Peter Earl

Former student Peter Earl has successfully landed a role as Apprentice Engineering Lecturer at East Durham College, after completing his T Level in Engineering, Manufacturing, Processing and Control. Peter chose to study a T Level due to its balance between academic and vocational work, whilst offering the opportunity for industry placements. Peter completed two placements during his course, at Ryhope Engines Museum and Hydram Engineering, where he felt he was able to put his learning in the classroom to practice. 

Now, Peter works within the Engineering department on his apprenticeship, helping to train up the next generation of engineers. In the future, Peter hopes to return to industry to ensure his skills are kept up up to date, before coming back into education to pass those skills on to his students.

Carrina Briggs, Vice Principal for Curriculum and Performance said, "The benefit of having a T Level student move into employment with us is that they've done 315 hours minimum of work placement, so they're confident outside of the classroom. Instead of just engaging with their peers in the classroom, they're engaging with people in the workplace, helping with their confidence in communications and problem solving. It's not just industry placement, they work on employer projects too, so they understand the problems that need to be fixed within the workplace, so they can come and apply that here."