CMF has been supporting the industry’s professional body, the Institute of Cast Metals Engineers, with the development of new apprentice standards for the Casting, Foundry and Patternmaking industries. Under the government’s complete overhaul of the apprenticeships, the existing apprentice frameworks are being withdrawn and new standards need to be developed under the trailblazer initiative, overseen by the Government’s new Institute of Apprenticeships. This new body, funded by the Department for Education, aims to ensure that any standards are employer led and meet the needs of industry.
Two new standards have been approved for the industry, one at level 2 and one at level 3. Commenting on the approval, CMF CEO Pam Murrell said, “I am very pleased that we now have the go-ahead to start developing these new standards – it is vital that our industry is able to have funded apprenticeships that are relevant and having approved standards is the first step. There is much to do now to write the detail required in the standards, including the assessment criteria, and our employers will have the opportunity to be at the heart of deciding what will be in the new apprentice standards. This, along with the new National Foundry Training Centre, due to open later this year, provides a realistic opportunity for our industry to have programmes of training at a range of levels that that are fit for the 21st Century.”
