Engineering Council joins register of EQA providers
06/04/2020
The Engineering Council has been approved by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) as the External Quality Assurance (EQA) provider for the following engineering apprenticeship standards:- ST0063 – Building Services Design Technician
- ST0091 – Civil Engineering Technician
- ST0457 – Engineering Technician
- ST0315 – Railway Engineering Design Technician
- ST0288 – Non-Destructive Testing Engineering Technician
- ST0336 – Transport Planning Technician.
This activity is in line with the Engineering Council’s support for the delivery of high-quality apprenticeships that meet the needs of employers and apprentices, assuring the public of the competence of those who are successful and supporting individuals on their journey towards professional registration.
The system of EQA provides for independent monitoring of the end-point assessment (EPA) that apprentices undertake at the end of their apprenticeships to ensure that it is fair, consistent and robust across different apprenticeship standards and between different assessment organisations.
IfATE has a statutory responsibility to ensure that the quality of the EPA is evaluated through EQA. Its EQA framework sets out how this activity must be carried out to ensure it is undertaken consistently and to a high standard. EQA providers are required to maintain high standards of integrity and professionalism.
The Engineering Council is the most appropriate body to carry out this quality assurance for engineering-related apprenticeships because it licenses professional engineering institutions to carry out the assessment of individuals seeking registration, in accordance with required Engineering Council standards and prescribed processes. These standards apply across the profession, regardless of sector or discipline, making the Engineering Council ideally placed to ensure consistency and quality of assessment.
Alasdair Coates, Engineering Council CEO, said: “The Engineering Council’s vision is to maintain society’s confidence and trust in the engineering profession. We achieve this through working with partners across the professional engineering community and are pleased to receive approval to formally provide assurance that the assessment of engineering apprentices is carried out in a robust and consistent manner. Apprenticeships are a well-established route to professional registration and into engineering careers at all levels.”
The Engineering Council notes that the Department for Education will be launching a consultation on the delivery of EQA. Stakeholders are encouraged to engage with this and share their views.
www.engc.org.uk
