Course overview

The digital industry is a major source of employment in the UK, with over 1.8 million people working in digital companies and around 100,000 digital jobs advertised at any one time.
This qualification has been developed in consultation with employers in the digital industry to ensure you learn the skills and behaviours that will give you the best opportunity to be successful when applying for work, particularly in the area of software development.

As well as studying the Level 3 T-Level course, students will also complete:

• Industry placement hours (a minimum of 315 hours or 45 days)
• Attend Industry Skills Development classes
• Complete independent work at home
• Attend the tutorial classes
• Attend maths or/and English classes if they have below a grade 4 at GCSE

Please note that this course is aimed at 16 to 19 year olds.

Entry requirements

Applicants require 5 GCSE’s grade 4 and above (A*-C) including English and Maths. Entry will be subject to a satisfactory reference and interview.

If applicants do not meet the outlined entry requirements, we also offer a Level 2 course that can be completed alongside English and Maths GCSE to allow possible progression to this T-Level
Entry decisions will be discretionary after interview and based upon achievement of the above entry requirements. Students will continually be assessed through a probation period to ensure they are on the correct level.

Students must not be over the age of 18 when enrolling.

Course Modules

Over the two years, students can expect to study the following:
Year 1:
-Problem Solving
-Introduction to Programming
-Emerging Issues and Impact of Digital
-Legislation and Regulatory Requirements
-Business Context
-Data
-Digital Environments
-Security
-Project Planning
-Identifying and Fixing Defect in Applications
-Designing Code Solutions
-Developing Code Solutions

Year 2:
In Year 2, you will work towards your Occupational Specialism honing your skills in the digital specialism you are studying. In this course, you will study the following strands and topics:

Project Management -
-Software Development Cycles
-Roles & Responsibilities
-Project Methodologies
-Functional and Non-Functional Requirements
-Emerging Technologies
-Testing
-Digital Products
-Software Change Management

Personal Development-
-Legal & Regulatory Requirements
-Risk Management
-Research Sources
-Research Methods
-Collaboration Techniques
-Social/Collaborative Environments
-Code Management
-Supporting Users

App Dev-
-Common Design Approaches
-Source Code & Content Management
-Designing Solutions
-Selecting Languages
-Selecting Tools & Features
-Connecting Data Sources
-Deployment Methods
-Selecting Tests & Test Data

Skills developed include:
-Code writing and secure development principles
-Software testing
-Problem solving
-Industry best practice
-Teamwork and collaboration
-Critical thinking
-English, Maths and Digital Competencies

How will I be assessed?

Assessment is through two written exams and an Employer Set Project at the end of year 1 followed by the Occupational Specialist project throughout year 2. All assessment is externally set.
You will have the chance to work with local developers and businesses to create products for them, thus building your portfolio in a real working environment.

T Levels provide several progression options for students, including:
- skilled employment
- an apprenticeship
- higher education

To help T Level students progress into higher education, UCAS tariff points are allocated to T Levels. UCAS points are allocated to the overall T Level grade. Students must achieve at least an overall pass grade to receive UCAS points.

What can I do next

If you want to take your skills to the next level, you can take progress onto:
• Level 4 Higher National Certificate in Computing

Alternatively, you can choose to enter a range of career pathways including:
-Software Development Technician
-Junior Developer
-Junior Web Developer
-Junior Application Developer
-Junior Mobile App Developer
-Junior Games Developer
-Junior Software Developer
-Junior Application Support Analyst
-Junior Programmer
-Assistant Programmer
-Automated Test Developer