July 2025 – Apr 2026

As part of my T Level in Digital Production, Design and Development, I completed a one-day-a-week industry placement with 1st2Achieve Training Ltd in Skelmersdale. My role was focused on digital content creation, with the main aim of creating content and carrying out research to support the organisation’s digital marketing.

Throughout the placement, I worked on a range of projects involving graphic design, video editing, social media content and market research. This gave me the opportunity to apply skills from my T Level in a real workplace and develop my understanding of how digital content is created for an actual audience.

Graphic Design

A major part of my placement involved creating promotional graphics for 1st2Achieve’s courses and social media.

I used Canva and Adobe Photoshop to create designs while following the company’s branding, including its colours and fonts. A key part of the process was making sure the graphics contained the important information without becoming overcrowded, while still being visually appealing.

I created graphics for different courses, including construction courses. These required me to take information about each course and turn it into concise, easy-to-understand content. This included details such as course duration, CSCS card eligibility, funding options and hands-on training.

This helped me improve my ability to summarise information, communicate visually and maintain consistency across a series of designs.

Research & Competitor Analysis

I also gained experience in researching the wider training market.

One task involved researching the prices of training courses offered by competitors. I gathered pricing information from competitor websites and organised it into a spreadsheet so that the different market rates could be compared and analysed.

This gave me practical experience using Microsoft Excel for research and data organisation, while also showing me how research can be used to support decisions within a business.

Social Media Planning

Another part of the placement involved helping to plan future social media content.

I researched relevant national days and events, came up with content ideas and organised the information into a spreadsheet that could be used as a social media content diary. This involved researching reliable sources, generating ideas and working collaboratively to refine the content.

I also gained an understanding of how social media content needs to be planned rather than simply created whenever an idea comes up.

Video Content

As well as graphics, I worked on short-form video content for social media.

One project involved creating an interview tips video in Canva based on information provided to me. I broke the information down into sections and time markers, then worked on the design and flow of the video. I later returned to the project to make improvements and add additional content.

This gave me experience beyond static graphic design and helped develop my understanding of creating content that works in a video format.

What I Learned

The placement gave me a much better understanding of what goes into producing digital content for a real organisation.

I developed my:

• Graphic design skills using Canva and Photoshop
• Video editing skills
• Microsoft Excel and data organisation skills
• Market and competitor research
• Social media planning
• Content writing and summarisation
• Attention to detail
• Time management
• Communication and teamwork

Looking Back

My placement at 1st2Achieve gave me valuable experience of working on real digital marketing and content projects rather than just college assignments.

It allowed me to take the skills I’ve developed through my T Level and use them in a professional environment, while also learning how important branding, audience awareness, planning and attention to detail are when creating content for a business.

It’s an experience that has helped me become more confident with digital content creation and given me a much clearer idea of the type of work I enjoy doing.