Pathway to midwifery

18-year-old Harriet Mellor completed her T Level in Midwifery at Leicester College achieving a merit. Harriet plans on attending her top choice, De Montfort University, to continue to study midwifery.

Why T Levels?

Harriet shared: “I chose to do a T Level because you’re able to gain more experience as the course is much more practical and specific than A levels. Although that may seem like a risk to some as it’s so specific and you don’t have much leeway, for me, it was the perfect decision as I knew for a while that midwifery was what I wanted to do so I was quite confident in my decision to pick this course.

“T levels are definitely more hands on than A Level and not just theory based. You’re able to learn on the course and then apply the knowledge practically. For me it was learning at college then applying it onto the mannequins we used as practice patients in the ward.”

Why Leicester College?

Harriet continues: “The best thing about Leicester College for me was the accessibility as it was very local to me and I didn’t have to do much travelling. It was one of the first colleges to offer a T level in midwifery.”

Working whilst learning with T levels

“For my first year work experience, I was at a pregnancy and mum and baby yoga class. While it wasn't directly related to midwifery, the experience was valuable given the difficulty in finding specific placements in the field, and being 17 at the time, I wasn’t allowed to do my work experience in a hospital, so I found it challenging to fully connect it to midwifery at that stage.

“However, in the second year, I was in a sonography clinic in which eventually I was able to start using my knowledge from the course and applying it,” adds Harriet.

Recommending T levels

“I would definitely recommend T Levels as it gives an advantage with that hands-on experience and doing placements outside the college, and you also get a lot of support in getting placements,” concludes Harriet.