Laboratory Sciences - Health and Science - T Level

A T Level is an exciting new technical qualification which will teach you the knowledge and skills needed to progress into skilled employment or higher level technical training, such as higher education and higher apprenticeships. The T Level study programme is eligible for UCAS points. 

The content for this qualification was devised by T Level panels, which included employers and industry stakeholders. Employers and other stakeholders helped create the assessments and set the standards to ensure you achieve the level of competence needed to enter skilled employment.

The T Level is made up of different components:

• A technical qualification in Science (the core component)
• A technical component in Laboratory Sciences (the occupational specialism)
• A substantial industry placement with an external employer (a minimum of 315 hours)

You’ll spend 80% of your time in the classroom and 20% on an industry placement with an employer (equivalent to 45 days) to give you the skills and knowledge companies look for. Your industry placement gives you the chance to learn what a real career is like while you continue your studies. When and how you complete it depends on the T Level, school or college, and employer.

To achieve the T Level, you will need to successfully demonstrate your achievement of each of the components.

This course is delivered at the Centre for Applied Sciences, more info here.

The core component will cover topics including:

• Working within the health and science sector
• Health, safety and environmental regulations in the health and science sector
• Managing information and data within the health and science sector
• Ethics
• Good scientific and clinical practice
• Scientific methodology
• Experimental equipment and techniques
• Core science concepts

The occupational specialism will teach you how to:

• Perform a range of appropriate scientific techniques to collect experimental data in a laboratory setting, complying with regulations and requirements
• Plan, review, implement and suggest improvements to scientific tasks relevant to a laboratory setting
• Identify and resolve issues with scientific equipment or data errors

Entry requirements for this T Level programme are:

• A minimum of five GCSEs at Grade 4 or above
• Including English Language, Maths and Science (Combined) at Grade 4 or above
• A Level 2 qualification in Science with a Merit profile may be accepted instead of a GCSE Science 

All applicants will be invited for an interview and assessment to confirm that the course is suitable for them.

The core component of the study programme is 100% externally assessed through two written examinations and an employer-set project.

The purpose of the employer-set project is to ensure that you have the opportunity to apply core knowledge and skills to develop a substantial piece of work in response to an employer-set brief. The brief and tasks are contextualised around an occupational area and chosen by you.

The combined results from these assessments will be aggregated to form the overall core component grade (A* to E and U).

The Laboratory Sciences occupational specialism is separately assessed through synoptic assignments, graded at distinction, merit or pass.

Aged 16-18

If you will be aged 16, 17 or 18 on 31st August prior to the start date of your course and you have the legal right to remain in the UK for the duration of your programme then your study with us will be free. Please see here for the documents you will need to show us.

Some courses will have other associated costs, such as for specialist materials and trips. Many of our students are eligible for financial support, see here for details.

T Levels are eligible for UCAS tariff points with equivalency to A Levels and most universities have confirmed they will be given equal merit. 

As well as higher education, this study programme will also enable you to gain employment in the science sector as a science technician (for example, food technologist, laboratory technician, metrology technician).

Alison has taught on many STEM-related vocational courses since joining the Centre for Applied Sciences in 2020, including the BTEC Extended Certificate in Applied Sciences and Health and Social Care. Prior to this, she was a post doctorate research fellow at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology where she worked with human stem cell models of neurodegeneration and high throughput technologies for therapeutic drug screening. She has worked within and collaboratively with industries such as GlaxoSmithKline so brings relevant experience and skills to prepare learners for work in academia and industry.  

Alison particularly enjoys teaching Scientific Skills which challenge learners to be inquisitive, analytic, and critical of scientific data and methodologies. Her recent focus has been on the BTEC First in Applied Sciences where she has developed her skill set with this cohort and enjoyed building a strong rapport with learners and building their confidence.

Mariam has completed a BSc, in Biomedical at the University of Galway, Ireland, and an MSc at the University of Nottingham in the UK. Mariam has continued to complete a PGCE at the University of Roehampton. Over the last 10 years, Mariam has developed a career in science, research, and education with a passion for inspiring young adults to discover their talents through Level 2 and Level 3 courses in health, medical, and applied sciences.

Mariam's experience to date has been across multiple differentiated lessons spanning across secondary education, safeguarding pupils to create a safe environment, securing good rapport and communicational skills with multi-disciplinary professionals and students, mentoring staff, and students, practising good laboratory and clinical and industrial skills from collecting specimen in stem cells to record keeping of medical data for critical analysis. 

Mariam's specialisms include strategies to differentiate learning for all abilities and attempting to implement different strategies to teach SEN and EAL students in lessons and laboratory practicals.

Dr. Angaraj Duara is a STEM lecturer at the Centre for Applied Science at City and Islington College. Dr. Duara studied for a PhD in High Energy Astrophysics at the University of Leicester and has a background in Astrophysics and Space Instrumentation.

In 2016, he worked on NASA's near-space imaging mission at Durham Centre for Advanced Instrumentation.

The teachers listed may change, these shown are an example of the teachers who teach on these programmes.