<p>Hello everyone, my name is Callum Kavanagh, and I am studying the <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/compu… Production Design and development T level (DPDD)</a> at Weston College. I would love to share my experience of my industry placement at <a href="https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/">Lloyds Banking Group</a> and how I managed to get to where I am.</p><drupal-entity data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="ef5a59b3-c683-4294-8b08-453fa2a5dc5b" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{&quot;image_style&quot;:&quot;max_285x285&quot;,&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;image_loading&quot;:{&quot;attribute&quot;:&quot;lazy&quot;}}">&nbsp;</drupal-entity><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>My Journey at Weston College</strong></p><p>Before joining the <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/compu… T Level</a> with Weston College, I completed a level 2 course (due to not having the GCSE qualifications) as a progression route to get to the T Level. This helped to build my confidence and basic computing knowledge and even basic academic skills. With support from my Level 2 course, I then achieved a grade I was happy with and progressed with the necessary qualifications to the <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/compu… Production Design and Development T Level</a>.</p><p>Once I started the T Level I was quickly introduced to the hands-on working experience side of the T Level, with talks of employers and how we will be supported in finding them for the Industry Placement module of our course.</p><p>We got to experience a full process of interviews and questions from employers and those who got accepted by an employer could progress onto the industry placement with them. Our lecturer and careers advisors helped train us for these interviews and build our CVS and interview skills.</p><p><strong>My Role at Lloyds Banking Group</strong></p><p>During my placement at <a href="https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/">Lloyds Banking Group</a>, I worked within a data team. I took part in Data Visualisation and Software Development; the work I was tasked with was part of a large-scale strategic project that had a real impact on the company. I was able to work alongside experts in the field, where I completed a solo project that I was tasked with by <a href="https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/">Lloyds Banking Group</a>. This solo project was directly linked to a real-world project that the team was working on, and I was given the task of creating a program to help the teams efficiency. I later found out the program I made was used and built upon by another member of the team who I worked closely with and is now standard use within the team!</p><p>I managed to learn so much within the industry by working there, getting real experience truly is the best way to learn and grow as a developer. I learnt a variety of skills from programming to accessibility and data visualisation, the learning wasn’t only hard skills for the workplace but also key skills transferable to any situation and daily life. I learnt how to work effectively within a team environment and how to complete presentations to large scale audiences. I was able to complete a presentation about my project to over 100 other professionals during a team’s call and sharing my ideas within the company.</p><p><strong>How I was Supported</strong></p><p>Weston College and <a href="https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/">Lloyds Banking Group</a> were both incredible at providing support within the industry placement. <a href="https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/">Lloyds Banking Group</a> always had team members willing to mentor me and answer any questions I had about my own project or the company itself. Weston College maintained a strong line of communication while I was within <a href="https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/">Lloyds Banking Group,</a> checking everything was going as planned and no changes needed to be made.</p><p>As someone who struggles with ADHD, I had worries about if I would be able to stay focused and complete this course. I worried how I would do within a working environment and how I could manage my problems. However, Weston College provided me with support throughout the placement, which was done primarily by a personal member of the ADHD support team at Weston College who I was able to speak to. This became a regular occurrence, and I now meet with him on a regular basis where I learn to manage my ADHD. I also received support from my tutors as they had an understanding of my situation and were always willing to speak with me if I ever had any problems.</p><p><strong>Standout Moments</strong></p><p>The main standout moment for me was being given the trust to take on a solo project and given time to be by myself and work on that project. Being included within the team and not just given some training made me feel important and wanted by the team. This made my working environment an enjoyable place to be and one I could thrive in.</p><p><strong>Plans Following T Level Completion</strong></p><p>After my Industry Placement with <a href="https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/">Lloyd’s Banking Group</a>, I was able to show them my dedication and desire to work further with them. Because of this, I have been offered an apprenticeship with <a href="https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/">Lloyd’s Banking Group</a> within the same team I worked with during my industry placement.</p><p>My advice to others considering the T Level is – DO IT! The T Level course is an incredible course for not only its level of educational standards, but also the opportunity to work within a company and get real experience, which is worth more than any number of textbooks could teach you. If you have the commitment to get your work done, then you will have so many opportunities with this course and even possibly get a direct link to a future employer like I did to <a href="https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/">Lloyds Banking Group</a>.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(97, 97, 97);font-family:&quot;Hco Gotham&quot;, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:inherit;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:500;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;outline:0px;padding:0px;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><strong style="background-color:transparent;border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:18px;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;">If you are passionate about education and are looking for an opportunity to join the staff team at a leading college, then look at the latest job vacancies available at Weston College </strong></span><a style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(16, 108, 177);font-family:&quot;Hco Gotham&quot;, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:500;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;outline:0px;padding:0px;text-align:start;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;" href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/jobs?utm_source=main-menu&amp;utm_medium=main-…; rel="noreferrer noopener" title="https://www.weston.ac.uk/jobs?utm_source=main-menu&amp;utm_medium=main-…; target="_blank"><span style="background-color:transparent;border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(55, 121, 123);font-size:inherit;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;"><strong style="background-color:transparent;border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:18px;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;">here</strong></span></a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(97, 97, 97);font-family:&quot;Hco Gotham&quot;, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:inherit;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:500;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;outline:0px;padding:0px;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><strong style="background-color:transparent;border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:18px;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;">. You can find all the latest job opportunities that Weston College has to offer, with a commitment to providing quality education for learners and a focus on continuous professional development for staff, Weston College is an excellent place to work and grow in your career.</strong>&nbsp;</span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/t-lev…; rel="noreferrer noopener" title="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/t-lev…; target="_blank">T Levels</a><span style="font-size:inherit;"> are a new and emerging Further Education (FE) qualification that is available to all learners aged 16 to 19. It is the perfect blend of an apprenticeship and classroom study where you can gain a great amount of work experience in a real-life environment. It allows students to get 20% classroom time to broaden their theoretical knowledge, and 80% work placement to gain hands-on experience.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Recently we asked lecturers to nominate a standout student for not only their hard work, but also their attitude and willingness in both the classroom and on placement. One of our Health and Social lecturers, Jazmin Murray, nominated a </span><a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/healt…; rel="noreferrer noopener" title="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/healt…; target="_blank">Health: Supporting Adult Nurse Team T Level</a><span style="font-size:inherit;"> learner, Sophie, for being a fantastic student inside and outside the classroom.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Sophie is not only a dedicated and hard-working student, but she is also a full-time carer in her personal life. Despite the challenges and responsibilities that she faces, she is a very positive and supportive learner to her peers, helping them in any way she can whilst always being eager to learn. On top of this, Sophie is now a peer mentor for new T Level learners to provide support and guidance for new students based on her experiences.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Jaz Murray says, “Despite her huge level of responsibility in and outside of college, Sophie continues to go above and beyond to support her success. What truly sets her apart from other learners is her unwavering commitment, positive mindset and the personal growth she made last year. It has been a pleasure to have Sophie on the T level, and we are excited to see what the future holds for her.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Sophie has been one of the most optimistic, passionate and dedicated learners I have had the pleasure of working with. She also received glowing feedback from her placement about the impact her time there had on the people accessing services.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">She has left such a significant impact on staff and learners and has overcome so much, highlighting the importance of individuals like Sophie within the health sector.”&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">During Sophie’s </span><a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/healt…; rel="noreferrer noopener" title="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/healt…; target="_blank">Health: Supporting Adult Nurse Team T Level</a><span style="font-size:inherit;">, she is currently completing placement at the University Hospitals Bristol and Weston (UHBW) NHS Trust Foundation. During her T Level, Sophie must complete 315 hours of work placement to gain real-world experience and work alongside professionals, providing great networking opportunities. This creates the perfect blend of theoretical knowledge and practical experience to provide the learner with a holistic understanding of the healthcare industry.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Sophie is now in her second year of her T Level, with aspirations of completing a BSc in Midwifery next year.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Well done Sophie for this fantastic nomination and all the hard work you have put in throughout your T Level so far, it has not gone unnoticed.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/healt…; rel="noreferrer noopener" title="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/healt…; target="_blank">If you are interested in applying to Health: Supporting Adult Nurse Team T Level next September, click here.</a><span style="font-size:inherit;">&nbsp;</span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Our T Level learners work incredibly hard balancing their industry placements and classroom studies, but a few select students were nominated by their lecturers on Results Day for going above and beyond and exceeding expectations throughout their first year of their T Level.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">We caught up with one student, Katherine, regarding how she found her first year of Design, Surveying and Planning in Construction T Level, how she balanced her placement and studies, and what she enjoyed and found challenging.&nbsp;</span></p><drupal-entity alt="&quot;Construction T Level learner Katherine&quot;" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="2e989fde-f4fc-4def-8f0e-758d5bd68237" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{&quot;image_style&quot;:&quot;max_500x500&quot;,&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;image_loading&quot;:{&quot;attribute&quot;:&quot;lazy&quot;}}">&nbsp;</drupal-entity><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">During her first year, Katherine learnt many important and transferrable skills in both her placement and in the classroom, including knowledge of legislations and regulations, science building technology and construction maths, design, how to use Revit, and the commercial side to construction. This broadens her knowledge and skillset and means she’s not limited to what she works on during her placement.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Her industry placement for both first and second year is a company called VolkerLaser, where she works on the refurbishment of the Newport Transporter Bridge. Over the 2 years, Katherine will complete a total of 315 hours at her industry placement, with the remaining hours of the T Level spent in the classroom.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Out of all the skills and knowledge she acquired during the classroom section of her first year, Katherine found the Science and Building Technology part the most interesting as she “liked being challenged by the calculations in science”. Overall, however, she found that getting hands-on experience from her industry placement was the most fulfilling and engaging part to the T Level.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">However, Katherine did find some areas more challenging than others, such as the core exams and the employer set projects as these were stressful and required a lot of revision. Not only this, she also found presenting difficult, however this task benefitted her as it allowed her to create a “slightly calmer looking exterior when presenting” and develop her confidence and public speaking skills.&nbsp;</span></p><drupal-entity alt="&quot;Construction T Level classroom&quot;" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="124d6010-4cbb-48c7-a4b8-5b68551e5fe5" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{&quot;image_style&quot;:&quot;max_500x500&quot;,&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;image_loading&quot;:{&quot;attribute&quot;:&quot;lazy&quot;}}">&nbsp;</drupal-entity><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Any problems that Katherine faced, she felt comfortable enough to ask for help. “The staff last year were really encouraging and supportive, if I had a problem, they did their best to help”. She also found that they were very understanding of her commute from South Wales.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Katherine’s lecturers also spoke very highly of her and her performance throughout her first year of her T Level, saying “Katherine has had an extremely brilliant first year at Weston College.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">She has always produced a high standard of work and has good attendance and time keeping, despite having to take two trains to get to college from South Wales.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Her attention to detail is of a very high standard and she is not afraid to ask questions if she doesn't understand something.”&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Many students wonder how to juggle the industry placement and their classroom studies, but Katherine found it a good balance, saying “it's been interesting to see how the classroom work begins to line up with some things I've learned on site”. You get the perfect blend of practical, hands-on experience that will prepare you for work after college but also the additional knowledge and information in the classroom that you may not get taught on the job.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">The facilities available at Weston College are also excellent for Katherine’s Construction T Level, “it's one of the factors that made my family and I decide that Weston College would be the best place for me to study construction”.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">When asked what she would say to someone considering a T Level, she said “I'd advise someone considering a T-Level to look into it carefully, make sure the course covers what you're interested in doing in the future.” Katherine also advised learners to make sure they consider their next steps before applying for a T Level because the curriculum is still fairly new to Further Education.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Once Katherine completes her T Level, she hopes to go onto studying civil engineering either at university or in an apprenticeship.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Good luck in your final year Katherine!&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/t-lev…; rel="noreferrer noopener" title="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/t-lev…; target="_blank">If you would like to study a T Level at Weston College in September, click here.</a><span style="font-size:inherit;">&nbsp;</span></p>