Technical Qualifications and Apprenticeships
In my years working at the CIOB, 2015 was a pivotal year in which we conducted a review of our grades. At the time we had 5 grades, a student grade, an Associated grade (ACIOB), an Incorporated grade (ICIOB) a Member grade (MCIOB) and a Fellowship grade (FCIOB). Some of these were confusing for employers. What did they mean? And what were the grades based upon?
The Associated and Incorporated grades were the ones most employers found most confusing and in fact they were not based upon competencies or even a set of clear standards. Their function was to provide steppingstones to Chartership and although this made sense when they were introduced, most members in these grades, although senior in the industry, never progressed to chartership and retained post nominals without being assessed in any meaningful way. So, the grades were actually a barrier to progression. It was therefore decided that these grades would close and be phased out. They closed to new entrants in 2015 and will finally close completely in 2025.
We have since introduced an Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) process to help our existing Associated and Incorporated Members to progress to MCIOB. Some universities are delivering this for us and you can read more about this at this link: What does APEL mean for me?
Meanwhile, the CIOB recognised the important contribution technical experts make to our built environment. Members of the CIOB tend to be generalists who rely heavily on the specialist technical professionals, and it can only benefit our community to include these important specialists. Therefore, it was decided in 2020 to introduce a new technical grade, tested by a set of rigorous competences that assess sustainability, professionalism and ethics and technical competencies. Our board of trustees approved this proposal in December 2021 and we now work with our legal experts to develop a solid case for TCIOB for the Privy Council. If all goes to plan this exciting new grade will be introduced in late 2022/early 2023.
This will be very important to the work we are doing on apprenticeships. The CIOB is already approved as an End Point Assessor Organisation (EPAO) in England for degree apprenticeships in Construction Site Management, Design and Construction Management and Quantity Surveying. We have also applied for Level 4 Site Supervisor and Quantity Surveying Technician. While we align the end point assessment for the degree apprenticeships with the MCIOB qualification, we aim to align these sub degree apprenticeships with our new Technician grade (TCIOB). We have also employed an Apprenticeships Manager, Steve Conopo who would love to hear from you and support you with any apprenticeships you are delivering. I’ll leave his details at the end of this piece but there is more information at this link: The CIOB is entering the apprenticeships market in England.
Our work on apprenticeships also underpins our education engagement strategy. We want our professional qualifications to be accessible to learners as an early career qualification and we seek to align our accredited courses with our own developmental programmes such as the Professional Development Programme (PDP) to give students and graduates greater employability and career development. That is why we are employing a number of Qualifications Engagement Managers under the leadership of Hassana Ahmed, Senior Qualifications Liaison Manager to work with the universities and employers to bring value to the student experience. Hassana also hosts our annual student festival designed to help students develop their connections and networks.
A large part of our role as a professional body is to provide a strong link between education and industry and we are very keen to engage with you as teachers and providers of education in the built environment.
If you would like more information on apprenticeships, please contact Steve Conopo at [email protected] or on education engagement contact [email protected] and for more information on the proposed new technical grade contact me at [email protected].