A new Adult Learner Scheme is providing semi-skilled workers in the north of England with the “roadmap” to evidence the skills, knowledge and behaviours needed to become tradespeople in the engineering construction industry (ECI).
Funded by the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB), the International Assessment Centre (IAC) in Middlesbrough developed the scheme in response to demand from employers to help workers who have site experience but no formal trade qualification.
The IAC Adult Learner Scheme offers industry employers in the area the opportunity to upskill these workers by preparing them for enrolling on a trade-specific vocational qualification. Trades include mechanical fitter, rigger, steel erector, pipefitter and plater.
The scheme is delivered through on-site assessment and mentoring by the IAC, which works alongside company supervisors. Learners that demonstrate recurring knowledge, skills and behaviour consistent with those required by a competent tradesperson working in the ECI are then registered on an ECITB regulated qualification.
Kieran Gellatly, from Middlesbrough, recently became the first person to gain an industry qualification after going through the Adult Learner Scheme.
Having been a semi-skilled rigger at the ConocoPhillips oil refinery at Seal Sands for two years, the scheme gave Kieran the opportunity to enrol on the rigging pathway for the Level 3 Diploma in Engineering Construction Lifting, Positioning and Installing Structures, Plant and Equipment, which he completed at the end of September.
The 21-year-old (pictured here and main image during his rigging assessments), who works for Cavendish Northern, praised the impact of the scheme on his career.
He said: “The scheme has really benefitted me. From the start my assessor talked me through the journey and found out my level of knowledge and understanding.
“I put together a logbook to record different technical activities I had done on site that my supervisor witnessed, such as the work I did during a four-week shutdown which involved special equipment to pull out a bundle.
“The assessments help you get more of an understanding of the job you do and the knowledge side of things, which gave me more confidence when doing everyday tasks.
“The scheme helped me move on to gain the qualification, which means I’m now recognised as one of the Level 3s on site, instead of an apprentice. It will also help my career if I want to go elsewhere in the future.”
Demand from industry to develop Adult Learner Scheme
IAC provides qualified and approved technical assessors on site for industry workers looking to gain an ECITB Level 3 diploma in a variety of trade disciplines.
It saw a need to develop the Adult Learner Scheme after working with an employer to build a “roadmap” of actions to help one of its semi-skilled workers with site experience gain a pipefitting qualification.
This led to IAC collaborating with the ECITB to formalise the scheme and put funding in place to help employers in Teesside and across the north of England upskill workers with a similar background.
Neil Armstrong, IAC Managing Director, said: “We often deal with experienced workers who, for whatever reason, have never achieved a qualification. Maybe they have never needed to move jobs or it has not been a requirement.
“But now that requirement is elevated and workers are needing this, so there is a big demand for this type of scheme.
“The scheme takes somebody with a certain level of knowledge and skills, who has experience, and provides a roadmap of actions to get to the gateway of a qualification to help them become a qualified tradesperson.
“We get people joining the journey from various points. Some journeys will be shorter such as Kieran who took six months, whereas some adult learners we’ve worked with took 18 months to two years because they didn’t have a sufficient level of skills.
“The scheme allows employers, like Cavendish, to get tradespeople who will be working there for years to a qualification.”
Ensuring industry has the skilled workers it needs
The ECITB Awarding Organisation develops and quality assures regulated qualifications in England, Wales and Scotland, covering craft, technical and professional and management disciplines in the ECI.
ECITB qualifications enable learners to demonstrate the specific skills, knowledge and behaviours needed to perform a particular role as set out by National Occupational Standards (NOS), such as the rigging pathway completed by Kieran.
“We have been delighted to support the International Assessment Centre as it helps upskill workers across the north of England.
“This year, there have been learners enrolled from a number of ECI employers, who receive funding via our discretionary grant framework.
“The Adult Learner Scheme is ideal for SMEs who cannot afford to release workers from site for larger blocks of time.”
Alan Neale
ECITB Head of Region for the North
