T Level Media, Broadcast & Production
A BIG, new technical and practical qualification for those who want to work with the tech, behind the scenes in media, broadcast and post production technologies
What are T Levels?
T Levels are ‘technical levels’. They are equivalent to A levels [‘academic levels’]. They emphasise ‘technical skills and knowledge’ and they are designed to prepare students for technical work in the industry. The course is skills based with only one exam and lots of on-job training and industry placements.
T-Levels are large qualifications that count for 3 A Levels. They therefore require 15 hours per week in class as well as additional independent work. T Levels are stand alone qualifications with a breadth of specialist content.
The qualification is a two year course consisting of…
Core Content & Skills - providing a general overview of the creative media industries
Core Content:
The Creative Economy; The individual in the creative industry; Cultural context & vocabulary; Audience; Legislation/regulations; Professionalism & Ethics; Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion; Research skills; Project methodology & administration; Continued professional development
Core Skills:
Undertaking research; Generating ideas; Communicating ideas; Developing ideas; Working collaboratively with others; Reflective practice
Assessment
Year 1 [Yr 12] Core Component
1 written examination [2 and a half hours]
‘Employer set project’- 16.5 hour coursework project
Year 2 [Yr 13] Specialism
Extended coursework project
Industry Placement [work placements and industry projects doing real work in real creative media industry settings]
T-Levels are designed for industry… They also produce a range of UCAS points equivalent to A Level accepted by universities
T-Levels
Result
Distinction*
Distinction
Merit
‘High’ Pass
‘Low’ Pass
UCAS points
168
144
120
96
72
A Level Equivalent
3 x A*
3 x A
3 x B
3 x C
3 x D
Which Specialism suits you?
At ESA, we have 2 Media T Level specialisms as follows…
Creative Media Technician
This pathway is for those students who are interested in working professionally behind the scenes to edit and produce content in controlled studio environments. It will focus on processing and producing pre-generated content for clients.
Planning, preparing, sourcing, generating and storing media assets
Assembling, editing and finalising media assets
Preparing, packaging, exporting and delivering edited media assets
Preserving and archiving media assets for future use
Evaluating the extent to which a media product meets the requirements
Jobs for Creative Media Technicians
Broadcast Engineers
Technical Creative Specialists
Editor / post production technician
DIT - Digital Imaging Technician
Studio Sound Engineer
Network systems technician
Data and asset management
Archivist
AV Engineer
Live Media Events Technician
This pathway is for those students who are interested in producing and engineering for live events. It will focus on preparing for and carrying out live productions.
Interpreting and assessing client requirements for events/productions
Working in a team to plan events/productions, considering client requirements
Implementing different stages of an event/production
Selecting and maintaining appropriate industry equipment & technology
Evaluating the extent to which a event/production meets the requirements
Jobs for Live Media Events Technicians
Stage / Events Manager
Lighting Programmer / Designer
Live Sound Engineer
AV Engineer
Events Producer / Production Team
Events / Production Runner
Set and Stage Producer / technician
Construction Manager
Art Department
Industry Placements and Projects
One of the things that makes T Levels different and brilliant is that they involve practical production and placements with industry partners. We are gaining partners and projects all the time and students can also arrange their own [this has to be certified through us]. Here are some examples of placement partners we work with:
ESA and Headliner are partnering on a project called ‘Aspiring Headliner’. T Level students will work directly with Headliner as the Placements Provider, working on location and at their studio to produce content for their 99% Aspiring Headliner brand. The work will involve studio set up for audio and camera and the editing, mixing, titling and delivery of this media product.
Light Fantastic are a leading live events producer supporting everything from design and construction of sets and stages to the technical installation of light and sound. Their warehouse and workshop is over the road from us and they provide ESA students placements in both production, construction, warehouse and on-location installation.
ITV are working with ESA to help develop the next generation of Creative Technical Specialists. This involves learning how to manage digital media assets [DIT] from ingesting content to creating and adding graphic assets.
Sky Studios Elstree have technical warehouses, craft workshops and high tech soundstages on their studio lot just around the corner. They have already given creative placements and projects to lots of ESA trainees.
Entry Requirements and Important Information
T Levels are a very cool but challenging Level 3 qualification. Students should have 5 passes at KS4 including English and Maths and at least 1 of their previous subjects must be in a related technical media field [such as D&T, Product Design, IT/Computing, Media Production, Music Tech or Digital Arts - Graphics or Game Design].
Student prior attendance must be excellent and above 90%. The work placement element of T-levels will require a high level of motivation, professionalism, attendance and reliability.
T-levels must be completed in full for any credit– you can not ‘exit early’ for partial qualification.
T-Levels are highly technical, and students must be comfortable with, and have previous experience working with creative media production technology, specifically media editing software (Creative Technician) or live events technology (Live Events Technician)
While T-levels do include a timed written exam element, this should NOT be a dissauding factor, as even students who struggle in the core exam can attain a distinction if they succeed in their occupational specialism