The BPIF is calling on the industry to provide input regarding a new Print Technician Apprenticeship Standard.
The federation said that having recently developed and secured approval for the programme, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) announced it was conducting a review of a number of standards and that this was one of them. The BPIF pointed out that an apparently straightforward addition of duties to the standard became a much more comprehensive full review of the knowledge, skills and behaviours statements, and their associated grading descriptors.
In a statement, the BPIF said: “IfATE have been very rigorous in their application of the new requirements and whilst some were expected (around equality, diversity and inclusion and sustainability), some around the more technical aspects of the standard were not. Their requirements for generic statements in the grading descriptors has required us to increase the skill level requirement of the assessors put in place by the end point assessment organisation, whilst feedback from employers and training providers has led to us adding a merit to the achievement list for apprentices.
“The consortium – led by the chair, James Buffoni of Ryedale Group, the vice chair, Ian Wilton of CDS, and supported by the BPIF – has worked hard to deliver a standard which meets the full requirements of IfATE whilst supporting our industry in the development of highly skilled apprentices.
“The print technician plays a key role in all your businesses, and the Print Technician Standard is designed to qualify learner apprentices to Level 3. Without this standard, there would be no Print Level 3 apprenticeships for the sector. The sector is proud of the high-quality training and development that it offers, underpinned by key apprenticeship standards, with this one being particularly important to the sector, so it’s important that we get it right.
“We really need your input to ensure that we have captured fully the knowledge and skills requirements for this role and identified correctly how they need to be assessed.” Feedback is being sought by Friday 9 June.
