South Essex College - Case Study

16-19 learners took National Talent Academy within their T Level Digital Production, Design and Development study programme.
Oct 27 / Nicola Shipman, Curriculum Leader, South Essex College

Introduction

Number of learners enrolled on National Talent Academy: 57

At South Essex College we have been running the National Talent Academy course with our IT second year learners at the Basildon Town Centre campus  during our Enhanced Tutorial sessions. The National Talent Academy course allows our second year learners to focus on the fundamental skills needed to allow them to transition into employment after the completion of their Level 3 T-Level qualification. The four units the learners have been working on to achieve the award are:

  • UNIT 1: Finding a futureproof career (Portable Skills)
  • UNIT 2: Making good financial choices
  • UNIT 3: Speaking confidently in public
  • UNIT 4: Developing a winning mentality
“National Talent Academy works really well because learners acquire the skills needed to move on to higher education or employment.” Nicola Shipman, Curriculum Leader

Learner testimonials

Most learners completed the 30-hour Level 3 Award programme in only six weeks due to huge amounts of self-directed learning in learners' personal time. Here are learners giving feedback in their own words. 

Statistics 

[Updated January 21, 2025]

  • Learners started in September 2024.
  • The completion rate was 85% after 7 weeks [and 100% by early January]. 
  • Attendance for learners is therefore 100%.
  • Learners have completed their Video CV and are being put forward for their Level 3 Award.  

Implementation of the course with our learners 

The delivery approach we have taken here at South Essex College is to deliver the course online via MS Teams for 1.5 hours a week during our Enhanced Tutorial session. The learners engage with tutors online in the session where we will go through key areas of each unit as they progress and track their progress through the National Talent Academy platform. This works well for our learners as they are in their final year of their course and looking to develop skills to progress into employment, apprenticeship or HE. 

Benefits to our learners

  • Allows our learners to work at their own pace to complete their units.
  • Learners are competitive with their learning on the platform against their peers when checking their progress. 
  • Learners take responsibility for their own learning when developing their skills for employment.
  • Allows learners to submit their worksheets online to the platform and be marked remotely with updates on the systems for them to improve their work.
  • The video CV allows learners to develop their communication and presentation skills for employment and HE. Learners present their final CV on site with tutors to record and upload to the platform. 

Learners quotes

T Level Digital Production, Design & Development at South Essex College

"The most important thing I have learnt on National Talent Academy are the Portable Skills, such as marketing, sales, project manager. The courses teach you valuable life skills for the future"
Reece B - age 17
"The most important things I have learned from NTA are the transferable skills. These allow me to feel confident when going into the job sector as I believe I will be able to do my tasks comfortably."
Casey H - age 17
"The most important thing(s) I have learnt are being able to negotiate and to take constructive criticism when feedback is given to me. I rate the National Talent Academy course positively as it has provided meaningful certifications."
Amber H - age 20
"The most important thing I have learned on NTA is the importance of good public speaking and how my words and actions when delivering important speeches affect the audience - including using body language to tell a story. I enjoyed the experience of completing the courses."
Anastasia A - age 17
"The most important things I have learned on NTA are the Portable Skills. It has allowed me to be more aware of these Portable Skills.  I have also learnt other skills that I wouldn't think I would understand. It has given me the opportunity for better knowledge not just surrounding IT but other skills that are useful in the future".
Ethan L - age 17
"The most important thing that I have learned through the National Talent Academy Course is how to use spreadsheets to budget my money and also improve my public speaking skills. The course is beneficial as it gives the students an opportunity to explore different career options"
Divyamary S- age 18
"The most important things I have learned from NTA are the transferable skills. These allow me to feel confident when going into the job sector as I believe I will be able to do my tasks comfortably"
Casey H - age 17
"The most important things I've learned on NTA are Portable Skills, making good financial decisions, finding a futureproof career and also how to give a speech. Effective lessons and good mentors"
Dumitru C - age 18


"The most important things I have learned is how to become financially free in 2 steps (save money & buy an income producing assets) and how having a strong character helps you stand out from the crowd. I found this course very beneficial and know it will help me in the future in any industry I choose to work in."
Kezban Y - age 19
"The most important thing(s) I have learned on National Talent Academy are speaking skills and the skills that I need for the future of my career. Especially the Portable Skills as I have developed a basic understanding of critical skills that I can use in real world scenarios. This course has improved my knowledge and IT skills for my career."
Aaron L - age 17

"The most important things that I have learned on NTA are that I can learn new skills that I will be able to carry over to any job I have, this will allow me to become more of a valuable asset to the company I work for. It's very good that I am able to get a qualification online from my room!"
Bradley D - age 19
"The most Important things that I have learned on National Talent Academy are how to better prepare and carry myself when it comes to interviews and speeches. Also how to stand out more and be noticed by peers and higher ups. National Talent Academy has wonderful courses that help people prepare themselves for the future. It helped me a lot. Now when I think of the future I don't feel as anxious and scared as I used to."
Daron C - age 17
"The most important things I have learned on National Talent Academy are learning to speak confidently. It is a great website, and I think that learning like this with videos and worksheets is great. I really do think this is proactive."
Samuel C - age 17
"The most important thing that I have learnt on NTA is the ability to conduct public speaking to large audiences. I believe that the videos were best suited for me because I prefer learning through someone giving me the information, which I can then use for later learning. This helps me be more proactive during learning sessions"
Joshua C - age 17
“National Talent Academy is rated much higher than other tutorial programmes by learners, as well as us tutors.” Petrit Shala, Tutor and Lecturer

Tutors

Learners started the National Talent Academy programme on Sept 16, 2024. The videos on this page were recorded neary five weeks later on Oct 17, 2024. 

Conclusion 

Learners have been fully engaged in the National Talent Academy award. The knowledge and skills have been beneficial for the learners in preparation for the next steps in their education and career path moving on from their level 3 Qualification.

Learners have been practising their Digital CV video presentation ready for delivery as one of the last elements to complete in the next 6 weeks. Learners have been applying these skills in their T-Level vocational sessions where they have been delivering presentations to help enhance their experiences.


Going forward I feel that this course is very beneficial for our second year level 3 learners who will be moving on from FE into HE or employment due to the fundamental skills it provides them with. The delivery of the course online has worked well and would apply this delivery method in the future to allow learners to progress at their own rate.

The length of the course is suitable as the last 6 weeks allows us to plan slots for our learners to present and record the digital CV onsite with a member of staff.

We would like to deliver this course to future year 2 level 3 learners going forward.

“Our learners are hungry for practical non-academic skills to help them succeed in their careers.” David Jaffa, Founder, National Talent Academy