Follow our T Level trio on their two-year journey – Part 2
Want to learn more about what it’s like to study a T Level course at York College?
Are you wondering whether the technical-based qualification might be a strong alternative route to A Level study for your first step into Further Education?
Then, hopefully, our T Level Case Study Blog will prove a valuable and informative guide.
We are currently into the fourth year of delivering the two-year qualification, which was introduced in 2020 and combines classroom learning with 315 hours of work placement experience.
It seemed the right time, therefore, to follow the journeys of some of our T Level students from enrolment to their progression beyond Sim Balk Lane.
With that in mind, we will be sitting down at regular intervals with Leadership & Management T Level students Jakub Krzemien, Hope Simpson and Harrison Davis to learn more about the qualification and the opportunities it can provide.
In this latest instalment, we catch up with the students as they prepare to start their work placements and learn more about their classroom tuition, including the Employer Set Project (ESP).
JAKUB KRZEMIEN
On recent course highlights and the developments of his leadership and management skills…
“We’ve been focussing on finance and project management. I enjoyed the finance unit because it’s more practical and we had to do lots of calculations and equations.
“I also feel my leadership and management skills are improving because we’ve been doing more presentations and using (Microsoft) PowerPoint. We’re currently planning a presentation on making a staff room as a wellbeing area.
“We’ve had to figure out the budget and what to put into the lounge and the project will be covered in exams and count a lot towards our final mark.”
On securing a work placement…
“I’ve got a placement with the Department for Education in Leeds, which is close to home for me, so I won’t have to travel into York on a Tuesday. I had two choices I was looking at – one with the Morgan Sindall Group and the other with the Department for Education.
“I pursued the Morgan Sindall possibility by myself, but I also saw a poster for the Department for Education and applied for that and was then offered a placement, so I chose that because it is in Leeds and I’ll be able to put on my CV that I worked as a civil servant.”
On what he is hoping to gain from the placement…
“I will be doing employer advocacy, so I will be connecting employers to the network and enabling them to offer apprenticeships and work placements themselves. I’m looking forward to developing my networking skills.”
HOPE SIMPSON
On her recent course highlights…
“We’ve been doing a lot on finance recently and it does help that we are focussing on it for long periods because it is quite difficult. We’ve learned a lot about spreadsheets and book-keeping, as well as how you keep records of orders and money spent.
“I quite enjoyed book-keeping. Nobody else seemed to, but I don’t mind it because it involves a bit of maths and I quite like maths. I’ve also always been quite organised and that helps with book-keeping.”
On how her leadership and management skills are growing…
“I feel I am using the leadership and management skills we are being shown more at work now. I work as a waitress for my parents’ business and, when work knew what I was doing on the course, they have given me more jobs and responsibility, which has been really helpful in terms of my development.
“I’m involved a lot more in terms of communicating with customers and am now in charge of the other waitresses and guide them in terms of what to do, where to go and who to speak to.”
On securing a work placement…
“My placement has been sorted. I’m doing it with Samuel Grant Packaging and will be working in all the different areas, like marketing, HR (Human Resources) and finance.
“It will pretty much be a bit of everything. It’s based in Leeds and I’ll be doing 8am-4pm every Tuesday.
“The manager plays golf where I work and my Dad is quite good friends with him. He said he’d be happy to take me on so, after that, I emailed them, spoke with them and signed all the agreements needed.”
On what she is hoping to gain from the placement…
“I feel it will definitely build my confidence more and I’m also looking forward to seeing the ins and outs of a company. We learn about that at College but I think it’s better to visually see it for yourself.”
HARRISON DAVIS
On his recent course highlights…
“We’ve been doing a lot on finance and I’ve really enjoyed that, because we’re obviously learning about it, but also putting it into practice with cash forecasts, income statements, book-keeping and ledgers. We’ve also been looking at our Employer Set Project (ESP) and project planning.
“Within lessons, we’ve been given theoretical scenarios involving weddings and birthdays and we’ve now been given the task of overseeing a project to create a staff room area for employees who are stressed out. We’ve been given a budget and have to work within that.”
On securing a work placement…
“I’ve agreed a placement. Neil, who deals with College placements, put something on (Microsoft) Teams that I saw and liked, so he then sent my CV over.
“They liked my CV and he told me when and where to go for the interview. They interviewed me and liked me, so I’m just at the stage of getting everything confirmed now.”
On what he is hoping to gain from the placement…
“It’s with the McArthurGlen Outlet in York. I’ll be seeing the overall operations of the outlet and how everything works. They obviously don’t just manage the multiple individual stores – they also manage the food court and different venues in the building, so it will be nice to see how that is done behind the scenes. I feel lucky to get this opportunity and I’m really looking forward to it.”
On how his leadership and management skills are growing…
“When we’re doing the ESPs, we get put in different groups and, not all the time but sometimes, you need to take charge and designate roles and talk about different methods that can be used that we have learned about.”
To read Part 1 of the students' T Level journey, please click here
For more information on T Level and Vocational courses at York College & University Centre, please click here
To learn more about the T Level Leadership and Management course, please click here
You can also discuss our T Level provision with tutors at the next Open Event on Tuesday 19th March (5.30pm-8pm). Register a place by clicking here
