The Sheffield College student shares T Level insights with nursing chiefs

Favour Okoh, 18, who is completing the Supporting The Adult Nursing Team T Level at City Campus, has met top national and regional experts to share her experiences.

As part of her T Level qualification, Favour is completing a 45-day placement at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Favour discussed the course, her placement and career ambitions, during the meeting held at the Northern General Hospital on 14th January 2025.

She met Mark Radford, chief nurse, NHS England, Liz Fenton, Director of Nursing and Midwifery, NHS England and Chris Morley, Chief Nurse, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Favour said: “My career ambition is to become a nurse. I realised that studying a T Level would provide me with a path to achieve that goal.”

“It is exciting to be able to speak with senior nurses about my T Level qualification,” added Favour, who wants to progress to a nursing degree or degree apprenticeship.

Favour continued: “I am really enjoying the placement, meeting patients and developing my skills. It has been a wonderful experience so far.”

Tom Sutton, head of partnerships, The Sheffield College, said: “We recognise the value of T Levels to help create future talent for our National Health Service.

“Ensuring students get the skills that employers need and to go further in rewarding careers underpins our partnership with Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.”

Karen Vella, education, learning and staff development director, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Favour is one of the students from our first cohort of T Level placements.

"We aim to give all students a first class industry placement and valuable on-the-job experience.

"We want to support, supervise and mentor the students to prepare them for further study and to work within healthcare in the future.”

T Levels are two-year technical qualifications that have been designed to provide students with high quality technical training.

Developed with employers to meet the needs of industry, T Levels prepare students for work, further training, or study.

They offer students a mix of classroom learning and ‘on-the-job’ experience during an industry placement of approximately 45 days and are equivalent to three A Levels.

Students completing T Levels spend 80% of their learning at college and 20% on a 45-day industry placement.

The Sheffield College and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust renewed its partnership agreement earlier this year.

The agreement is focussed on education and training solutions that meet workforce needs including high-quality industry placements for students.

The college has the latest industry equipment to develop students’ skills. This includes a six-bed hospital ward with robotic mannequins.

The ward reflects standard NHS hospital bay dimensions and includes a bathroom, mobility aids such as a hoist, and breathing, blood pressure and obstetric equipment.

Students work with the mannequins in computer simulated scenarios using a range of specialist equipment and drawing on skills such as developing a care plan.

Find out more about the college’s T Level offer and upcoming open days.

Visit www.sheffcol.ac.uk.