The content of this Pathway has been agreed by National Skills Academy for Food and Drink (NSAFD). This is the only Apprenticeship Pathway in the Food and Drink sector approved for use in Wales that is eligible for Welsh Government funding.
Learning Programme Content
The Learning Programme provision shall comprise of three mandatory elements:
- Qualifications,
- Essential Skills
- On/off the job training
The total minimum credit value required for the Level 3 Pathway Food and Drink Engineering Maintenance is 262 credits (made up of the total on-and off-the-job training for all the components).
Entry requirements
Examples include:
- Academic routes (e.g. GCSEs, Welsh Baccalaureate)
- By completing vocational qualifications
- Participation on employer placement
- Work experience
- Training
Learners who have completed the Welsh Baccalaureate may have completed units or short courses which will provide underpinning knowledge towards the Apprenticeship. This will be assessed during an initial assessment allowing Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) where appropriate.
Apprenticeship pathway learning programme(s)
Level 3: Food and Drink Engineering Maintenance
Level 3: Food and Drink Engineering Maintenance Qualifications
Participants must achieve the following combined qualification below.
| Level 3 Diploma in Food and Drink Engineering Maintenance | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awarding Body | Qualification No. | Credit Value | Total Qualification Time | Combined / Competence / Knowledge | Qualification Assessment Lanaguage(s) |
| City & Guilds | C00/0537/0 600/8545/9 | 250 | 2495 | Combined | English Only |
Please see Annex 1 for the relationship between the competence and knowledge units within the combined qualification.
Essential Skills Wales (ESW)
| Level 3: Food and Drink Engineering Maintenance | Level | Minimum Credit Value |
|---|---|---|
| Communication | 2 | 6 |
| Application of number | 2 | 6 |
Essential Skills Wales qualifications assessment languages are English-Welsh
On/Off the Job training
| Pathway | Minimum On the Job Training Hours | Minimum Off the Job Training Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Level 3: Food and Drink Engineering Maintenance | 1250 | 1641 |
On/Off the Job Qualification details (Minimum Credit & Hours)
The recommended minimum pathway duration time for completion is 42 months.
Total minimum credit value for the combined competence and knowledge qualification: 250 credits
Essential Skills Wales (ESW) in Communication and Application of Number: 12 credits
Total on and off-the-job training minimum training hours: 2891 learning hours
- Competence = minimum 1145 hours
- Knowledge = minimum 1320 hours
- Essential Skills Wales (notional value 45 hours x 2) = 90 hours
- Induction = 35 hours
- Off-the-job mentoring, training and support activities = 168 hours (at least one hour per week for the duration of the programme)
- Progress review = 28 hours (at least two hours every 3 months for the duration of the programme)
- On the job mentoring = 105 hours
Minimum off-the-job training hours = 1641 training hours
- Knowledge component of - Level 3 Diploma in Food and Drink Engineering Maintenance = 1320 hours
- Induction = 35 hours
- Essential Skills Wales and off- the- job mentoring, training, support and progress reviews = 286 hours
Minimum on-the-job training hours = 1250 training hours
- Competence component of - Level 3 Diploma in Food and Drink Engineering Maintenance = 1145 hours
- On the job mentoring = 105 hours
On/Off the Job Essential Skills details (Minimum Credit & Hours)
- 6 credits/45 GLH Level 2 Essential Skills Wales Communication
- 6 credits/45 GLH Level 2 Essential Skills Wales Application of Number
Other additional requirements
There are no additional requirements other than the general entry conditions.
Progression
Progression from the Apprenticeship in Food and Drink (Food and Drink Engineering Maintenance):
The progression routes include into higher level roles within the food and drink or engineering sectors.
Opportunities for further training and education include:
- Higher National Certificates/Higher National Diplomas in Engineering
- Foundation Degrees in Engineering
- BA Honours Degrees
- Related professional courses
Many career options become available to the Apprentice on successful completion of the pathway.
Equality and diversity
It is important that apprenticeship Pathways are inclusive and can demonstrate an active approach to identifying and removing barriers to entry and progression. Pathways should advance equality of opportunity between persons who share protected characteristics and those persons who do not as identified in the Equality Act 2010.
The Protected characteristics identified in the Equality Act are age, disability, gender re-assignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity. Marriage and civil partnership is also included although only in respect of the requirement to eliminate discrimination in employment.
Training providers and employers MUST also comply with the other duty under the Equality Act 2010 to ensure that applicants are not discriminated against in terms of entry to the industry based upon those nine protected characteristics.
The food and drink industry in Wales is predominantly male, making up over two-thirds (68%) of the workforce; 32% are female. In comparison, a more balanced gender distribution exists across all industries in Wales where 53% are male and 47% are female. Between 2006 and 2011, the male share of the workforce increased by 7% (13,000 to 13,800) whereas the female share of the workforce declined by 4% (6,900 to 6,600). 36% of Welsh food and drink employees fall within the 45 to 54 years age group; 8% are aged 30 to 34; and only 17% are aged 16 to 29 years. The 16 to 29 years age group is considerably smaller than the other UK nations. In comparison, Northern Ireland has 38% of its food and drink workforce in this age group, England has 26% and Scotland has 25%.
Over two-thirds (68%) of the current workforce will be eligible for retirement in the next 20 years. It is notable that 3,500 non-UK nationals are estimated to be working in the Welsh food and drink industry in 2011, an increase of 86% since 2006. (Skills Insights and Labour Market Facts about the Food and Drink Manufacturing and Processing industry in Wales 2013-2014, Improve Limited 2013)
This pathway is an important route to encourage greater diversity within the industry and the following actions are being taken to promote equality and inclusion:
- Ongoing monitoring of data to identify any issues and intervene where necessary
- Promotion of the industry to a diverse audience though our careers website Tasty Careers www.tastycareers.org.uk and Tasty Careers Ambassadors
- Apprenticeship workshops to raise awareness of the benefits of Apprenticeships to employers
All partners involved in the delivery of apprenticeships, including training providers, centres and employers, must be committed to a policy of equal opportunities and must have robust equality and diversity policies and procedures.
Employment responsibilities and rights
Employment Responsibilities and Rights (ERR) is no longer compulsory. But it is recommended that all apprentices (especially the 16 years -18 year group) receive a company induction programme.
Responsibilities
It is the responsibility of the Training Provider and Employer to ensure that the requirements of this pathway are delivered in accordance with the Welsh Government Apprenticeships Guidance.
Further information may be obtained from: Welsh Government
Annex 1 - Level 3: Food and Drink Engineering Maintenance
600/8545/9 / C00/0537/0 - City & Guilds Level 3: Diploma in Food and Drink Engineering Maintenance
Structure
To achieve the Level 3 Diploma in Food and Drink Engineering Maintenance learners must achieve 11 mandatory units 301-311. In addition, learners must achieve the relevant pathway units:
Mechanical pathway units 312-314
Multi-skilled pathway units 315-317
Mandatory
- K/507/9800 301 Food and drink engineering maintenance compliance 70
- M/507/9801 302 Food and drink engineering maintenance best practice 95
- T/507/9802 303 Materials science 70
- A/507/9803 304 Mechanical maintenance in food and drink operations 80
- F/507/9804 305 Producing replacement components for food and drink
- Operations 210
- J/507/9805 306 Fluid power systems for food and drink operations 95
- L/507/9806 307 Welding technologies for food and drink operations 95
- R/507/9807 308 Electrical maintenance in food and drink operations 120
- Y/507/9808 309 Services and utilities within food and drink operations 95
- D/507/9809 310 Thermodynamics 80
- R/507/9810 311 Maths for food and drink engineering maintenance 100
Mandatory Mechanical pathway
- Y/507/9811 312 Monitoring for mechanical maintenance in food and drink operations 70
- D/507/9812 313 Repairing and producing replacement components in food and drink operations 60
- H/507/9813 314 Welding skills for food and drink operations 80
Mandatory Multi-skilled pathway
- K/507/9814 315 Electrical maintenance and testing in food and drink
- operations 145
- T/507/9816 316 Automation in food and drink operations 120
- A/507/9817 317 Understand the requirements of electrical installations
- BS7671 (2015) 40
Total Qualification Time
Total Qualification Time (TQT) is the total amount of time, in hours, expected to be spent by a learner to achieve a qualification. It includes both guided learning hours (which are listed separately) and hours spent in preparation, study and assessment.
2473-02 603/0355/4 Level 3 Diploma in Food and Drinks Maintenance (Mechanical pathway) GLH 1320 TQT 2495
Level 3 Diploma in Food and Drinks Maintenance (Multi-skilled pathway) GLH 1415 TQT 2560
Assessment - Summary of assessment methods
Candidates must successfully complete the designated assessment for each unit.
There are three assessment methods used for this qualification.