How sole traders, micro businesses or freelancers can get involved in industry placements

If you're a small business, sole trader or freelancer, you can still offer a dynamic experience for students through an industry placement.

You’ll need to organise:

• time to set up the placement and supervise the student
• enough work for the student to make it worthwhile
• space for the student to work safely
• equipment to carry out the tasks
• health and safety
• insurance

If you're interested in offering an industry placement, get in touch with T Level providers near you. 

Health and safety

Under health and safety law, students are employees – treat them like any other young people you employ. Employer liability insurance covers placements provided your insurer is a member of the association of British insurers or Lloyds.

Find out more on the Health and Safety Executive's website.

Space

If you work in a shared space with other companies or start-ups, they may be able to help with health and safety requirements and insurance.

If you can’t physically fit another person in, one of your clients or business contacts may have free space and equipment. Students may be able to bring compatible devices from their provider.

Support with industry placements

Every student is enrolled with a college, school or other type of education or training provider who will support you through the placement.

Colleges and schools are very familiar with the paperwork and aspects of placements such as health and safety. 

Sharing a placement

If you are interested in sharing a placement with a similar employer, let the college or school know and they may be able to organise a shared placement, so that each employer takes on part of the time.

For example, in construction, students can complete a Commercial, Charitable or Community Project for a maximum of 105 hours and then the rest of the placement with another employer. In Construction, and Engineering and Manufacturing, students can spend a maximum of 105 hours of their placement within an already-established Skills Hub or Training Centre.

The college or school will do their best to be flexible and to meet your business needs.

I want to offer a placement, but don’t have enough work to cover the minimum of 315 hours.
The college or school can help find another employer for you to share the placement with.

I’m a specialist, so it’s unlikely I’ll have the breadth of work to suit the student.
You can be paired up with another organisation that covers the things you don’t.

I work with a bigger organisation and we want to offer an opportunity between us.
They could organise the placement and you could provide opportunities for the student to work with you on a specific project, or projects.

Find out more about sharing a placement with another employer

Work tasters

If a full or shared placement isn’t possible, how about offering a more bite-sized opportunity?

Students can attend ‘work tasters’ up to a maximum of 35 hours. Could you offer a short taster - for the student to learn one or two specialised skills, for example?

Or could they ‘work shadow’ you, so they get a better feel for the kind of work you do? You could also build in visits to clients and suppliers to broaden the experience.

You might want to try a taster first, and then offer a longer placement afterwards if it works out.

Industry placement examples for smaller businesses