Engineering Training Needs Closer Links

'Report underlines importance of close links between engineering training providers and employers', says ALP chairman

The Association of Learning Providers has welcomed the confirmation in the Adult Learning Inspectorate report on training in the engineering sector that providers with close links to employers tend to produce the best quality training.

Dave Rogers, ALP's chairman and chief executive of JTL - a high-graded engineering training provider, commented: "Charles Clarke has publicly recognised that ALP members are at the sharp end when it comes to employer engagement and we are proud that the ALI report demonstrates again the clear correlation between good industry links and quality provision."

Mr Rogers welcomed ALI's acknowledgement that capital investment in equipment was increasingly a factor in determining the quality of training in engineering. He pointed out that the required machinery for training an apprentice can cost anything up to £1 million. It was therefore inevitable that this was an issue which needed to be discussed with the Learning and Skills Council which is responsible for the funding of Modern Apprenticeships.

While agreeing with the ALI comment that an engineering apprenticeship was essentially a 'sound product', the ALP chairman said, however, that the apprenticeship framework required review by the Modern Apprenticeship Steering Group to make it more appropriate for employers' needs.

One element of the apprenticeship highlighted in the report as an area of weak provision was key skills. Dave Rogers said: "The issue of testing for key skills as a unique requirement within a Modern Apprenticeship framework in any sector has concerned ALP deeply for some time and in my opinion, the main reason for it being deemed an area of poor performance is the focus on exams. We hope that responses to the skills white paper will encourage the Government to revisit the matter, because testing is acting as a significant barrier against young people making progress in their chosen careers via the work based route."

On balance the The ALI Engineering Survey is positive for independent engineering training providers. It states that achievement rates within work based learning outside colleges are good. It also points out that provision within colleges with strong links to employers tends to be much better than those without them.