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For many young people, the reality of working life can feel far removed from what they experience in education. Knowing what a job actually looks like, what skills are needed and how to get there is not always straightforward.
That gap between education and employment is something the UK Government’s Skills for Life campaign is aiming to address, by highlighting the range of technical and vocational options available to learners across England. From T Levels to apprenticeships, these routes are designed to help people develop practical skills and move more confidently into work.
The need for this has never been clearer. The UK’s digital economy is growing rapidly, but employers are struggling to find people with the right skills to keep up.
Government analysis suggests the digital skills gap is costing the UK economy an estimated £63 billion each year, while 7.5 million adults lack the essential digital skills needed for work.
For students like Muumbe Hapenga and Lily Coope, choosing a more practical route into learning has helped bridge that gap, giving them early insight into the workplace and a clearer sense of direction.
Muumbe Hapenga’s route into tech was different to many of her peers. Drawn to practical learning, and a route directly connected to the working world, she enrolled on a Digital Business Services T Level.
A defining part of the course was the 45-day industry placement, which gave Muumbe early exposure to professional environments and allowed her to see how ideas translate into real-world outcomes. Rather than learning in isolation, she was surrounded by people working on live projects, gaining insight into how businesses innovate and solve problems in practice.
That experience became a turning point. It offered a way to build experience alongside learning, while still keeping future options open as her career develops.
Reflecting on the decision to take a T Level, Muumbe says: “My T Level gave me the foundations and helped me understand how the skills I was taught could apply in the workplace. It showed me that I could build experience while studying and gave me the confidence to take the next step into an apprenticeship.”
When it came to applying for apprenticeships, Muumbe was able to draw on real examples of the skills she had developed, from communicating complex ideas to adapting in a professional environment.
Now a software engineering degree apprentice at PwC, she works across teams to explore new and emerging projects, translating technical work into clear, accessible insights that support innovation-focused initiatives.
“My degree apprenticeship has given me more experience than I could have imagined. Working on live tech projects and being trusted as part of the team from day one has helped me build confidence and develop skills that genuinely matter in the workplace.”
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For Lily Coope, a T Level student in Digital Security and Support at York College, the decision to follow a vocational route came down to one key factor: gaining real-world experience as early as possible.
The appeal of cyber security lies in its variety and pace. It is a field where new challenges are constantly emerging, and where practical learning has helped turn interest into a tangible career direction.
“The main reason I chose a T Level was the opportunity to do a placement,” she says, pointing to the advantage of being able to show employers that she has already worked in a professional environment and understands how the industry operates.
Her approach to securing that experience was anything but typical. Determined to find the right opportunity, Lily visited local companies and reached out directly with a letter explaining her interest in cyber security. The approach paid off when she secured a placement with the Lowell Group, becoming their first ever T Level student.
Once there, she was quickly immersed in meaningful work. Her placement has included everything from firewall management and phishing simulations to penetration testing, giving her direct exposure to the challenges organisations face in protecting their systems.
That experience has also helped Lily explore where her interests might take her next. By moving across different teams and seeing how cyber security works across a business, she has gained a clearer sense of the specialisms that appeal to her, particularly penetration testing, where professionals ethically test systems to identify weaknesses.
Her journey has also challenged some of the assumptions that can put people off entering the tech sector. After initially feeling uncertain about joining a male-dominated course, Lily has grown in confidence and has since seen more young women starting to explore the same pathway.
She says: “The placement has given me the confidence to pursue a career in cyber security and shown me how much you can learn by applying your skills in a real workplace. It’s opened my eyes to opportunities I didn’t know existed before and shown me that there’s a place for anyone interested in technology, regardless of their background.”
As digital technology continues to shape industries across the UK, the demand for skills is evolving faster than ever. Employers are increasingly looking for people who can apply their knowledge in real situations, not just understand it in theory.
Technical and vocational routes are designed with this in mind. Developed in collaboration with employers, T Levels, apprenticeships and other pathways focus on building the skills that are directly relevant to the workplace.
For both Muumbe and Lily, choosing a vocational pathway has provided something many young people struggle to find early on: clarity. Through hands-on experience, they have been able to explore different roles, test their interests and start building the skills needed for their future careers. Rather than waiting until after education to step into the workplace, they have already begun shaping their career paths in real environments.
As awareness continues to grow through initiatives like Skills for Life, more young people are beginning to see these pathways not as alternatives, but as powerful and practical routes into the world of work.
Search Skills for Life to find more information on T Levels, apprenticeships and other technical pathways available.
