Leeds City College

When it came to deciding on his next educational step, for Pancham Mutneja the answer was clear – T Levels offered the ‘best of both worlds’.

His Digital Support Services course, like all T Levels, has provided a mixture of quality work experience, through an industry placement, and classroom learning.

And for Pancham, who is relishing his time with cyber security specialists Sep2 in Leeds, things are working out just as he’d hoped they would.

A chance to grow in the classroom and industry

He said: “My T Level has helped me develop both my hard and soft skills. I’ve learned how to configure routers and firewalls, create a network, carry out risk assessments and produce a disaster recovery plan.

“The course has also helped me go out and explore more of the industry to see how it actually functions and how people interact with each other, which has helped me develop my communication skills and become more outgoing.

“It has opened up opportunities outside the classroom too; in summertime there were lots of events going on which we had the opportunity to go to and talk to people, to see if we might get a placement.

“Which is what I did, and landed myself a placement with Sep2 which I’m really proud of.”

Sampling cutting-edge technology

Pancham is excited about the range of technology he will be sampling during his time with Sep2. His tasks will include spending some time in the business’s Security Operations Centre (SOC) lab – a simulated environment for cybersecurity training.

He said: “I’ll have the opportunity to gain experience with a lot of different software that they use, including the one used by Check Point, the company that provides secure firewalls.

“I’ll have the opportunity to configure and learn how to manage those firewalls and manage the infrastructure as a whole.

“They’re also giving me a chance to learn cybersecurity skills in their SOC lab, which is quite great as I’m really interested in this field.”

The right choice

When it comes to recommending the T Level route to others, Pancham has no doubts about doing so.

He said: “I think it’s better than doing A levels because a T Level qualification provides you with the equivalent of three A levels anyway, so you still have the opportunity to go on to university if you want to. But it also provides you with a work placement in the industry you want to go into, which is so useful.

“A placement gives you hands-on experience so you get to learn how they actually work within the industry, rather than just having theory-based knowledge.

“And through the placement you may also have an option to get an apprenticeship with the company, or they might just straight-up hire you.”