T-Level Industry Placement at 1st2Achieve
- Curtis
- May 7, 2026
- Uncategorized
- 0 Comments
As part of my T-Level Digital course at West Lancashire College, I completed my industry placement with 1st2Achieve, a training provider specialising in apprenticeships, vocational qualifications, and skills bootcamps. The placement took place one day a week and gave me the opportunity to apply the skills I had developed both in college and through my own content creation work in a real workplace environment.
Finding a Placement
Before starting the placement, I applied to several different opportunities independently but had no success securing one. Eventually, my college helped arrange a placement with 1st2Achieve. Although it wasn’t something I had originally organised myself, it ended up being a valuable experience that gave me insight into digital marketing, content creation, and working within a professional office environment.
The process itself taught me that opportunities within digital media can be competitive, especially when trying to find placements that genuinely match your interests and skillset.
About the Organisation
1st2Achieve is a UK training provider that delivers apprenticeships, vocational qualifications, and skills bootcamps. The organisation works with both learners and employers, helping people develop workplace skills and qualifications.
During my placement, I worked mainly on digital content creation and marketing-related tasks. This included creating graphics, editing videos, researching competitors, and helping plan social media content.
My First Weeks
My first few placement days focused mainly on inductions and understanding how the organisation operates. I completed workplace training covering topics such as:
- Health and safety
- GDPR and confidentiality
- Safeguarding
- Workplace expectations and policies
I was also introduced to the team, shown around the office, and given an outline of the type of work I would be involved in throughout the placement.
Although these first weeks were less creative, they helped me understand how professional workplaces operate and the importance of professionalism, communication, and confidentiality.
Competitor Research and Data Organisation
One of the first practical tasks I completed involved researching competitors that offered similar training courses to 1st2Achieve. I gathered information from different websites and organised the findings into spreadsheets.
This helped me develop:
- Research skills
- Data organisation
- Spreadsheet and Excel skills
- Attention to detail
- Understanding of competitor analysis
The task also showed me how businesses monitor competitors and compare pricing, services, and marketing strategies.
Graphic Design and Social Media Content
A major part of the placement involved creating graphics for social media using Adobe Photoshop and Canva. These graphics were designed to help promote courses, apprenticeships, and other opportunities offered by the company.
Creating content for a real organisation was very different from creating content purely for personal projects. I had to:
- Follow branding guidelines
- Keep designs professional and clear
- Consider the target audience
- Take feedback and make revisions
- Work within deadlines
One of the most rewarding parts of the placement was seeing some of my designs published on the company’s official social media pages.
Video Editing and Content Planning
As the placement progressed, I also started working on video-based content. This included creating and editing short promotional videos and interview tips videos using Canva.
These projects helped me improve:
- Video editing skills
- Content planning
- Storytelling and pacing
- Organisation and structure
- Creative thinking
One challenge was mainly working with stock footage and graphics rather than original footage. This made me think more carefully about how content could be adapted to be more engaging.
Social Media Calendars and Campaign Ideas
Another task involved helping build social media calendars by researching national awareness days and planning content ideas around them.
This work involved:
- Researching upcoming dates and events
- Brainstorming content ideas
- Organising ideas into spreadsheets
- Planning future social media posts
This improved my organisational skills and gave me a better understanding of how businesses maintain consistency across their online platforms.
Skills I Developed
Throughout the placement, I developed a range of both technical and professional skills.
Technical Skills
- Graphic design
- Video editing
- Social media content creation
- Competitor research
- Spreadsheet and Excel skills
- Content planning
- Branding and digital marketing awareness
Professional Skills
- Communication
- Teamwork
- Time management
- Organisation
- Reliability
- Creativity
- Taking feedback positively
- Working independently
Because the placement took place one day a week over a longer period of time, I was able to gradually build confidence within the workplace and improve my skills consistently across different projects.
Final Reflection
Overall, my placement at 1st2Achieve was a valuable experience that helped me gain practical workplace experience alongside my T-Level studies.
The placement allowed me to:
- Apply skills from college in a professional environment
- Improve my confidence and communication
- Develop technical skills in design and content creation
- Work on real projects with real audiences
- Gain experience working within a team
It also gave me a better understanding of how digital media and marketing operate within businesses and helped prepare me for future opportunities within creative and digital industries.
