ONE in every 14 people across Scotland holds a City & Guilds certificate, and that figure looks set to rise even further following a 20 per cent increase in student numbers over the past year.
Neil Robertson, development manager for City & Guilds in Scotland, based in Edinburgh, says the qualifications have traditionally been associated with blue collar professions such as car maintenance and hairdressing, but areas such as business studie
s and information technology are becoming increasingly popular.
The number of students sitting business and IT exams jumped 30 per cent last year, but Mr Robertson insists C&G, which was founded 121 years ago, remains committed to its roots.
He says: "A lot of people gain their certificates through traditional apprenticeships, which is on-the-job training, but as jobs become more complex, there are additional knowledge and understanding requirements, so there’s been a big growth in that area, along with continuing professional development (CPD), to help people keep pace with changes.
"There have been quite exciting developments recently, and candidates are now able to take exams over the internet, which means they can sit them whenever they’re ready. This has particular advantages if they’re studying in the workplace."
But Mr Robertson stresses that some subjects, particularly motor vehicle engineering, cannot be assessed online, and there will always be a place for face-to-face training and assessment. "If a mechanic is fixing your brakes, you’d want to be sure someone has checked he or she can do that," he adds.
In Scotland, C&G works with around 40 colleges and 150 independent training providers, who each have a number of trainers to teach the curriculum. "We don’t provide the training," Mr Robertson says. "We make sure the people who deliver our certificates are doing it properly."
The organisation receives no direct Government backing, and is funded solely by those that offer its qualifications.
"The cost of the certification aspect of C&G is less than one per cent of the total training costs, which doesn’t sound much, but often the whole training package is based on the syllabus we’ve put in place."
C&G, which is headquartered in London, generates a turnover of around £1 million a year in Scotland, and the non-profit making group has business units spread across the globe.
Mr Robertson says: "C&G qualifications are popular right across the world, particularly in the Commonwealth countries, but we’re expanding from that base. China is now a large market , and many other businesses, as is India."
He adds: "That’s where computer-based assessments can really help, because imagine the problems in trying to get exam papers to every candidate in India or China."
The advantage of the system is that each qualification is recognised by employers around the world, whether it was awarded in Bombay, Beijing or Bo’ness, which enables workers to move across geographical boundaries safe in the knowledge their certificate is worth more than the paper it is printed on.
Mr Robertson leads a team of six at C&G’s Scottish headquarters , and is responsible for overseeing all its activities north of the Border. Around 15,000 people in Scotland will complete a City & Guilds qualification this year, which is a 20 per cent increase on last year, and a further one million people will sit the group’s exams across the world.
The Scottish arm of C&G is run almost autonomously, and Mr Robertson says he has overseen the introduction of innovative training schemes that will eventually be taken up by the wider group. "We’re now running courses in aquaculture, or fish farming, which is the fastest-growing industry in the world just now," Mr Robertson says. "As fishing quotas are slashed, we’re going to have to farm more fish."
Elsewhere, growth in health training has been led by Government legislation, which requires people working in the sector to be suitably qualified, while business skills are increasingly in demand.
"And everybody needs computer and IT skills," Mr Robertson adds. "One of our registered candidates is Tony Blair, who signed up to do an IT course. Sadly he hasn’t finished it yet, but he’s an ideal example of someone who’s not an IT practitioner but needs IT skills." Students can take most courses at their own pace, because they will often fit their training around their work and family life, and Mr Robertson says colleges are getting better at offering flexible learning.
However, there are still guidelines to follow because candidates are encouraged to complete their course within a reasonable time.
"There’s quite a high drop-out rate in certain sectors, particularly retail," he says. "Partly because there’s a very mobile workforce with extremely high staff turnover, so it’s not surprising if we offer a three-year programme some people are going to drop out."
He adds: "We need to get better at following people when they move on, so if they change employers and move to another part of the country they can pick up their training programme where they left off."
Careers advice and guidance in Scotland is improving, he says, so C&G expects to see an improvement in completion rates over the coming years. The certificates are now also open to over-25s, which Mr Robertson says is an "excellent development", given the predicted decrease in school leavers.
"By 2010, there will be 2.2 million job vacancies in the UK, but only 500,000 people will leave school that year, leaving a difference of 1.7 million. If we don’t fill those gaps, our economy will suffer." He adds: "Who do we fill those skills gaps? Partly by helping people back into work, but we also have to help those who are in work ‘up-skill’."
The average age of C&G candidates is around 30, and is increasing all the time as those people who are in work find they need to learn new skills because they have either moved jobs or been promoted.
Mr Robertson says: "Part of the City & Guilds group is an awarding body called ILM, which until a month ago was called NEBS Management. This has an excellent suite of supervisory and management qualifications."
But it is not just those people working directly in the business or IT fields that are taking up the new qualifications, he insists. "The chap that fixes your brakes now has to work quite complex engine management systems, so jobs are becoming more complex with increased technology.
He adds: "But employers are also recognising they don’t just have to train their staff for today, they need to train them for next year. Their competitors are doing that, so they need to do the same."
This is where CPD comes into play, as employers can either run certificated courses or smaller, refresher, schemes.
Mr Robertson says: "Companies are finding they need to invest in training to keep staff, because we’re currently in an employee-led market, in that there are more jobs available than people to fill them.
"Studies show that the most successful companies are the ones that invest in training for their staff."
The full article contains 1223 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
