The industry awarding body EAL has reached a major milestone by giving more than 1,000 young people a ‘gateway to a rewarding career’ and providing End Point Assessments (EPAs) for their apprenticeships.
This process means that these apprentices become certified and qualified in their trade and profession for a broad spectrum of engineering disciplines. The 1,000th person to successfully progress through the new assessment method was rail engineering technician Michael McKenzie, who works for Siemens plc.
EAL, which is part of the
Enginuity Group, is recognised as playing a major role in ensuring continuity through the Covid-19 crisis. With approval from the regulators, EAL has implemented remote EPAs relating to 14 standards from its portfolio of 27, allowing learners to qualify for positions ‘deemed vital in keeping industry and engineering running’.
Alison Parkes, EAL’s managing director (pictured), said: “This is a very important milestone for EAL of which we can be very proud. We are delighted to have continued to safeguard standards and apprenticeships throughout the last 12 months, despite all the challenges of the global pandemic.
“We continue to help learners, industry and engineering combat the economic and logistical effects of Covid, and are ensuring that we are well positioned to play our part in powering the recovery process to ensure our centres survive and thrive through these unprecedented times.”
EAL delivers the EPA for the Engineering Technician Apprenticeship standard in collaboration with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE). Colin Brown, chief executive of the IMechE, said: “Achieving certification of 1,000 End Point Assessments is a fantastic achievement, which the IMechE as a collaborator with EAL is delighted to be a part of. Our relationship continues to flourish as we work with more apprentices, employers and training organisations.”