There are lots of resources available! Here is what has worked best for me.

1. Complete the ETF online course parts 1 & 2 -Teaching and Learning on the Management and Administration T Level Part 1 (TLPDRR246) 

2. Take time to familiarise yourself with resources available - find your tribe. You will need to invest time to do this.

3. Study the Assessment Guide for those core exams from City and Guilds

4. Apply to the ETF mentoring programme

5. Make the most of your ETF relationship lead, they can often bring everyone together in your own establishment!

• TIME TIME TIME - Not only is this a new qualification, it is also a completely new way of working. You need time and space to digest all of the resources available to you. If not you will be chasing your tail for the first two years - speaking from experience. 

Ideas of how to address this challenge - Ask for 20 hours minimum preparation time, use this time to do the training courses on ETF, City and Guilds and AOC. You also need time to plan your spending if there is money still available to set up the course, interactive TVs, chrome books, textbooks, trips have all enhanced our student experience. We did not get any time and it was hard. Other colleges have found the time. Use your other T Level lecturers to help organise this.

• Infrastructure and Resources: Your college or school needs to ensure they have the right resources, from qualified staff to up-to-date facilities that support both the academic and practical components of the course. Work placements are a key part of T Levels, and establishing strong relationships with employers to provide meaningful placements can be challenging.
  
  Ideas of how to address the challenge - Having a T level lead for all T Levels in your establishment will definitely help with this and is something that is strongly recommended.  A teams chat works well for communicating with fellow T Level peers. The students will all need access to a computer, so we found having a dedicated room(s) for the qualification helps massively, invest in good chairs! If you have an apprenticeship team make friends with them to help source placements. Ensure you have someone within your existing placement / work experience team that is allocated to your course to help source and maintain the placements. 

• Curriculum Understanding: The qualification is only in year 3, so we are all still learning.  The tricky bit here is understanding how to embed its content effectively alongside the academic and practical components which can be a learning curve. 

Ideas of how to address the challenge - Familiarise yourself with the specification, print it out and get it spiral bound you will be using it a lot! For year one the text book can help understand the amount of time needed per unit for the scheme of work. It can be helpful to number all the "learners need to learn" sections. This makes it easier for the students to understand what and why you are teaching parts of the syllabus.

• Timetabling and Work Placements: Structuring the course to balance classroom learning with real-world work placements can be tricky, especially in the first year of delivery. Coordinating placements that meet the course requirements, while ensuring a smooth transition for students between learning and work, is a complex task

Ideas of how to address the challenge - Students need the first term to adjust to the qualification and some may not be ready for employment before Christmas in year one. We have found trying to get them out one day a week from January is a good target, with a view to stopping during the ESP assessment period. Picking it up again before the exams and then again afterwards with some bulk days up to the summer holidays. In year 2 they could continue their one day from September and if allowed, work during the holidays.

Other colleges will do it differently, you just have to embrace the autonomy of making your own choices and what works for you.

• Familiarity with the T Level Structure: Unlike traditional qualifications, T Levels have a much stronger vocational focus, with work placements forming a core part of the learning. For a lecturer, understanding how to integrate the academic content with the practical, workplace-focused elements may require a shift in teaching style.

Ideas of how to address the challenge - A level teachers will be familiar with 30% of the T Level as it is exam based, the remaining 70% requires a very different approach.  BTEC experienced teachers will adapt to it in a different way. And if you can combine this with a member of your teaching staff with industry experience you would have a strong team! My advice is use local employers to deliver workshops and lectures as much as you can!

• Assessment and Feedback: The mix of formal assessments, practical work, and projects may differ from what lecturers are used to. Become familiar with the detailed assessment criteria and ensure that feedback helps students meet these standards while preparing them for the workplace.

Ideas of how to address the challenge - We learnt this the hard way! And as a result we have a lesson a week focused on the ESP ie going through a previous year versions, this starts from week one. With a mini assessment at the end of the task. We have also introduced exam questions right from the beginning too. 

• Supporting Diverse Student Needs: T Level students may come with different expectations or learning needs compared to those in more academic qualifications. Lecturers will need to be prepared to adapt their teaching methods to support students with varying levels of understanding, balancing academic rigour with practical skills development.

Ideas of how to address the challenge - The extreme range of the ability of the students can be difficult, some will qualify with 4s in English and Maths, whilst others may arrive with 7/8s. Some establishments have a minimum entry requirement of 5s, this would be ideal but often funding and number pressure does not allow this. It is worth remembering this as well when your results are compared against the national average, different colleges have different entry requirements!

There are Government backed training courses, and independent businesses providing resources.  You just need to make the time to look at it all.... its not easy. Have a look here.

Year One

• Student friendly scheme of work is based on a 23 hour timetable of which 17 hours are delivered content, 1 hr tutorial and 5 hours directed learning.  

• Gantt Chart summarising the year plan 24_25 - see below

Year two 

• Documents to follow.