A significant boost to staff development and personal achievement

Did you know that an employer can fill an apprenticeship vacancy with an existing member of staff, providing the training will allow them to acquire substantially new skills and the content of the training is materially different from any prior training or a previous apprenticeship? This gives a significant boost to staff development and personal achievement.

Although it is not strictly an apprenticeship, BINDT and the University of Northampton are in advanced discussions about developing an MSc called ‘MSc Advanced Industrial Practice (by negotiation) in Non-Destructive Testing, Condition Monitoring or Structural Health monitoring’. The reference to ‘by negotiation’ means that each module undertaken is a result of a prior agreement between the employer/applicant and the University of Northampton before the module is undertaken. BINDT has been invited to manage the APELM004: ‘Recognising Industrial Practice’ module (1st year). If you compare the professional standards statement in the MSc proposal with the opening statement in the Incorporated Engineer (IEng) registration (see below), you will see there is a lot of synergy and BINDT has determined that someone who is seeking registration at IEng level or has achieved registration at IEng level, and in both cases has created a reflective statement (extended CV), will have met the requirements of Module APELM004.

Although there is significant variation in the way in which professional standards, as articulated by professional bodies, are presented, in general they are concise and outcome-based. Professional standards are simple; they say exactly what employers agree are the ‘knowledge’, ‘skills’ and ‘behaviours’ that an individual needs in order to achieve the best industry standard of performance in their job role. In order for an individual to be recognised within a given profession, they need to demonstrate how they have met the professional standards (at a given level) using examples of projects they have worked on.

Incorporated Engineers maintain and manage applications of current and developing technology and may undertake engineering design, development, manufacture, construction and operation. Incorporated Engineers are able to demonstrate:

The theoretical knowledge to solve problems in developed technologies using well-proven analytical techniques;
Successful application of their knowledge to deliver engineering projects or services using established technologies and methods;
Responsibility for projects and financial planning and management together with some responsibility for leading and developing other professional staff;
Effective interpersonal skills in communicating technical matters; and
Commitment to professional engineering values.

The ideal scenario is that an IEng registrant who successfully completes the MSc Advanced Industrial Practice could then be eligible for CEng registration via the individual route.

We are in the process of benchmarking the requirements for IEng registration against the requirements of the APELM004: ‘Recognising Industrial Practice’ module. We are also providing a model ‘Reflective Statement’ which, if both are accepted by the University of Northampton, will see BINDT significantly involved in the MSc Advanced Industrial Practice process.

There is no reason why an existing degree programme, in this case the MSc Advanced Industrial Practice, could not be back-fitted into an apprenticeship at a later date, which is something we have done before. This would mean significant government support with funding. But let’s get the MSc in place first…

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