Engineering update - December 2018

Apprenticeship update

The Government/IfA review into the apprenticeship standards funding bands has been completed in respect of the Engineering Technician Standard. It has now been confirmed that for all new starts from March 2019, the funding band for this standard will be reduced to £26,000 per learner.

The Engineering Fitter standard has now been approved for delivery on the IfA website. This standard is funded at £21,000 per learner and has 1 mandatory qualification. This is the Level 3 Diploma in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering (Development Technical Knowledge).  

The Metal Fabricator standard has submitted the assessment plan for approval in the November submission window. The employer group hope to hear the outcome of this submission early in the new year. The funding band has been allocated and approved by the employer group.

The Level 2 Engineering Operative standard is now ready for delivery, Pearson are currently developing the mandatory knowledge qualification and this should be ready early in the new year. At present there are no plans to develop the mandatory competence qualification, although this can be considered at a later date.

The Level 2 Lean Manufacturing Operative standard has had the standard approved and is hoping to submit the assessment plan in the January 2019 submission window. They are looking for providers to prepare costings for the delivery of the mandatory qualification requirement. If you are interested in supporting this development, please contact Bryony Leonard. It is hoped that this standard will be ready for delivery before September 2019.

Apprenticeship Qualifications update

The Pearson BTEC Level 3 Award/Certificate/Diploma/Extended Diploma in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering (Development Technical Knowledge) has been amended to include additional optional units and also 2 new certificated pathways in either Mechanical or Electrical Engineering.

These pathways exist alongside the general pathway for customers who require a certificate that states either Mechanical or Electrical Engineering as part of this. We have now entered into our 2018/19 review cycle, so if there are any additional units or pathways your customers require as part of the delivery for the new Engineering Technician Standards please email Bryony Leonard who will include this in the development plan.

The Pearson BTEC Level 3 in Rail Engineering Technician (Knowledge) is in the process of being updated to include additional elective units as well as additional pathways (Track, Signalling, Telecoms and Overhead Line). This should be available early in the new year.

BTEC update

We are in the process of extending the BTEC Nationals in Engineering (2010) (QCF) from their current operational end date of the 31st December 2019. Further communications will be released when this has been completed. We are waiting for confirmation from Ofqual as to when the new end date will be.

From January 2020, there will be an additional assessment window for Unit 6 - Microcontroller Systems for Engineers providing learners with 2 opportunities per year to sit the external assessment.