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The apprentice

10th December 2009
Page 46
Page 47
Page 46, 10th December 2009 — The apprentice
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

No, CM hasn't auditioned for Alan Sugar's Apprentice, but we've been visiting Scania's Training Centre in Leicestershire.

Words: Justin Stanton

Having left Junction 22 of the MI, CM (driven by Scania's PR guru) is on a narrow private road cutting through farmland. We navigate around sheep that have found a way through the fence, and, within a few minutes, reach the Scania Training Centre.

Scania took possession of the 4,000m= facility (formerly a pigeon farm) in 2000, after five years in Coalville. Presiding over it is Mark Oliver, technical services manager. The facility at Copt Oak, near Loughborough, is as impressive as our photographs suggest. It includes a 2,500m2 workshop as well as training rooms. Around 9,000 man-days of training are carried out here each year. While intake is understandably down at the moment a result of the recession the training centre typically has two intakes of 32 apprentices a year. Says Oliver: "We have an intake in September of two groups of 16, and a second intake in January of another two groups of 16; this is a change from a few years ago.

"Traditionally, we took them all on in September, when school-leavers start college, but we found that the retention rate would start dropping in April/May as some of the guys would realise it wasn't what they wanted to do,

After feedback from the Scania network, the decision was taken to have two intakes, allowing depot managers to hold back some potential apprentices and give them three months at the coalface first.

Drive and interest

Ideally, says Oliver, an apprentice should have three GCSEs at grade C and above, but Scania is willing to adopt a flexible approach.

If an applicant has the drive and interest, but not the grades, they will still he considered and then given any additional training they need if taken on.

Scania training manager Steve Brown visits depots to help with interviews and initial assessments. The would-be technicians must attend the training centre for 30 weeks over three years: 12 weeks (six fortnight-long stays) in years one and two, and six weeks (again, fortnight-long stays) in year three. Assuming they're up to scratch, they gain their IMI Diploma in Heavy Vehicle Maintenance and Repair and NVQ Level 213 Heavy Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair. In year three, they also get started on the next rung of the ladder, taking three of the seven courses required for those who want to gain Scania Master Technician status.

Retention (completion) and qualification rates are substantially higher than the national average for modern apprenticeships. For the past two years, Scania's retention rate has been 97% and 98% respectively, while the average over the past five years is 85% — against a national average of 50%. Fully 98% of Scania's apprentices who complete the course gain their qualification; the national average is just 66%.

Common faults

The instructors (eight in total) have come up through the ranks with Scania, and the Scania technical help desk is on site. Regular meetings allow the help desk to bring instructors up-to-date on the most common faults they are addressing. These are then replicated in the apprentices' training, allowing the training to evolve.

Scania's and Oliver's approach to student care is exemplary.Apprentices are put up in twin rooms in a local Thistle hotel, with breakfast and dinner.Theyget lunch at the centre's canteen and the assessors visit the hotel a couple of nights a week to make sure everything's OK.

The induction day is key, says Oliver. "They all come with their mums and dads. I give a presentation on Scania; the instructors are all present; the representative from the hotel is there, too. The day gives the parents an insight into what's in store for their children. It's a big step for most of the lads— they've never lived away from home."

And they are mostly 'lads': of the 750 or so apprentices that have gained their qualification at Scania since 1995, there have been only three women, including one this year.

Ongoing training is also provided for all Scania staff. It takes three years to achieve Master Technician status, and, once obtained, that status must be maintained via regular training course attendance or through a re-certification course. The latter used to run six or seven times a year, with 12 on each course, but now runs only twice a year. The centre was awarded the government's Training Quality Standard status earlier this year (Scania is the first heavy vehicle firm to do so).That means it can draw up to £250,000 of public sector funding.

Furthermore, it is effectively a centre of excellence within Scania: international divisions have come to Oliver for advice on how to establish their own training centres — Australia and India, to name two locations from around the globe. II


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