ISG shows support for T Levels at North Kent College
Education engagement at the top of the agenda at North Kent College’s Gravesend campus as TeamISG attends T Level information evening.
As part of a drive to attract more people into our industry, education engagement manager, Karen Vigar, was joined by apprentice quantity surveyor, Alex McCarthy, social value graduate, Rowan Evenden, and social value advisor, Georgia Ward, at the North Kent College T Level Information Evening.
What are T Levels?
T Levels are new courses that follow GCSEs and are equivalent to three A Levels. Each course lasts for two years and they have been developed in collaboration with employers and are designed to be the gold standard technical option for young people aged 16-19. The aim is for them to meet the needs of industry and prepare students for work, future training, or study.
T Levels offer students a mixture of classroom learning and ‘on-the-job’ experience during an industry placement of at least 315 hours (approximately 45 days). They launched in September 2020.
Our team, featuring representatives from our Early Careers programmes, were keen to support the North Kent College event as an opportunity to pass on their experiences; offering insight into the different career pathways that young people who are completing their GCSEs could take.
Alex, Georgia, and Rowan had gone through similar pathways themselves as they had joined ISG as either an apprentice, a graduate, a placement student or via non-traditional industry routes and were able to talk about their journeys and answer any questions the students had.
Companies from across a range of industries attended the event with representatives speaking to potential students and parents on T Levels, entry points into industry and careers in general.
Nikki Franks, Assistant Principal for Construction and Engineering at North Kent College said: “We recognise and are encouraged by the support offered to us by ISG, both in helping applicants to see some of the opportunities available within the diverse and challenging world of construction and in supporting us, as a college, to spread the message about the incredible opportunities that T Levels represent for young people. T Levels give our students the chance to gain access to employment and real, work-based experience at the same time”.
“As we continue to work to ensure the best possible educational experience for our learners, we look forward to continuing our relationship with ISG to try to give those learners the best possible opportunities in their progression.”
Nikki Franks, Assistant Principal for Construction and Engineering, North Kent College
An important route into the industry
Education Engagement Manager, Karen Vigar said of the event: “The skills shortage that we are seeing within the built environment and wider afield, as was publicised in the UK in 2021, has been an ever-present challenge and to tackle this, we need to change the perception of the industry, to be vibrant, tech-led and forward-thinking.”
Karen continued: “T Levels are a very important route into industry and one which ISG is keen to support. We are working alongside other local companies to support and mentor students throughout their T Level course and to give students experience in the workplace where possible, which gives us early sight of the new talent in our industry.
We hope to inspire young people to join the Built Environment and to attract new talent into our Early Careers pathways and where they can gain valuable experience on our projects.”
To find out more about the T Levels available at North Kent College click here - https://www.northkent.ac.uk/about-us/t-levels
To find out more about our Early Careers programme click here -
