Category Archives: Apprenticeships

… BUT OUR MENTORING SERVICES CONTINUE!

Though in our last post we noted that our last course of 2024 had been delivered, our mentoring services continue apace.  In fact, they continue every week throughout the year, with great candidate success rates.

For example. in November and December 2024, our Andy Goodwin had the pleasure of working with numerous mentees who are following a range of routes including:

  • Level 6 apprentices pursuing IEng
  • Graduates pursuing CEng via the Training Agreement route
  • Graduates pursuing CEng via the Mentor Supported route
  • Graduates pursuing CEng via the Career Appraisal route
  • Experienced engineers following the CEng Experiential Learning route and the Recognition of EEA professional qualifications route
Andy also undertook Chartered Professional Reviews for the ICE in the last session, and completed Level 3, 4, and 6 End Point Assessments. 

His experience in the reviews/EPAs processes adds great value to the mentoring services provided, as he knows the level that must be achieved to be successful.  All his mentees know the constructive challenges they face at their development review meetings, and the guidance and CPD suggestions made to help each progress as safely as possible.

If you require any mentoring support for you or your staff, feel free to call or email Andy for a free chat to ascertain your needs and the support that can be provided.

Don’t forget too that the ICE has a team of Membership Managers and Membership Development Officers who can provide support and guidance – you can get in touch with your local representative through the ICE’s Membership Support Centre.  

L6 CIVIL ENGINEERING APPRENTICESHIP CHANGES

It was great to attend the ICE’s Apprenticeship Conference on 8 November.  We could only attend virtually this time, but it was an excellent event again.  Thanks to the ICE and Richard Davis for arranging it all.

There were again inspiring presentations by the 4 apprentices invited to speak.  One of the biggest takeaways for us though was the update on the new Level 6 Integrated Apprenticeships.  These are due to launch in 2025.  They will lead to some modifications to the current non-integrated degrees.  However, the apprentice will not be awarded their degree until they have undertaken their End Point Assessment.

The changes lead to some lively discussions on the proposed changes.  For example, how can an apprentice sit their IEng EPA before they formally have a degree?  There is a potential need for universities to source mentors to support the apprentices on their IEng EPA journey.

IFATE have not released the new apprenticeship yet as it is in development – see https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/civil-engineer-in-revision

The HE sector as the Training Providers are already planning for the changes.  The ICE are also preparing a position paper, which we hope will state how they are going to respond to the changes with regards the EPA and the award of the IEng.

Other key questions are how much of the mentoring support to apprentices will employers have to provide?  How much will the universities absorb?  Will the ICE retain their EPA role?  These uncertainties are of great interest to us as we are already mentoring numerous apprentices and we need to provide them with appropriate support.

It will be interesting to see how things shake out.

If you have any apprentices requiring mentoring, please feel free to reach out to our Dr Andy Goodwin.  He is an EPA Assessor with the ICE and understands the demands on apprentices. 

By the way, the photo below is used with permission of one of the current apprentices – great learning opportunities working on a complex bridge!