Category Archives: Skills assessment

… 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!

APRIL NEWSLETTER ISSUED

We are pleased to confirm that our April 2019 newsletter has just been issued.  For those who are not registered on our mailing list, you can download it from here .  You can also opt to join our newsletter mailing list by following this link – it takes only a few seconds.  Rest assured we never pass your information to third parties, as stated in our privacy statement.

MORE MENTEES

We are delighted to announce that in recent months we have taken on numerous new mentees.  Based from as far afield as Romania to our locale in the East Midlands, they all share a drive to achieve professional qualification with the ICE and want to work with our Dr Andy Goodwin.  Andy is a very experienced ICE reviewer and is working with them as they follow Career Appraisal or Approved Mentor Supported routes to membership. Welcome to Mihail, Victor, John, Richard and Rory – no surnames or companies for confidentiality, but you all know who you are!

GENTLEMEN DO LUNCH…

At the pile design course last month, lunch was taken in the ‘heritage room’ of The Hub in Clay Cross.  This quirky room that celebrates local history combined well with the “cream tea lunch” to give everyone a welcome break from the rigours of the course!

Feedback from the course was excellent – 100% of responses rated it excellent to good, with most in the excellent category.  This backed up with the news that we can already look forward to welcoming some delegates back for other courses this year!

TWO TRAINING AGREEMENTS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED

We are delighted to announce that Sam Fish (pictured) and Adam Farrance of DNV GL have recently been signed off their ICE training agreements.  We are very pleased for them both and look forward to supporting them further as they prepare for their Chartered Professional Reviews.

Both Sam and Adam have been supported by our Dr Andy Goodwin for several years in his longstanding SCE role with the company.  Adam had this to say about the mentoring support he had received:

“Surepath have been supportive of my development and made sure that their training was adapted to suit my learning style.  I was made to feel valued, which helped to build the easy working relationship that led to me being signed off with the ICE.”

We much appreciate the feedback, which reflects the ethos and efforts put in by Andy in his support of all mentees.  Andy looks forward to continuing his role with DNV GL, and to signing off other graduates over the next few years.

If you are in need of mentoring or need a mentor for your staff, then please feel free to contact Andy to discuss how he could use his mentoring and professional skills to help you.  He may be contacted on 01246 807808 or email him using the enquiries link on this website.   Andy will happily talk you through what we could do for you to add value to your existing arrangements and processes, without any obligation.

CONSTRUCTION SKILLS SHORTAGE – MORE TRAINING NEEDED

We would say more training is needed wouldn’t we?  Well we have turned business away and advised people that a particular course is not the best option for them, as we believe in providing good advice and support.  However we wanted to draw your attention to an article today (12 May 2017) in Development Finance Today that reports a growing issue in the construction industry.  The article can be found in full here, with key excerpts reproduced below: “The increases in workload are contrasted with a skills shortage, as 53% of respondents stated that a shortage of skilled labour is a key impediment to growth, up from 50% in the previous quarter….  ….Improved education pathways and training could be the most effective policy response to alleviate labour supply pressures, with 59% agreeing with this idea, while 31% of contributors felt direct government subsidisation of training would be the most effective solution.” We hope this provides you with some food for thought.  If you wish to discuss how we could help you address your skill development needs then just call Andy Goodwin on 01246 807808 on a free no-obligation basis.  Options available include a SWOT analysis of the skills you already have, provision of appropriate training, and / or mentoring and coaching support to staff to help them develop more effectively.  We look forward to hearing from you.