Sally Green, City & Guilds
T Levels have developed over the last 12 months, and we need more industry experts like you.
By nature, the land-based sector is diverse and offers a variety of exciting opportunities and career paths to choose from. In recent times, the sector has seen shortages in the workforce, in part due to the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit. However, with the right training and education, there’s an opportunity to fill the gap in skills and the workforce.
T Levels are an exciting development for 16–19 vocational education. Due to launch in September 2023 and delivered over a two-year period, T Levels are the new generation of full-time vocational qualifications, deemed the new gold-standard curriculum in technical education.
They bring classroom learning and an extended industry placement together, to provide a combination of technical knowledge and practical skills that are specific to a chosen industry or occupation. Learners undertake an industry placement of 45 days in their chosen industry or occupation.
This September the Technical Qualification in Agriculture, Land Management and Production for the T Level in Agriculture, Environmental and Animal Care will be going live. It includes trees and woodlands as an Occupational Specialism.
Since development of the Technical Qualifications (TQs) started back in October 2021, employers, industry bodies and technical experts across the land-based sector have provided invaluable support and feedback. We need employers to continue to be involved in the TQs, in a number of roles from validating live assessments to being a member of the T Level Employer Strategy Group. We would like to hear from employers and people working in industry across the trees and woodland Occupational Specialism, including:
- arborists
- foresters
- tree and vegetation maintenance contractors
Why should you get involved?
You’ll be helping to create the workforce of the future. As outlined in our Great Jobs report, many of the UK’s essential industries are understaffed. Many employers in general are unable to fill vacancies due to a lack of skills. As T Levels bring training in line with the needs of industry, these qualifications will go some way to filling that gap.
By providing feedback on the content of the qualifications and assessments you’re helping to ensure training is in line with industry needs, making sure current industry practices are accurately reflected so employers, such as yourself, can be confident that learners are equipped with the right knowledge and skills when they enter work in the sector.
If you are interested in finding out more, please contact Sally Green, Industry Manager for Landbased Services (T Levels) at sally.green@cityandguilds.com.
Further information
www.cityandguilds.com/tlevels
Technical Qualification in Agriculture, Environment and Animal Care: www.cityandguilds.com/tlevels/land-based
This article was taken from Issue 201 Summer 2023 of the ARB Magazine, which is available to view free to members by simply logging in to the website and viewing your profile area.