TRAILBLAZER APPRENTICESHIPS

Over 50 dealers and industry representatives attended a full day workshop outlining the new Trailblazer Apprenticeship standards at Pershore College on Tuesday 10 July 2018.

The meeting, chaired by Alastair Taylor, (CEO IAgrE) was organised by LE-TEC (Landbased Engineering Training and Education Committee Ltd), the umbrella organisation set up by the Agricultural Engineers Association (AEA), British Agricultural and Garden Machinery Association (BAGMA) and the Institution of Agricultural Engineers (IAgrE).

Industry consultant David Kirschner set the scene by outlining the obstacles that the industry had encountered since the publication of the Richard Report in 2012 which set out changes to the Apprenticeship framework. “Responsibility has passed through four different Government departments and five Ministers responsible for Apprenticeships,” he said. “Since 2013 when we first got involved there have been numerous forced amendments and rewrites until we got final approval for industry specific standards this year – all at a cost of more than £60,000 to LE-TEC.

“There are now two Land-based Engineering approved Trailblazer apprenticeships, Level 2 LBSE ‘Service Engineer’ Apprentice (18 – 24 months) and Level 3 LBSE ‘Technician’ Apprentice (36 – 48 months). All you need to know about each Trailblazer is outlined in two documents, The Apprenticeship Standard and The Apprenticeship Assessment Plan. All Standards and Assessment Plans have had to be approved and published by the Institute For Apprenticeships (IfA) otherwise no apprenticeship.”

All Trailblazer apprenticeship documents can be viewed on the IfA website.

Also speaking was Glen Nash, Service Support Manager at the Turney Group who gave a practical view on the challenges that face dealers.

For a full report see the September/October edition of Service Dealer magazine.