Transportation N/SVQs are updated – Nationwide consultation May –June 2003
Posted: 22nd May 2003
An important development in the field of qualifications for professionals working in transportation infrastructure in the UK is about to enter its consultation phase. The first NVQs/SVQs relating to the transportation sector were accredited during the mid 1990s. They included levels 3, 4 and 5, and covered transport planning, traffic management & systems engineering, highway maintenance, technical support and road safety. The revision of these awards is now due, and the Construction Industry Council (CIC) has been overseeing the development work. The occupational standards – the building blocks of NVQs/SVQs – have been modernised and simplified. The key improvement has been to replace the original suites of separate awards with a single “core and options” matrix at each of the levels 3, 4 and 5. This covers the roles in the public and private sectors from technician and supervisor to senior management and professional practice. The new structure allows candidates to build NVQs/SVQs around areas of common competence, to suit their own individual personal development.Mike Kendrick, Chairman of the Transportation Vocational Group responsible for these awards, said: “The transportation community recognises the importance of an integrated approach to qualifications which will embrace the different disciplines within the sector.
These new NVQs/SVQs, with their “core and options” structure, are a major advance that will provide practitioners and employers with the awards and recognition that they need.”Andy Costain, project manager for the Transport Planning Skills Initiative (TPSI), said: “Transport planners have no natural professional home. They are multi-skilled, they come from a wide range of disciplines, and many of them are not engineers. These new NVQs/SVQs can provide a valuable benchmark for competent transport planners. We would encourage all those in the sector to get involved in this important consultation.”
The consultation will take place during May and June this year. It will be electronically based; access is either by individual email, and/or via the relevant sector websites.