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T-levels: Small Businesses

Answer

Small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are key to ensuring that industry placements are a successful component of T Levels, as they make up a large proportion of the employer landscape. Through the department’s employer engagement teams, we are engaging directly with employers of all sizes, including SMEs, to explain the benefits of T Levels and of industry hosting placements, and to help provide a strong pipeline of employers, across all sectors, that are ready to offer placements.

We are providing an extensive programme of support to help ensure employers of all sizes can deliver placements. This includes a comprehensive employer support package, offering guidance, workshops, webinars, tailored advice, and hands-on support to help build employer confidence and capability in delivering high quality industry placements. We have also implemented several different delivery models to ensure placements can be delivered by employers of different sizes, across all industries and locations, and our T Level Ambassador Network is enabling employers, including SMEs, to engage with others in their industries on T Levels and placements. Finally, we have put in place a short-term incentive fund, offering employers £1,000 per industry placement, to encourage employer engagement during the COVID-19 outbreak. This has been warmly welcomed by SMEs.

We will continue to monitor the delivery of placements and work closely with employers, including SMEs, to identify what support they will need going forward to deliver high-quality placements.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

131173

Session

2021-22

Transferred

Yes

Subjects

Small businesses T-levels

Link

View this Written question on www.parliament.uk