Poor standard apprenticeship delivery

[hedgesparrow]

no names but i have heard a college who do arb training. from those in the trade that those coming out are not that good. most of what they have done is been based around the utility game eg power lines. but as i say its is third hand. i though they did some good training. but maybe its the times try and cram to much in in to short a time so learn nothing of use.

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

It's a tricky situation. The forum rules don't allow "naming & shaming" but if there is a consensus of opinion, how can anything change/be changed??

 

Footnote: I actually have no idea which institution appears to be alluded to!!

[ArthurBottlesworth]

My son started uni In surrey

He had qualified at practical stuff at night school when he was 16

The degree was 5 hours a week !

3 of those was subject he was qualified in, so they used him to teach it

Stuck it till xmas then transferred to american university

 

40 hours of lectures a week

If there was bank holiday they had extra lectures over weekend to "catch-up"

Started at 8:30 am finished at 10;00 pm

 

Dfferent work ethic in america ............

[Hodge]

I have a 17 year old who is doing a Forrest and Arb course at Newton Rigg, he tells me one of the tutors doesn't even know the correct names of cuts etc. it took the 7 months to do 2 weeks felling and they won't give them assessment until they all have more experience but they won't get experience as only 2 out of 15 students have a placement. From what I have heard from various sources Newton Rigg is not what it once was.

 

 

Hodge

[Billy68]

I don't know about the rest of you but I'm asked all the time if I want a student. I'm all for work experience but I do think it's the colleges job to teach them the basics first. I had a nice lad come to help me, but he hadn't even been taught how to sharpen a chain correctly and couldn't tell when it needed doing. After a full years placement I didn't get so much as a call from the college let alone a visit, just filled out a form to say how he'd done. The college seems to glorify climbing and they're made to feel that doing anything else is a lesser part of the job and often beneath them. They forget we all have to start somewhere.

 

The college here also insist their students buy the kit pack from them, it's not cheap and the contents are rubbish and not what you'd pick yourself eg heavy boots and thick trousers where they should really just give them a shopping list and let them pick for themselves.

[Mr Oz]

our apprentice having same problems.his doing level 2 in arb.its been year and a half and hardly covered anything.if you ask me they r waste of time

 

 

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[Philip Anderson]

I don't know about the rest of you but I'm asked all the time if I want a student. I'm all for work experience but I do think it's the colleges job to teach them the basics first. I had a nice lad come to help me, but he hadn't even been taught how to sharpen a chain correctly and couldn't tell when it needed doing. After a full years placement I didn't get so much as a call from the college let alone a visit, just filled out a form to say how he'd done. The college seems to glorify climbing and they're made to feel that doing anything else is a lesser part of the job and often beneath them. They forget we all have to start somewhere.

 

The college here also insist their students buy the kit pack from them, it's not cheap and the contents are rubbish and not what you'd pick yourself eg heavy boots and thick trousers where they should really just give them a shopping list and let them pick for themselves.

I can only reply with praise for Askham Bryan, the course tutor Matt Metcalfe was first class ,chipper certificate in first block week ,basic chainsaw next block week,and so on,we even had a site visit to us in Norfolk to check us out and see my son on a work site not bad for a college in Yorkshire ,we got regular updates and feed back .

There was no compulsory kit to purchase from them ,I personally think that block release apprenticeships are far better than day release as it gives the colleges more time to prepare the apprentice for nptc tests .

All my sons course was fully funded including test fees training accomodation and travel expenses to Yorkshire and we as his employer received £1500 as well .there are some good ones out there!

[Topper]

Apprenticeships are a great way for young people to get onto the industry, earn a wage, get a diploma and tickets....if it's delivered correctly of course.

 

I know of a certain college in north london that is doing it very well by all accounts

[steve@black]

if it's delivered correctly of course. Thats my point , in my area it is not and there seems to be little gained in the way of qualifications

[geoffers]

Same here, the only reason why I took a lad on as an apprentice was because he had sent me a cv and that impressed me because it wasn't just a run of the mill copy everyone else's cv.

 

So I gave him a chance, as he seemed a nice lad willing to learn.

He started his apprenticeship and was doing 2 days a month over the course of each month. Three months into the course it was clear it wasn't teaching him anything. In fact he used to ask if he could work rather than go in as he learnt more at work than college. Nine months down the line and two site visits from college staff and we cancelled his course.

 

The good things to come from it was I now have a young lad in training gaining experience and qualifications every day. Enjoying learning and progressing in the industry.

 

The bad things are the fact colleges are offering these courses and not backing them up with qualified interesting instructors, and churning out poorly qualified lads and lasses who want to progress.

 

Obviously not all colleges and courses are the same, but from the sounds of it a lot are.

 

 

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