I consider myself lucky to go to work each day and have the opportunity to support the next generation of inspirational young people looking to enter our industry. As we mark T Levels Week, it’s right to acknowledge how, even in their infancy, this new qualification is already helping to broaden access to rewarding and well-paid jobs.
It’s well known that financial services is an attractive and highly sought-after career option for many. However, pathways into the sector are not always accessible for all, which is why supporting T Levels is such an important venture.
Lloyds has been proud to support T Levels since 2022, when we offered our first six industry placements. Though at first there was some apprehension internally about providing T Level industry placements, for example around safeguarding responsibilities for young people, any concerns we had were quickly allayed, and we’ve worked closely with our college partners to design our placements so that students feel supported all the way through their journey.
Our support for T Levels has since grown to offering 70 placements in 2023 and over 100 this year. As well as helping us recruit from a wider pool of talent, supporting T Levels is also helping us welcome more people from diverse backgrounds into the sector. Sixty per cent of those undertaking a placement with us come from Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic backgrounds.
As well as providing great opportunities for students, their work with us has also delivered real benefits to the business. The T Level students working with us have for example helped to design new web pages, create new dashboards and even develop a chatbot that is still in use today. We’ve even been recognised externally by winning T Level employer of the year at the National Apprenticeship and Skills Awards.
Above all else, providing industry placements has helped us create a real affinity with the next generation of those interested in working in financial services in the communities where we operate.
The access to talent placements provide is at the heart of our recruitment strategy
I am proud of the fact that we have offered an apprenticeship role to half of those who have undertaken an industry placement with us and completed their T Level. The access to talent that hosting T Level placements provides is now at the heart of our recruitment strategy.
As we look back on the success of the placements since 2022 and the benefits these have delivered, we have two key priorities during this year’s T Levels Week.
First, we will be using our own social media channels to share as many stories as possible of those who have completed their placement with us, to show other young people that this could be an opportunity for them in years to come.
Second, and reflecting the fact that parents are key to informing their children’s post-16 education choices, we will be hosting a series of webinars with our college partners to showcase to parents and guardians what T Levels are, how they could provide a pathway into employment for their child, and the industry placements offered by Lloyds.
Alongside the efforts of fellow T Level advocates, we hope that this will open the eyes of even more people to the benefits that studying this game-changing qualification can offer.
So my message to fellow employers in financial services this T Levels Week is a simple one: if you’re considering offering a T Level placement, don’t wait any longer before taking the plunge.
There may be some initial challenges, but the benefits both to the young people you work with and to your organisation will be significant. And as Lloyds’s experience shows, aall of this can be realised in just a short period of time.
The T Level is being offered as an alternative to BTECs.
There are over 200,000 students doing BTECs.
While 100 placements is great it is a drop in the ocean. For T levels to replace BTECs as was planned then banks like Lloyds would need to be taking on a 1000 students a year every year.
This is the big issue with T levels their most attractive feature of work experience, cannot be delivered without a massive increase in employer involvement and most companies are geared around making money rather than training up individuals who could go for jobs with their competitors.
Rather than go for something new, lets stick with something that works. BTECs to provide the base knowledge and apprenticeships to provide the specific skills required by a sector and leading to a job.