Accreditation
The accredited courses run by Pilot are all nationally recognised qualifications from well respected national bodies, including:

Awarding Bodies

Chartered Institute of Environmental Hygiene (CIEH): covering food and drink production, preparation and provision to consumers

City & Guilds of London Institute (C&G): for production, distribution, administration and operational support services

Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM): for management and leadership development across the range of activities and levels of responsibility

PAAVQ-SET: for the fluids, chemical, pharmaceutical & petro-chemical industries

Skills Assurance Services Ltd (S A S L): serving all aspects of production within the polymer industry

Benefits of Accredited Courses
Accredited courses provide successful individual participants with a recognised qualification which remains with them as proof of their having achieved a required standard within their special area of operation. They reflect the national standards for performance within a specific industry sector and confirm a competence at skills which are transferable to other work situations.

By confirming competence in the application of an organisation's procedures, the learner's work performance and morale are often increased, leading to improvements in performance, timekeeping and safety awareness, practical proposals for operational improvements and enthusiasm for further self development.

BENEFITS TO PARTICIPANTS: The courses provide you with:

• Recognition of your competency at work, against the industry's nationally agreed standards
• A qualification which is yours and yours alone, which is recognised internationally
• A qualification gained at your place of work - no requirement to attend a training establishment
• A basis from which you can move on to further develop yourself

BENEFITS TO EMPLOYERS: The courses:

• Improve workplace performance through reinforcing and improving current skills and attitudes to work
• Develop practical and relevant ideas for operational improvements
• Provide effective learning and assessment by relating directly to the work procedures of your organisation
• Achieve a common platform of competency throughout the workforce
• Identify employees with development potential
• Save time by being undertaken at the place of work and being tailored to match the individual's requirements
• Achieve results with minimal disruption to work activities
• Help meet legal requirements for employee induction and health and safety training

Sector Skills Councils
In addition to the accredited awarding bodies described above, we deliver combinations of courses leading to awards such as the full apprenticeship qualification. The awarding bodies for these programmes are:

The Science Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies Alliance (SEMTA)

Proskills UK Ltd. The Sector Skills Council for the Process and Manufacturing Industries covering:

• Process and manufacturing of building products
• Extractive and mineral processing
• Refractories
• Glass and glass products
• Paint and coatings
• Print and printed packaging

Qualifications
We offer an extensive range of qualifications: the choice available is dependent on the subject being followed. The majority of our courses are National Vocational Qualifications, which are based on a process of observation and assessment of day-to-day operations in the workplace.

National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs)
NVQs have been developed for all industries. They are supported by government and are regularly updated. They have been designed to provide valid and relevant vocational qualifications for people at work. They are about being competent in work, which means being able to do something and understand why it is done in that way.

The aim of NVQs is to recognise and increase the skills of people working in a wide range of industries. For the employer organisation, they help management to identify both the skill levels and the commitment of the individual learners within that organisation.

Recognising and developing the skills of each individual person, wherever they work and whatever they do, meets a basic need for personal growth. Developing individual skills also meets the needs of the employer for the organisation to be competitive and to succeed. NVQs have become a vital component for any business wishing for success, competing in domestic and world markets.

For the learners, an NVQ gives them the understanding of the relationship of their work to the others around them, of the importance of each activity within the organisation and the realisation that improvements and ideas are encouraged and are given serious consideration. They have proved to be a most powerful motivator for some individual learners.

NVQs are available at different "levels", which reflect the degree of authority and autonomy which is built into the daily work tasks. The levels range from 1, with no discretion to take a decision concerning the work being undertaken, to 7, which reflects the discretionary powers over strategic decisions open to senior management. Currently, the most frequently delivered levels of courses are Levels 1 and 2.

NVQ's have come to be accepted by government as being the most valuable means of upskilling the nation's workforce. This has been borne out by our own experience over the past 5 years

Certificates
These are a complementary qualification to an NVQ. Unlike the standard NVQ, they can be used to develop knowledge of new areas of work. Conveniently, they are graded according to the same level of ability as the NVQs. They are particularly useful for people who wish to develop from operational activities into supervisory management and beyond.

Certificated courses usually require some form of knowledge test. At first glance, this can seem intimidating to people who have not undertaken a knowledge test for some time. The courses do prepare learners for the tests which usually prove to be little problem for anyone who has completed the rest of their course thoroughly.

Qualification Levels
For all the accredited courses described, mention is made of the "level" of the course being offered. This feature relates to the level of autonomy and authority involved in the individual person's work role which is being assessed for the NVQ qualification. A quick guide is as follows:

Level 1: requires basic skills involved in working to instructions

Level 2: requires some degree of decision making in relation to work operations

Level 3: requires some degree of decision taking regarding the work of others,

Level 4: requires authority over departmental activity, with some involvement in budget setting

Level 5: relates to a departmental leadership where there is responsibility for the budget

Should you be uncertain about the level at which you should be working, we can advise after a short conversation.

To confirm the appropriate level for your course, contact us

Return to the list of categories of accredited courses