T Level Employer Event outlines placement benefits and how a York College student invented the YorkyPud Sundae!

The unusual (but ultimately imaginary) delicacy was dreamt up by our Leadership & Management student Ellie Tasker and, a little surprisingly, prompted several salivating social media responses – a reaction that has persuaded the Low Petergate business to try it out on their menu next summer!

Ellie came up with the concept after her granddad spoke of his desire to eat a meal with Yorkshire Puddings featuring in all three courses.

She and fellow Leadership & Management student Emma Robinson are on placement with the York Roast Co, where they have been given roles as Digital Content Creators and have done so well that they are now entrusted with posting regularly on the company’s social media platforms, including a Facebook account that showcases their work to more than 68,000 followers.

One of their TikTok videos even attracted more than 38,000 views!

Ellie and Emma’s experiences were among the success stories shared during a T Level Employer Event held in our The Cookery training restaurant, where current employers and placement students shared their views on the value of the qualifications and the placement element with representatives from interested potential future partner companies.

Second-year Digital Software Development students Seth McNaughton, Sam Bradley-Smith and George Munday, who are serving their placements at Dedalus, also revealed that they have all already been offered apprenticeships by the digital healthcare business.

Lucy Crawford, Dominic Procter and Lucy Brown, who are all Leadership & Management students, spoke about their placements, meanwhile, with Network Rail.

On her April 1 plan, Ellie said: “My granddad said he would like a three-course meal with Yorkshire Puddings in all of them. We couldn’t find anywhere that did that, so I did it for him at home.

“I then thought we could use the dessert we did as an April Fool’s Day joke as all the big companies do that now, but we found out on the comments that people actually liked the idea of it!”

Ellie and Emma have been fully involved in The Roast Co’s rebranding of the business and a venture to raise brand awareness of the company’s Chester premises.  

“We are trusted to work independently most of the time, but we can still get the support of staff members if we need it,” Ellie added. “The business has 68,000 followers on Facebook so, to be trusted with putting content on there, has been really nice, because it’s quite a big responsibility.

“I feel a lot more confident now. We have got videos on TikTok that have 40,000 views and they’re normally just of us being numpties!

“I’m really enjoying the placement and it’s given me more of an outlook on what I want to do in the future.”

Emma believes that companies can benefit even more from taking two placement students on at the same time if they have the capacity.

She reasoned: “It’s nice to be on placement with another T Level student. It makes the whole experience less scary at the start and we’ve been able to bounce ideas off each other. We have been given freedom but also support when we needed it.”

The York Roast Co Marketing & Strategy Manager Laura Ramirez also enthused about the impact that Ellie and Emma have had on the workplace and commented on the responsibility the firm felt to provide both students with an environment that has given them valuable experience and a greater insight to future career pathways.

“I really believe in giving this opportunity to students,” Laura declared. “Ellie and Emma came to us with such energy and it has also been beneficial for the business.

“We were only going to have one student on placement but, when they came to the interviews, they were both brilliant, so I thought, ‘You know what, we’ll take two’. We have given them leadership tasks to build their confidence and it’s been really inspiring to see all the creativity they have brought to the business.

“We have learned from them as well and we will be selling that YorkyPud Sundae next summer! If you can support a young person’s passions and help them make decisions about their future, I think you have to do that as a company.”

Dedalus placement student George expressed his delight at already having a progression path in place for when he completes his T Level course next summer and moves on to an apprenticeship with the company, declaring: “It’s great to have those next steps in place for after College.”

Reflecting on the responsibilities he has been given with the company, Seth said: “I’ve been invited to all the meetings where tasks are handed out to me. I work on day-to-day activities alongside the rest of the team, including being given tickets to find bugs and solves issues.” 

Sam added: “The placement has given me new skills like learning how to stress test apps.”

Network Rail Human Resources Business Partner Siobhan Spoor also described how the company had structured their placements and how they adapted certain working practices to reflect the age of the T Level students and the requirements of the Leadership & Management qualification.

She went into detail about the company’s recruitment process and their criteria for an ideal candidate, too. 

Dominic then spoke about the different departments he had worked in, which meant he could make an informed decision on which area of the company he wanted to specialise in.

“I chose the T Level because of the placement,” he pointed out. “I believe that once you have spent time in a work environment it makes you more employable in the future.

“I’ve learnt all about Leadership and Management on the course and then been able to apply that knowledge on placement.”

Lucy Brown added: “It’s been very good for us to be in an environment that can help us decide what career we would like to move into.”

Outlining how the placement has changed her career outlook, Lucy Crawford revealed: “When I started the placement, I thought I wanted to become a Project Manager, but I now know that I want to do an apprenticeship.”

After York College Director of Curriculum for Higher, Technical & Professional Education Jackson Armstrong opened the event by welcoming guests, our Assistant Director of Construction & Engineering Ash Stokes then provided an overview of the T Level educational model.

He said: “We have had really good feedback from employers on how T Levels are setting up students for industry and how they are also making valuable contributions to their businesses. On the Construction and Engineering T Levels, we have a 100% success rate for progression for our students either into Higher Education, a degree apprenticeship, apprenticeship or employment.”

York College Work Placement Team Leader Emily Grimes went on to explain how both large companies and SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) are witnessing the value of offering placements to our 700 T Level students.

Emily gave information on the T Level Employer Support Fund that has been introduced by the Government, too.

Other employers that attended the event were the National Centre for Early Music, York Museums Trust, Wilf Ward Family Trust, Derwent Arms, FAR Accountancy Training, CHY Consultancy, Yorkshire Health Partners, Applefields School, The York Pie Company Ltd, Make It York, Compass Hospitality, Yorkshire Party Company, Minster Home Care, Beal Homes, Dringhouses Primary School, Talkinglens, Electronics Direct, Up For Yorkshire Volunteering Team, Lindum Group, Sensia Global, Medisoft and McClarrons.

York College currently run eight T Level courses in Broadcast, Media & Production (Content Creation & Production); Building Services Engineering for Construction - Electrical Installations; Construction Design, Surveying & Planning; Digital Security & Support; Digital Software Development; Education & Early Years; Health; and Leadership & Management.

That provision will increase to 11 in September 2026 when we will be introducing new courses in Craft & Design – Jewellery Maker; Legal Services; and Marketing.

If you are interested in offering a placement to one of our T Level students, please email placements@yorkcollege.ac.uk

Want to discuss any of our T Level, degree, higher-level, vocational and A Level courses or apprenticeships with our expert team of tutors and check out our state-of-the-art facilities? Then, please come along to our next Open Event. Details on dates can be found here