workplace, observing industry colleagues in their day-to-day roles, opportunities to ask questions and engage with current industry experts.
  • Two-to-five day placements, which include practical experience as well as observation and interaction. Participants will be encouraged to undertake tasks and activities as agreed with the employer.
• Industry workshops: An opportunity for participants to meet as a group with an employer or specialist from particular industries, to receive updates, demonstrations or Q&A sessions. These will be relatively short, “bitesize” events lasting from 45 minutes to two hours and will normally be held virtually in order to maximise engagement and participation.
• Online course: ‘Employer Partnerships and Industry Insights’ is an online course delivered over four weeks, with six hours of guided learning. This will enable staff to assess their understanding of their industry and is a prerequisite to undertaking a placement.

How to apply

Work placements and work shadowing applications can be made through the Booking System (see below for further information).

Industry workshops will be available to book from 12 October via the online booking system. The Employer Partnerships and Industry Insights online course will also be available from 12 October.

Further information about applying for work placements and work shadowing

The online application process is managed by the ETF’s Regional Engagement Team, who will be able to provide support to participants with their applications. T Level staff are welcome to source their own placements, based on the strong relationships which might already exist with their local employers. However, if you need additional support, please indicate this when applying.

In order to enable providers and staff to plan ahead, applications can be made for any point in the academic year. Please see the table below for further details.

All T Level teachers are strongly encouraged to complete the Individual Training Needs Analysis, which will be available from 12 October. The analysis will help you identify any skills and knowledge gaps and direct you to relevant CPD, including networks, events, workshops, online courses and more. The ETF has a team of Regional Facilitators across England specifically to support each T Level provider as a single point of contact where required.  

All T Level Professional Development is offered at no charge.