Team Valley manufacturer backs SETA’s training model

A global petrochemical manufacturing company is backing a fast-track apprenticeship training programme which it believes can help the North East bridge its engineering skills gap.

Team Valley-based National Oilwell Varco (NOV) has worked closely with Sunderland Engineering Training Association (SETA) over several years to deliver Advanced Apprenticeships in Manufacturing Engineering to over 50 of its employees.

In collaboration with NOV, and to meet its skills needs, this programme has been dramatically revised.

SETA’s new training model is unlike any other currently available in the region, because instead of delivering the Technical Certificate of the apprenticeship programme over two years on a day release basis, SETA now delivers this at its own premises in just nine months.

This focus on a more vocational technical certificate, instead of the non-practical, purely academic, college based route, leads to a higher level of competency among trainees in a much shorter period of time, something which Martin Cram, process integration manager at NOV, believes is key to addressing its engineering skills gap.

Martin said: “Vocationally Related Qualifications deliver more hands on training so that apprentices can gain the technical skills they need sooner. This not only makes a huge difference to their competency but to their motivation too.

“When our apprentices have finished their workshop and technical training at SETA, they are much more work-ready and this has a big impact on what they are able to deliver throughout the rest of their time with us. They emerge from this part of the course with a deeper knowledge and understanding as well as vastly enhanced skills which they are able to put to use immediately.

“Having worked with SETA over many years we had the confidence in them to adapt their approach to accommodate what we needed from an apprenticeship programme. They delivered a training programme which would help our business address its own skills shortage and I agree with SETA that if more fast-track programmes were available, the region’s skills gap could be addressed more effectively.”

David Hickman, business development manager at Washington-based SETA, added: “There is a very obvious engineering skills gap in our region and more needs to be done to try and bridge this gap. The only way this can be achieved is to help apprentices become technically competent quicker and to equip them with essential skills and practical, hands-on experience.

“Having listened to our customers we have responded by being more flexible and adopted a different approach. We need to continually revisit how we deliver training programmes and look at what more we can do to help apprentices become more competent far quicker than the more commonly adopted day release approach.”