BEST creates a new generation of ‘professional apprenticeships’

Jul 21 2010

Working with three professional institutions, BEST (Building Engineering Services Training), the leading UK training provider for the Building Services Engineering (BSE) sector, has launched a new development route with professional recognition for apprentices.

CIBSE, CIPHE and IET have agreed to work with BEST allowing level three apprentices to receive professional accreditation as Eng Tech after completing qualifying criteria laid down by the Engineering Council. Beyond that apprentices will be able to continue their professional development to become masters of their trade and ultimately receive a degree or masters qualification. For the first time the industry has a more practical and clearer framework for linking apprenticeships with a career path and progression to higher education.

“For too long apprentices have been treated as second class citizens when it comes to levels of attainment and institute recognition,” claims BEST chief executive, Mark Brenner.

“We now have a clear training and development path that enables an apprentice to specialise as a master craftsman, train for a foundation degree, go into higher education, become a senior manager and even achieve chartered engineer status. This whole initiative is about preparing for the future and ensuring the growing professionalism of our industry.

“Before now, very few people were able to make this kind of progress from the bottom up to the very top of their industry. Now that opportunity is very clearly laid out and there for the taking”

For the first time, this alignment of vocational education and training with professional formation offers many employers and M&E tradesmen an opportunity to gain a professional registered status which, when combined with a skills card scheme, effectively denotes a ‘licence to practice’.

To support the launch of the professional apprenticeship programme, BEST will organise and pay for the first year’s membership subscription of the appropriate professional institution for all level three apprentices starting in 2010/11. The new BEST professional apprentice programme includes a final year management module from the BEST ILM suite for all mechanical and electrical level three apprentices. This will prepare apprentices for subsequent supervisory and leadership development.

This partnership will open doors for people like Eugene Oppong-Kwarteng, a first year level two heating and ventilation BEST apprentice at the Olympic Park in London, who said: “This partnership is great. It really opens up opportunities, especially for young people who never thought they’d be able to do something like become a chartered engineer. They can now see that it is possible and they can get help to do it.”

Blane Judd, chief executive, of the CIPHE said: "We are delighted to be working side by side with the professional bodies representing other sectors of the building services engineering industry to drive up standards from grass root level.

“This initiative is a major step towards establishing a clear and cohesive indication of what the industry considers to be the minimum expectation of professionals working within the sector. This will help both future new entrants to ensure they are choosing the right programme to enter the sector and also send a strong message to the public and employers about who they should be engaging.

“We hope this model will become the standard so that we create professionals for the future who behave both technically and professionally to the highest standards. This will contribute to raising the perception of building services as a significant part of construction and a major contributor to reducing carbon."

Michelle Richmond, director of membership and professional development at the IET, said: “The IET is delighted to be working with BEST and the other professional engineering institutions to enable the next generation of technicians and future engineers to gain the recognition they deserve."

Laurence Aston, CIBSE education, training & membership chairman and director of Burro Happpold in London, said: “In these times of uncertainty in our industry it’s a fantastic effort by BEST and its partners to generate so many opportunities for the development of craft apprentices to achieve professional membership of CIBSE and Engineering Council Registration. CIBSE is delighted to be a part of this programme and will be very active in its implementation.”

Unite, the largest trade union in the UK, has fully endorsed the BEST professional apprenticeship programme. Frank Sheppard, union learning organiser at Unite, said: “Unite strongly believes that professional apprenticeships are a firm foundation for a rewarding career. Furthermore, they give people valuable workplace, social and life skills through the work-based learning experience and the significant bonus of the opportunity to earn a decent income throughout the apprenticeship and training, with skilled rates of pay upon completion.

“Previously, routes to career advancement and professional status have been hard for people to navigate, or were simply not known about due to lack of promotion and publicity. The BEST professional apprenticeship embeds the map within its framework. It combines essential work based knowledge and competence elements, offering an arguably more attractive alternative to traditional routes into higher education and professional status.

[1] Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers

[2] Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering

[3] The Institution of Engineering and Technology