In April, the University of Warwick began piloting T-Level student industrial placements. This Institution is among the first in the country to host such a scheme. Paul Johnson and Zac Parkinson, Technical Managers at Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), engaged with Warwickshire College Group and set up a T-Level placement programme to sit alongside their current technical apprenticeship programme.

The four young people that are completing their T-Level in Design and Development for Engineering and Manufacturing are Oliver Murray, Millie Read, Bailey Murphy and Dan Piggott. These four young technicians attend Warwickshire College to pursue this level 3, 2-year qualification. To complete their studies, they need to attend an industry placement for a minimum of 315 hours. Therefore, they will be working with the WMG Technical Services Team every Wednesday during term time.

Paul Johnson, WMG Technical Services Manager said: ‘The Departments of Educations approach to technical qualifications is changing. The desire to have a more streamlined and effective post 16 level three qualification is central to that change. This City and Guilds qualification, supported by strong industrial placements allows learners to get a real understanding of what will be required in the workplace and compliment well their theoretical learning to enable successful qualification award. WMG and the University of Warwick want to be at the forefront of this journey for young technicians, which can only help develop a strong talent pipeline.’ 

In 2017 The University of Warwick, was among the founding signatories of the Technician Commitment. This sector-wide initiative aimed to ensure visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for technicians working in higher education.

At The University of Warwick, as part of our Technician Commitment action plan we highlighted the need for enhanced ‘recruitment, progression and enhancing the skills for the technical community’.

In the recent launch of the TALENT Commission report,¹ which gathered new strategic insights into the UK’s technical workforce in higher education and research, one of the recommendations to employers of technical staff was:

Employers of technical staff should broaden access to technical careers in the sector by utilising and expanding entry routes to include both vocational and academic pathways. We urge employers to invest in apprenticeship and trainee technician programmes, and to host work placement schemes for technical qualifications where possible (e.g. T-level placements in England). We encourage funders to support and facilitate investment in new generations of technicians through the creation of funding opportunities to support technical traineeships.

Dr Ian Hancox, Director of Research Technology and Technical Strategy at the University of Warwick commented: ‘It is fantastic that Paul and Zac are taking the lead on developing the opportunities for T-Level students and showcasing to them the vital contribution that the technical staff at the University of Warwick make to world class research and industry innovation. The technical talent pipeline will be increasingly important to underpinning our activities into the future, and T-Levels are a key component to this.’

 ¹ https://www.mitalent.ac.uk/theTALENTcommission (accessed 27/04/2023)