CRA Training News – UK
By AutoRaise
Two Apprenticeship trailblazer groups, AutoRaise (@AR_Charity) and the Collision Repair Sector group, are set to merge, with the shared vision to create, manage and develop the industry’s technical Apprenticeship Standards.
In the years between 2012 and 2020 the government reformed the apprenticeship model, replacing existing frameworks with new apprenticeship standards. These standards were developed by employers – vehicle repairers in our industry’s case – forming working groups known as Trailblazers.
Due to the industries varied needs, repairers from within the sector found itself creating two independent Trailblazer groups: AutoRaise and The Collision Repair Sector Group (CRSG).
Through these groups the industry has five published technical apprenticeship standards available. A group of repairers formed the first AutoRaise Trailblazer group in 2012 focused on the Accident Repair Technician standard. This was followed by the development, by the CSRG, of 3 single skilled apprenticeship standards for Paint, Panel & MET technicians. Most recently the standard designed for the development of Vehicle Damage Assessors, by AutoRaise, was published in 2019.
Now several years on both Tom Hudd of The CRSG and Chris Oliver of the AutoRaise Trailblazer have, due to personal circumstances, stepped down from their respective roles of individual group Chairmen.
This bought Bob Linwood of AutoRaise, Dean Lander of Thatcham Research and Tom Hudd, NBRA and former chair of CRSG to the realisation that the time for unity was now. Once a new Chairperson from the vehicle repairer community is elected, all three will remain key stakeholders within the group as active supporters for all apprenticeship routes.
Tom Hudd stated “At times it seemed like a mountain to climb and a mountain we did climb, we can all be very proud of the standards that were designed and implemented into the industry with the Governments stamp of approval. We must now ensure the industry continues the journey and it is better to do this together than in silos”
Since their introduction, all Standards have been recognised by repairers as viable and appropriate apprenticeships. However, there remains a need to maintain the process of managing and developing the Standards and End Point Assessments so that they continue to meet the needs of the industry.
It is imperative that the industry secure every apprenticeship opportunity and that it uses all of these standards as building blocks for the development of a sustainable competent resourced sector for the future. Bringing together passionate industry stakeholders in a unified way like this will ensure this can be achieved.
Credit to FE News.
