Shipley MP Philip Davies recently visited our College to meet with Staff and Digital T Level Students. 

T Levels are an exciting new qualification that have been designed with leading businesses to give school leavers the practical skills and experience employers are looking for. They are two-year courses, equivalent to 3 A-Levels, with a combination of classroom studies and a 45-day industry placement. Shipley College is proud to have been one of the first Colleges to launch this back in 2020.

 Four of our T Level students are currently on a remote placement with local company BTL Group Ltd. BTL is a global technology company, whose main focus is developing an assessment platform that is used by schools, universities and organisations across the world to deliver on-screen tests.

During the pandemic, staff at BTL Group Ltd have been working remotely and our students have been given the same experience, working from home to complete tasks and join online meetings. They spoke to Mr Davies about how much they valued their placements and their experience of the world of work in a digital company despite working remotely. 

Unfortunately, virtual placements do not currently count toward their qualification, only physical ones. Mr Davies recognised the benefits of virtual placements both in the current climate and with regards to the digital industry as a whole. 

Part of the visit also included meeting with local sales company ACS, who work closely with the College to employ customer service and business apprentices. He met former apprentice, now full-time employee, Krzysztof who spoke of how the apprenticeship helped him grow in confidence and has now built up his very own client base that he is proud of. 

Employers Leon and Sacha, from ACS, were very about how apprenticeships have supported their business to grow and how they have helped young people to develop into valued employees. They are currently recruiting and say “We’re not looking for the finished article - you’re here to learn. Just get 1% better every day.” Apply here. 

Mr Davies also continued the discussion around the positive impact of apprenticeships, remote learning and placements with one of our apprentices from the L5 apprenticeship in Leadership and Management for Adult Care, a teacher who qualified through the apprenticeship route at the College, and a school administrator who completed their Level 3 apprenticeship in Business Administration at Shipley College.

We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who took part in the visit, for Mr Davies for taking the time to visit us, for all the companies involved, and BTL Group for taking on our T Level students and giving them the opportunity they deserve in an unusual circumstance.