How T Level students can improve productivity

As part of our series on T Levels, we’ve looked at how hosting T Level industry placements have helped small to medium-sized engineering and manufacturing businesses in England. 

Can hosting a T Level student on an industry placement help boost your business’ productivity? According to Gary Howard, General Manager of Redpack Packaging Machinery in Norfolk, the answer is yes, it can. 

Can you tell us a bit more about Redpack Packaging Machinery and how you started hosting T Level students? 

Redpack is a manufacturing company of packaging machinery, we manufacture machines on site and build them locally here in Norfolk. We have around 80 employees and produce flow wrap machines for different sectors of the food packaging industry. 

A few years ago, the local technical college approached us to take on some T Level students on industry placement, and I’m so pleased we said yes. The students coming through on T Level industry placements were ready to do the job. We hosted two students last year and two this year, and they’ve all been a brilliant asset to the business. 

How do you think your T Level students contributed to the business, whilst on placement? 

The T Level students came with the right technical knowledge needed for a meaningful placement. It meant they started being productive quite quickly, which is obviously brilliant for the business.  

They also brought fresh ideas and enthusiasm to the team. Some of us are stuck in our ways, having worked in the manufacturing or engineering industry all of our lives. We often find it easy to say ‘no’ to things. The T Level students come and say: ‘why can’t we try this?’. It’s refreshing and a good challenge for us and our business. 

We’ve also found having T Level students has been beneficial for our employees' professional development; by buddying with or mentoring the T Level student, they can develop their own leadership skills.  

You know it’s a success when your colleagues start competing against each other to have the next T Level student! 

What’s been the best thing from a business perspective about hosting T Level students? 

The best part of the T Levels scheme is the chance to see emerging talent in action before making a full-time hire. It not only allows us to assess their skills firsthand but also helps position our company as an attractive option for future employees. 

Do T Level students improve productivity? 

That’s definitely been our experience. Our T Level students added value to the business because they were doing real work. We didn’t have to simulate anything for their college course, they were doing the work of any other employee. And they were very, very productive. 

Did you take on your T Level students after their placement? 

Yes, we offered jobs or apprenticeships to all of our T Level placement students. It’s been a fruitful recruitment pipeline for us, and reliable, as both parties know what to expect.  

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