T Level results day celebrates academic achievement. It also marks something less visible: the time students spend in workplaces, applying what they've learned and finding out where their skills could take them.
Construction has stretching ambitions to deliver new homes, schools, hospitals and infrastructure while supporting the transition to a lower-carbon economy. Meeting them requires thousands of new people across a growing range of careers, from site management and building services to design, commercial management, digital technology and sustainability.
That workforce doesn’t start on site. It starts with young people getting the chance to experience the industry, understand the careers on offer and connect their learning to a credible next step.
That is why Willmott Dixon invests time and expertise in working with schools and colleges to deliver meaningful T Level placements.
A sharper focus on skills
The government's new Social Value Model, set out in PPN 026, brings a stronger focus on good jobs, skills and opportunities in local communities. It recognises training, work placements, apprenticeships and other educational opportunities as ways to address skills shortages and build future talent pipelines. Supporting guidance is still to follow, but these themes already reflect work taking place between employers, colleges and students.
T Level industry placements give students the chance to understand how workplaces operate, apply technical knowledge and explore where they might fit. They also give employers the chance to meet emerging talent and build stronger relationships with education providers.
A placement only works if it's structured, with professional input and real responsibility attached; it’s about more than simply the hours a student logs on site.
Seeing the breadth of construction
Construction can be hard to understand from outside the industry. A well-designed placement opens that view, showing students how varied roles such as design, surveying, cost planning, digital technology, sustainability and site delivery fit together.
At Willmott Dixon, this goes beyond one-to-one placements. Students take part through individual, office-based and college-based programmes, as well as employer-led projects. These support pathways spanning construction, building services, management, digital technology and marketing.
Students have progressed into apprenticeships, management trainee roles and degree apprenticeships across areas including site management, design and new business. Construction needs that breadth of talent.
We have worked with Exeter College since it introduced its Design, Surveying and Planning T Level in 2020. Two students have since progressed into degree apprenticeships with Willmott Dixon.
For Charli Woolacott, the T Level course suited the way she learned and gave her a chance to explore what she wanted from a career. Her placement with Willmott Dixon confirmed that she enjoyed working in a live environment and seeing physical progress on site. Charli achieved full marks in her health, safety and environment test, gained her CSCS card and has since joined Nevada Construction as an apprentice site manager.
Growing through responsibility
Dennis Mihai joined the team delivering Airfield Primary Academy in Weston-super-Mare while completing his T Level at Weston College. By his own admission, he arrived nervous. The team introduced him properly, explained what was expected and gave him time to settle. As his confidence grew, so did his responsibility. Dennis went on to run weekly health and safety inspections.
"My biggest highlight was seeing the progress of the project and knowing I had contributed to it," he said.
Seeing procedures applied on site also helped him understand his coursework. By the end of the placement, Dennis had confirmed that he wanted a career in site management.
Tutors tell us they notice this too. Oaklands College in St Albans has seen students bring real examples from their placements into classroom discussions, adding depth to their learning while developing greater confidence and professionalism.
Collaboration before placement
Students should not be expected to arrive fully prepared, and project teams should not have to build an effective experience from scratch. Our Building the Brief programme, developed with Activate Learning, connects curriculum learning with industry practice before students enter the workplace.
Tutors and Willmott Dixon specialists co-designed the five-month programme around a realistic construction brief. Students explore design, cost planning, health and safety, risk and marketing before developing integrated proposals and presenting them to employers. The programme prepares students for future placements while giving employers an early view of their skills.
At City of Oxford College, seven of the 15 students in the first cohort went on to secure placements with contractors who attended their final presentations. It is a practical example of education and industry working together to turn learning into opportunity.
Building the workforce earlier
There's no single successful destination for a T Level student. An apprenticeship, employment, university or a well-informed change of direction can all represent progress.
Construction cannot meet its workforce needs through existing recruitment channels alone. It requires sustained college partnerships, flexible delivery models and employers willing to give young people meaningful experience, constructive feedback and visible routes into the industry.
Done well, T Level placements offer more than time in a workplace. They give students insight, responsibility and a credible next step into a growth sector where their skills are needed.