Darlington College continues to go above and beyond with their industrial placement’s pilot initiative, aiming to provide Level 3 students with a 45-day industry placement directly related to their course.
Students are provided the opportunity to combine theory learnt in class with practical application in the workplace. This allows employers to mentor students from a young age and ensure they are technically competent when they enter highly skilled fields, like engineering.
Such is the success of the industry placements; the college has been selected to run a new qualification called a T level in 2022. The qualification will cover the Digital, Education, Health & Science, Business and Engineering sectors, providing students the skills needed for a successful start in these fields of work.
Level 3 Engineering student Jack Watson can attest to the success of the scheme, saying: “I was looking for experience in the workplace but wasn’t exactly sure what type of engineering I wanted to do. The college sourced me a placement with M5tec and I’ve learnt so much about design and 3D modelling using CAD software”
“Now that I have an insight into working life, it has helped me realise which parts of engineering I enjoy and want to pursue further”
M5tec operations director, Carl Jones, was a student at Darlington College in the past and has found the industry placement a great success: “We are committed to supporting the youth via STEM activities as well as apprenticeships. The industry placement seemed a perfect way to support this commitment”
“Jack was a very polite and very friendly young lad, who mixed well with the team. His commitment and professionalism were excellent, and we have already been discussing the possibility of offering Jack an apprenticeship later this year”
Darlington College is keen to develop further partnerships with companies from all sectors and grow their industry placement programme further.
For more information visit https://darlo.blueocto.dev/employer-portal/work-experience-and-industry-placements/
