ENGINEERING DIPLOMAS: WHAT DO THEY MEAN FOR EMPLOYERS?

By Jan Marciniak, Manger of the 14-19 Vocational Development Programme, NETA Training Group:

The introduction of the Government’s 14-19 reforms, as set out in the DfES 14-19 Implementation Plan, is beginning to take effect across the UK. Schools, colleges and other training providers are already adapting their curriculum’s to include a greater focus on functional skills and a series of specialist diplomas have been developed to ensure that more young learners achieve nationally recognised qualifications in work related capabilities, including engineering.

The newly developed Engineering Diploma, which is being introduced as a direct result of the 14-19 reforms, has been designed to offer young people an exciting, stretching, and relevant pathway, into an engineering career. Created in conjunction with the sector itself, the course will be ideal for all employers who recruit young people, as it blends their general education, such as maths and science, with more specialist applied learning, ideal for progression into higher education or straight into work.

In order to successfully achieve a diploma, every student will need to complete a minimum of 10 days work experience within an engineering environment, alongside their normal classroom study. This is expected to have a great impact on the future of the engineering industry as it gives firms a chance to challenge the stereotypical views of an engineering career and ensure that young people are given the correct advice, information, and guidance, about the prospects that are available to them here in the Tees Valley.

Young learners following the diploma programme will ultimately leave the course with a strong foundation of employability skills, such as team-working, problem solving and basic functional skills in maths, English and ICT, which can be moulded and enhanced to fit the specific needs of their organisation. Employers will benefit from this via a marked reduction in recruitment costs and improved levels of retention, as new recruits enter the industry readily equipped with the relevant skills and a more informed idea of what the job entails.

Many employers already do a lot in supporting young people, but the engineering diploma is a cut above the rest because it is so broadly balanced to equip young people with the skills for tomorrow’s world, and that is why the TVEP is actively supporting the initiative.

One word of caution though is that its success will depend largely on all employers getting involved. Exactly what employers can offer will depend on the nature and size of their organisation and the complexity of the work they do, but I would encourage all Tees Valley firms to start looking into this now, so that we may all capitalise on the benefits in the future.

TVEP’s engineering barometer:
After once again surveying a range of engineering companies in the Tees Valley, the engineering barometer results for July showed a good overall rating in terms of order levels, profitability and prospects for the next six months. This gives the current feeling amongst the sector, a positive spanner rating of four out of five.