Hartlepool student turns NHS placement into a route towards children’s nursing

A Hartlepool student has turned a college work placement into a much clearer picture of her future, after spending time alongside nurses and healthcare assistants at the University Hospital of North Tees.

Lucy Skedd, who studies Education and Childcare at Hartlepool Sixth Form College, completed a placement on children’s and adult wards through the college’s partnership with the NHS.

The experience has now helped confirm her ambition to move into children’s nursing. Lucy plans to begin a Children’s Nursing degree and says the placement gave her both practical experience and a realistic view of life in a healthcare setting.

Learning in the ward, not only the classroom

T Levels combine classroom study with substantial industry placements. Students spend around 80% of the course in their learning environment and 20% in the workplace, including a 45-day industry placement.

For Lucy, that meant working alongside the team at North Tees and putting some of her learning into practice. She helped with tasks including physiological observations while developing communication, teamwork and professional skills.

She told the college the placement had helped build her confidence and confirmed that working with children and families was the direction she wanted to take.

Alyson Thompson, manager of the children’s ward at the University Hospital of North Tees, said Lucy had shown enthusiasm from the beginning and had worked well with the wider team, children and parents.

A bridge into a local career

The story is a useful example of what vocational placements can do when the link between college and employer is strong. Rather than asking a young person to choose a career largely from a prospectus, the placement lets them experience the pace, responsibilities and human side of the job before committing to the next stage.

Lucy said the experience also helped her understand the range of routes available after a T Level, including university, apprenticeships and healthcare employment.

Her next step is children’s nursing, with the possibility that the North Tees wards she first entered as a student could become part of her professional training again in future.

The original story was published by Hartlepool Sixth Form College on 27 August 2026.