Getting technical

When employers talk to their new apprentices and colleges this autumn they will hear a new term: Technical Certificate. They may also hear it from agents such as JTL or others involved in the training of apprentices.

The term is not brand new. It has been around in the worlds of plumbing and air conditioning for a year now and has been talked about and worked on in the electrical field for a number of years. But it’s new to the electrotechnical employer and a word of explanation might be of use.

The new apprenticeship

An Advanced (note the removal of the word Modern) Apprenticeship is the tool that attracts funding for training from the Government. Simply put, the apprenticeship has until now consisted of two parts: the National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) to level 3 and key skills. With the advent of Technical Certificates, the apprenticeship will now comprise of three parts: the NVQ to level 3, key skills and the Technical Certificate.

In case employers think that their apprentices will have to undertake much more work to become an electrician, let me explain that in our industry the Technical Certificate has, in effect, been done in the main by apprentices for years as part of their NVQ. What has happened is that the underpinning knowledge taught under the NVQ has been extracted, updated, expanded and reorganised then called a Technical Certificate.

As such, while there are now three parts to the Apprenticeship, the overall amount of time that an apprentice spends at college is only slightly more than previously.

Why the change?

In November 2001, the Government announced plans to make on-the-job training for young people match the best in the world. As part of that announcement it introduced Technical Certificates into apprenticeship frameworks.

The Technical Certificate has been done in the main for years as part of their NVQs

Technical Certificates are vocationally-related qualifications that are identified by an industry sector and its awarding body. They deliver the underpinning knowledge and understanding relevant to the NVQ. In addition, they have to be taught off-the-job. This now differentiates the Technical Certificate from the NVQ, which is now totally on-the-job.

While the change might not be massive for our industry it is for many of the other sectors of the economy. Especially those who until now haven’t included a great deal of underpinning knowledge or theory within their NVQs or required their apprentices to go to college or other off-the-job establishments to learn the theory behind the practical work. As our industry has used on-the-job and off-the-job training, this has helped provide evidence to the Government that both are required to ensure the value of today’s apprenticeship.

It is the strongly-held belief of the Government that the introduction of Technical Certificates will “significantly upgrade apprenticeships and form the basis for able apprentices to progress, either within the workplace or to further or higher education”. This is an aim with which those of us involved in the training and education of the future craftspeople in our industry wholeheartedly concur.

The change in practice

The rules require that where existing underpinning knowledge and qualifications exist, new qualifications should not be created. The introduction of the Technical Certificate means that while the old City & Guilds courses 2351 and 2361 will cease to exist for new apprentices, their content will be subsumed into another City & Guilds course. Existing apprentices and students will complete using the older City & Guilds courses. In the electrotechnical industry the Technical Certificate will be awarded by City & Guilds and be called the C&G Level 3 Certificate in Electrotechnical Technology. It will, in most probability, be known as City & Guilds 2330.

The C&G Certificate will be available at Levels 2 and 3. The former will form part of an apprenticeship at Level 2; the latter an Advanced Apprenticeship at Level 3. Both of the certificates will cover the six occupational routes currently available in the industry, namely: electrotechnical installation, building and structures; electrical maintenance; the installation of highway electrical systems; installation of instrumentation and associated equipment; electrotechnical panel building; and electrical machine repair and rewind.

So, change but not much. Two parts are replaced by three, but through the splitting of one of the previous parts. There is more clarity between what is learnt on-site and off; a little more time at college than before – but not much; one City & Guilds course replacing two. Will the change produce better electricians and other craftspeople in the industry? Only time will tell. Was the industry’s tried and tested model of apprenticeships that was derided by outsiders for some 10 to 15 years right all along? It seems so.