The Frameworks and their new qualifications have been designed by the industry, in conjunction with sector skills organisation Proskills and the awarding body PIBAC.
The Wood & Timber Processing and Merchants Industry Apprenticeship Frameworks, now governing formal apprentice training, cover specific areas of competence needed for a successful career in the wood sector.
Employers select the qualifications most relevant to their sector of the trade. Grants are available to help employers taking on apprentices.
An Apprenticeship Framework comprises competence and knowledge-based qualifications, training on employee responsibilities and rights, and the ‘transferable skills’ of literacy and numeracy.
The new qualifications can either form part of the Framework or be used as stand-alone NVQs. The Level 2 NVQ Certificate in Merchant Supplies (Timber) covers buying and selling timber, wood storage and handling.
The Level 2 Award in Timber & Panel Products and their uses, modelled on the Wood Technology Society’s Foundation Certificate, forms the technical qualification at the centre of the Framework.
Qualifications already available include a Level 2 NVQ in sawmilling, covering primary and secondary conversion, and Levels 2 & 3 NVQs in wood machining. Further qualifications are planned.
“Apprenticeships provide high quality, sector-specific skills development, and will bring much-needed new blood into the timber trade,” said Jonathan Ledger, manager of Proskills’ National Skills Academy for Materials, Production and Supply.
The National Apprenticeship Service website – www.apprenticeships.org.uk – gives details of grants available for taking on apprentices.
