College celebrates 100 per cent pass rate for first cohort of T Level students

THE first students to complete T Levels courses at Lakes College are celebrating a 100 per cent pass rate.

This summer marks the first cohort of learners at the college to finish the two-year courses, which the college started offering in 2021.

All of the college’s second year T Level students passed, with a quarter of those learners earning a distinction and almost half achieving a merit.

Chris Nattress, principal at Lakes College, said: “It’s been a fabulous day here at Lakes College celebrating the results of our T Level and Level 3 learners.

“It is our first group coming through the T Level programme, which differs primarily from A Levels in the way that they’re linked directly to occupations and careers.

“Students are without doubt challenged by the demands of T Levels; however, our experience is that if done properly they rise to it and today is a really good example of what can be achieved.”

The college was one of the first providers to deliver T Levels, beginning with health, construction, science, digital, education and childcare.

It has since expanded its offer to include business and engineering.

Nathan Richards has secured an internship in a digital support role with a Sellafield Ltd contractor after completing his T Level in digital.

He said: “I previously studied a year of sixth form and decided it wasn’t for me, but the T Level course was completely different and changed my outlook on education.

“The support I received was overwhelming, and my tutors have been there for me since I started.

“I absolutely loved my work placement at abiTECH and got to visit Keswick a few times for days out.”

Millie Lawler, who studied the T Level in health and is now off to study at Liverpool John Moores University and pursue a career in the industry, said her experience at Lakes College had been ‘life changing’.

T Levels are courses that a young person can take following GCSEs which are broadly equivalent in size to three A levels and accrue UCAS points.

They offer a mixture of classroom learning and on-the-job experience with at least 45 days spent on an industry placement with an employer.

With a T Level, students can progress straight on to skilled work, higher study or apprenticeships.

The day also saw learners on Level 3 courses collect their results, with students like Katie Potter celebrating their results.

Katie studied Level 3 Uniformed Services, achieved a distinction and will now study Professional Policing at Edge Hill University.

She said: “I’ve always wanted to go into policing and my course has enabled me to take this next step in getting there.”

The college celebrated the success of its students on social media, sharing content with the hashtags #Results2023 and #TLevelsResultsDay​.

For more information on T Levels and for advice on applying visit www.lcwc.ac.uk/t-levels