Apprenticeship certificates awarded at dinner

05/11/2010

The British Institute of NDT presented a further three apprenticeship certificates at the 49th Annual Conference held at St David’s Hotel, Cardiff.

The BINDT Apprenticeship in Engineering Inspection is designed to sit alongside the established certification schemes and is part of the integrated education programme for NDT professionals. It provides a mechanism whereby individuals can acquire, through a work-based scheme, a wide range of engineering knowledge within the inspection industry, with a focus on NDT. This allows them to understand the importance of NDT, to be aware of the importance NDT has in the engineering industry and allows them to contribute more fully within their own working environment.

RWE npower has now trained 17 apprentices over the past seven years and they were delighted to be in attendance at the conference dinner to see the latest three successful apprentices being presented their certificates by the Institute’s President, Dr George Georgiou. The President said: “It never ceases to amaze me, the pride that these apprentices show when they receive their awards. They have worked hard and achieved a lot in three years.”

Awards were presented to John Parker, Thomas Cox and Christopher Arnold at the NDT 2010 Annual Dinner; Liam Johnson was also awarded an Apprenticeship Certificate but could not attend the conference. The Institute encourages all forms of development and progression but, in order to complete the Apprenticeship, a minimum number of work modules must be satisfactorily completed within the prescribed time. The core modules are selected from the PCN Scheme but the additional modules, a minimum of eight over the three years, are industry-specific and the Industry Partner is able to submit a list of relevant modules for approval by the BINDT Accreditation Panel. In this way, an individual apprenticeship can be tailored to suit the requirements of the employing body whilst also being recognised by the inspection industry in general.

Since the pilot scheme started in 2003, RWE has been the champion of the Apprenticeship Scheme and has contributed towards its on-going development, but times are changing and, at the NDT 2010 conference, four major companies showed an interest in the BINDT Apprenticeship Scheme and asked for copies of the scheme documentation. Companies are realising that, by partaking in the BINDT Apprenticeship Scheme, they would be training people according to their industry needs, they would be addressing the age profile within their own organisation, they would be encouraging early learners to join their company and they would be planning for the future.

If you are interested in finding out more about the BINDT Apprenticeship Scheme, contact Roger Lyon on 01604 89 3843 or 07823 337237.

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