Introduction
This toolkit has been developed to support health and care employers in delivering high-quality T Level industry placements. These placements are a vital component of T Level qualifications, giving students meaningful, hands-on experience in real health and care settings. By participating, employers play a crucial role in shaping the future workforce and helping students gain the practical skills and confidence they need to succeed in their careers.
Building on existing best practice and lessons learned, this toolkit offers easy-to-follow steps, templates, and tips designed to make the process straightforward and rewarding for everyone involved.
The toolkit is intended for the whole health and care employers as well being useful for education providers looking to strengthen collaboration with employers.
This resource was developed by a working group of members of the Integrated Care System (ICS) Industry Placement Network, which is facilitated by the Department for Education (DfE), Gatsby Charitable Foundation and NHS Employers.
* This toolkit and the template documents within it are provided for download and adaptation by organisations to use in their own workplaces and contexts. Full copyright information is outlined at the end of this resource.
For every £1 invested in supporting T Level placements, employers can expect a £1.81 return through reduced induction, recruitment, retention and temporary staffing costs. This does not include any added benefit that the student brings themselves whilst on placement.
Key elements of industry placement networks
High-quality industry placements will have:
Agreed objectives and criteria
Educational outcomes that meet employer needs ensure that classroom learning prepares students for work in the health and care sectors. The education provider and employer agreeing on specific objectives for the industry placement means that both the student and the placement team understand what the student needs to achieve. Clear criteria for what the industry placement will include and suggestions for activities mean that both parties know how it will be achieved.
Strong collaboration between education and healthcare providers
Students, education providers and the employers hosting industry placements need to understand what is expected of them. This starts with the T Level provider and the employer building a strong partnership. The industry placement agreement supports both organisations to do this.
On-placement support for students
Creating a supportive environment means students feel comfortable to ask questions and seek guidance. Supervision and mentorship make sure that every student is supported and encouraged to actively engage in the delivery of patient care, which is the crucial hands-on experience that enables their learning. Supervision also means they can experience a diverse range of cases and clinical settings; this broadens learning and helps them adapt to different situations.
Regular evaluation and constructive feedback
Industry placements include regular feedback meetings at identified points during the placement to enable continuous improvement. Mentors play a big role in these meetings and the student–mentor relationship is key to the success of industry placements. Mentors guide a student’s learning and support them to understand what progress they have made and what they need to work on.
For staff who want to take on this role, there is support for industry placement mentors.
Below are some questions to help mentors guide feedback sessions:
Download questions (PDF).
Adherence to health and safety regulations and industry standards
Work taster activities can be designed with the employer to highlight workplace regulations and industry standards, such as infection prevention and control, uniform requirements and mobile phone usage. The employer’s governance structure must also support hosting T Level students on industry placement, so it should consider updating or putting in place a young person policy, work experience policy and risk assessments to include T Level industry placements.
Discover top tips and additional elements that make a standout T Level industry placement through insights from NHS organisations recognised in the National Apprenticeship and Skills Awards. From introducing refresher inductions in the second year to offering a weekly reflection space for students to develop their learning, the finalists share practical approaches that other employers can adapt.
Quality assurance resources
Using a student checklist helps assure the quality of the industry placement. The checklist template below sets out the tasks students can carry out in a clinical setting under supervision. They align with the Health T Level specification and are actual examples of what students are already doing in health and care organisations. The checklist also has space for the supervisor/mentor feedback and for students to reflect on the tasks.
Download student checklist (Word).
The assessment of student employability skills focuses on the soft skills students need to develop and it provides mentors and supervisors with a framework for giving constructive feedback to students, using criteria set by the Education and Skills Funding Agency.
Monitoring quality
It is important that every element of the industry placement continues to meet the expectations of the student, the employer and the education provider. To monitor this, it is essential to use feedback loops with those involved (student, mentor, supervisor). For example, gathering feedback from students to improve the experience for future cohorts can be done by asking two questions:
- What went well?
- What could have made the experience better?
The feedback should be reviewed to evaluate whether anything needs to be improved and any identified improvements must be implemented and monitored.
Guidance for providing a health and care sector industry placement
Many of the health and care employers that have hosted T Level industry placements have developed guidance. It is useful for both students and staff and it clearly sets out what the placement will involve and what is expected of the student and the employer.
Explore the T Level FAQ page to find clear, practical answers to common questions around offering T Level industry placements, from the process of onboarding students and structuring your placement offer and understanding the Employer Support Fund.
Click the + next to each heading below to show more information and downloadable resources you can use:
Resources for mental health settings
The below resources are available for employers looking to introduce or expand a T Level industry placement offer in a mental health setting.
The T Level mental health placement risk assessment serves as a starting point, to be tailored to the local context, for identifying and mitigating risk factors for students in this environment. The document includes recommendations for employers on how it should be used and other supporting activities and documentation that links to the risk assessment.
To support the above risk assessment, the Health T Level curriculum has been mapped to mental health settings to help employers identify suitable tasks for T Level students. This will enable them to complement their classroom learning whilst on industry placement. As with the risk assessment, employers should tailor this to their local context and discuss proposed tasks with education providers.
This document is divided into the core Health T Level learning objectives and those of the occupational specialism supporting the mental health team. If students are studying another occupational specialism a mental health setting can still be a useful and relevant industry placement and linking the placement to learning objectives should be discussed with the education provider.
Further resources and information
Click the + next to each heading below to show more information and downloadable resources you can use:
Acknowledgements
Copyright and use
© Gatsby Charitable Foundation [2026]. These template documents are provided for download and adaptation by organisations for their own use. Once downloaded and edited, responsibility for the content rests solely with the organisation using the materials. Gatsby Charitable Foundation accepts no liability for any use, adaptation, or reliance placed on these documents.
