Industry-ready apprenticeship schemes

As industry is constantly changing and developing, there is a requirement for standards, procedures and training schemes to be updated in line with these significant industrial changes; the NDT apprenticeships are no exception. In fact, the apprenticeship schemes have been designed to evolve at specific intervals to ensure that they are industry-ready and relevant to benefit employers, apprentices and the sustainability of the industry as a whole.

Every three years, there is a requirement to review the apprenticeship standards and update the content to reflect industry needs and considerations from several sources, including apprentices, employers, training providers, trailblazer groups and professional bodies. The NDT Engineering Technician Level 3 apprenticeship is the first of the three apprenticeship programmes to go through the review process.

Having received several recommended suggestions for improvement from the trailblazer group, training providers and employers, it was clear that a new revision was required to encompass changes such as the occupational title, the duties, knowledge, skills and/or behaviours and adding additional industry-specific qualifications.

One of the major proposed changes would see condition monitoring (CM) techniques such as vibration analysis, acoustic emission, infrared thermography and so on adopted by the standard. It would be a significant development to include these industry-critical techniques within the apprenticeship scheme as it would enable an approved, structured and industry-recognised entry route through which individuals could join the CM and NDT community. Furthermore, this would also allow funding to be utilised to further support the CM sector and help to reduce the emerging skills gap.

Other proposed areas of development include awareness of environmental factors present in NDT as well as technological development and innovation in the engineering sector, such as Industry 4.0, IT networking and new materials.

The working group tasked with updating the standard is hopeful that the changes will be approved by early 2022 so that these updates can be utilised by employers and apprentices. Once the standard has been approved, I will provide an overview of the confirmed changes in a future apprenticeship update article.

Please note that the views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not represent the views of Skills Training UK or BINDT.

Sam Cunningham is with Skills Training UK and is a member of BINDT’s Education & Professional Development Committee, which oversees the development of the NDT apprenticeships.

Employers in England looking to recruit an apprentice can find up-to-date guidance at: www.gov.uk/recruit-apprentice

Details of the current apprenticeship vacancies in England are available at: www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship

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