Continuous personal development … the Royal Engineers way

The Army’s Royal Engineers (RE) have been running continuous professional development (CPD) for many years, through a Royal Engineers Vocational Qualifications Team at the ConstructionEngineerSchool in Chatham. Established in 1997, the Team was soon being supported by the Royal Engineers Vocational Education and Training Trust (REVETT), established to resource, manage and employ it. The Trust is a registered charity, which is largely funded through the Learning & Skills Council but also has access to limited MoD money.

Over the years, the Team has grown in size and now also works at the CombatEngineerSchool in Minley, and in units and training establishments. By 2005 its role and responsibilities had outgrown its VQ title, so it was re-designated as the RE CPD Team to reflect its much wider remit, although it is still managed and funded by REVETT and based at the Royal School of Military Engineering. It is the driving force behind almost all CPD activity in the RE.

Originally, the RE CPD Team introduced National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) alongside, or in place of, older-style qualifications (such as craft awards) at the ConstructionEngineerSchool. However, it now supports the provision of qualifications and training in many of the skills areas associated with military engineering, including construction, engineering and telecommunications. Other activities include providing training for NVQ assessors and verifiers, administering award and bursary schemes for particular groups of RE personnel and conducting research and development, including leading the development of standards and qualifications in explosive, munitions and search occupations.

The Team can help most ranks, from Sapper to Brigadier. Not only does it fund various NVQs for Sappers in training, and run courses to provide soldiers with recognised management and Health & Safety qualifications, it also runs a bursary scheme to help soldiers pay for their CPD when they have run out of Standard Learning Credits (SLCs) or Enhanced Learning Credits (ELCs). They can receive up to £600 towards a course of their choice, as long as it is relevant to their career progression or CPD.

Awards are decided and paid by the RE CPD Committee. The Senior Award Scheme enables officers and senior NCOs to gain a senior national award that recognises their work-based experience and skills at professional levels. New Senior Award Scheme rules allow Sergeants to gain a Licentiateship of the City & Guilds Institute with Graduateship and Membership being the other two senior awards available.

The complete list of qualifications funded by the Team is shown in the table below.

More information about the RE CPD Team and its work can be found on the RE CPD website at www.re-cpd.org.uk.

The following two examples of the help given by the Team to Royal Engineers demonstrate the breadth and depth of what is available.

Lieutenant Colonel Baz Bassett

Lt Col Baz Bassett has just embarked on a new career as Assistant Secretary with the Institute of Royal Engineers after serving for 37 years in the Royal Engineers and for five months with the RE Training Development Team at Brompton Barracks. He joined the Royal Engineers as a Sapper in 1970 and chose carpentry and joinery as his trade. Bassett has also qualified as a combat engineer, shallow water diver, bomb disposal engineer and parachutist. His career has been interesting and varied as he travelled all over the world, worked with great people and was given many unique opportunities.

Just a few of the countries he visited include Belize, Cyprus, Germany, Northern Ireland and the Falkland Islands. As a Staff Sergeant during the Falkland Islands War he was involved in the initial operation and then stayed on to help with the water purification system, mine marking and clearing the airfield. In Belize he was involved in explosive ordnance disposal on the rangesto make the area safe for local Mayan Indians.

It was his time as a Quartermaster Sergeant Instructor that triggered Bassett’s interest in education, both for himself and the soldiers under his command, leading the way by achieving a Diploma in Management and a Strategic Management NVQ Level 5. He achieved Membership of the City & Guilds of London Institute through the RE CPD Team in October 2005.

He is passionate about personal development and actively encourages all soldiers to explore their own strengths and develop them. This enthusiasm will carry forward to the Institute, where he will be leading the project to help the Inst RE in its aspiration to obtain full membership of the Engineering Council UK. This status will enable the Institute to offer Engineering Technician status to all eligible RE Corporals.

First engineering apprenticeship course at the RSME funded by the RE CPD Team

The first ever sappers to undertake a Modern Apprenticeship started their training on 1 October 2005. Although the Fitter Department staff were used to operating NVQ schemes, Apprenticeships were a new venture that brought additional work to the department. (RSME was already providing training towards an NVQ Level 2 in Engineering Maintenance.) To offer a full Apprenticeship, however, it also needed to include training in the Progression Award in Applying Engineering Principles and also Key Skills in Application of Number, Communication, Information Communication Technology at Level 1, and Working with Others and Improving Own Learning and Performance at Level 2.

Fitter Department instructors delivered the additional workload for the apprenticeship and four of the original eight successfully completed the course on 6 July 2006 (the other four moved to a later course and have now completed their programme). The Team’s role was to register the candidates, review their progress, provide general administrative assistance and, finally, claim the apprentices’ certificates once they had successfully completed their learning and development programme.

One of the newly qualified fitters, Sapper Nathaniel Tetteh, says: ‘I think the apprenticeship is very beneficial as, even without this, we are still learning a trade. However, this is giving us a recognised qualification.’ Sapper Craig Hamilton was swayed towards the Fitter course and comments: ‘I initially wanted to do fabrication; however, I spoke to my training support officer who persuaded me to do the Fitter apprenticeship. I’m really pleased that I came on to the Fitter course,’

The RSME and the RE CPD Team can now jointly boast of 60 successful fitters who, having successfully completed a civilian-style apprenticeship during their training, are currently working in RE units around the world.