Final year apprentices at United Utilities have been able to graduate despite lockdown measures thanks to new socially distanced assessments.
The North West water company worked with the Energy and Utilities Independent Assessment Service (EUIAS) to use technology to allow 26 final year apprentices to live stream their assessments.
Two metre selfie sticks were used during the practical assessments, so assessors from EUIAS could remotely observe the tasks being undertaken and ask questions. Other protective measures were implemented which allowed exams to take place in a classroom at a safe distance.
Jacqui Kawczak, apprenticeship delivery manager at United Utilities, said: “For our apprentices in their final year who had assessments and exams to complete, many feared their future career prospects within the company would be severely delayed due to the coronavirus crisis.
“We worked closely with the Energy and Utilities Independent Assessment Service and their external quality assurance provider Open Awards, to share with them our ideas on how we could facilitate our apprentices completing the necessary elements left, safely and to the required standards.
“After hearing and seeing the proposal we were delighted when they approved our plan.”
United Utilities said nowhere else across the water and wider utility sector had anything like this been attempted before.
Bernie Zakary, head of EUIAS, said: “I am very pleased the EUIAS has been able to apply a flexible approach to completing these assessments and carry out the first live-streamed end-point assessment trade tests. The support and technical advice from Open Awards, and the collaborative approach from United Utilities and our independent assessors made it possible to overcome a number of logistical challenges to enable these apprentices to complete.
“The lessons and approaches learned here will have an impact across a number of apprenticeship standards and be a significant addition to the tools and techniques for carrying out quality work-based assessments in future.”
United Utilities added that it is currently looking at opening back-up its application window for its 2020 apprenticeship intake, to help create job opportunities following the crisis.
The company was one of 25 organisations across the utilities sector which earlier this week signed a pledge to support the development of apprentices as a key way of addressing skills shortages over the next decade.
The pledge is part of the Energy and Utility Skills Partnership’s Workforce Renewal and Skills Strategy 2020-25 which sets out how utilities and the supply chain will tackle the 277,000 vacancies they expect across the sector over the next ten years.