Students get set to go global with international industry placements

17th April 2024

Students at The Sheffield College are getting set to go global with the launch of international industry placements.

The college is developing a new project to provide global opportunities for students completing T Levels.

The international and work-related team has organised the college’s first ever international placements based on the island of Bali in Indonesia and Fiji.

Starting next year, the two-and-a-half-week trips aim to develop students’ technical and life skills.

T Level construction students will build a dispensary in a remote village in Fiji where residents currently walk for hours to get medication such as paracetamol. 

Meanwhile, T Level business students will work with local businesses in Bali on new ideas, strategies and marketing for sustainability projects.

Rachel Topliss, Director of Student Employability Services, The Sheffield College, said: “We are really excited to develop this project with the aim of providing more international work placements for our students in future.

“The placements will provide an amazing cultural experience to T Level students and enable them to apply their knowledge and skills to have a positive social impact. 

“Students will develop team working, communication, problem solving as well as professional and technical skills that will help them go further in their careers.”

A group of nine construction students will work alongside the build manager, a Fijian civil engineer, and five villagers chosen by the village chief.
 
The village is four hours by car into the jungle. The dispensary that will be built will allow villagers to be treated more quickly which, in some cases, could be lifesaving.

Students will be integrated into the village community. There is no shop or supermarket; everything eaten comes from the ground. 

They will learn the value of trading services and experience what it means to live in a less materialistic way
 
In Bali, a group of nine business students from the college’s Veezu Business, Sales and Marketing Employer Skills Academy will live within the community.

As part of their integration into local life, they will wear traditional dress and spend their weekends making things to sell such as artwork and flower arrangements.
 
Students will learn how to cook traditional meals and some will also volunteer in the local school.

T Levels are two-year technical qualifications that are designed to provide students with high quality technical training and are equivalent to three A Levels. 

Developed with employers and businesses, T Levels are designed to meet the needs of industry so that they prepare students for work, further training, or study.  

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

The college’s international industry placements will be funded by the Turing Scheme, which provides students with opportunities to study, work and train abroad.

Colleges, schools and universities apply for funding on an annual basis from the government-run scheme on students’ behalf. 

The trips will be led by the college in partnership with Think Pacific in Leeds, which organises volunteering, internships and study abroad. 

The college offers T Levels in subject areas including animal care, business, childcare, construction and building trades, engineering, fashion and textiles, hair and beauty, health and social care, IT and computing and science.

Visit www.sheffcol.ac.uk to find out more about our T Levels courses. 

Pictured from left to right: The Sheffield College’s Alison Jacques and Rachel Topliss are setting up international industry placements for T Level students.