The Farmers Mart Feb/Mar 2014 - Issue 32 | Page 68

machinery

Land-based IMI Awards
qualifications get industry backinG
Key manufacturers in the land-based
engineering sector have given their
backing to a series of high quality
vocational qualifications provided by
IMI Awards.
Bagma, Claas and John Deere have
all given their support to the new Tech
Level qualifications, which were produced
in response to a Government call for
training programmes that specifically meet
employers’ requirements and help young
people get a foot on the job ladder.

IMI Awards, which specialises in
providing qualifications and accreditations
to land-based, automotive and related
sectors, developed the qualifications
specifically to meet the rigorous new
requirements.
The IMI Awards Level 3 Diploma in Landbased technology and Extended Diploma
in Land-based technology have been
approved for Key Stage 5 performance
tables from 2016 with teaching beginning
this year.
Rob Gray, Qualifications Development
and Marketing Manager for IMI Awards,
said: “Agriculture and the land-based
industries are a thriving sector and provide
a wealth of opportunities for young
people entering the job market. The Tech
Level qualifications are designed to give
young people the necessary background
knowledge and training to get them into
employment.
“We are really pleased to have received

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such good support from our industry
partners and to see that, after spending
the last few years expanding our offering
to other sectors, we are now the preferred
awarding organisation to the land-based,
as well as automotive, industry. It was very
important to us that we met the exacting
standards set by the DfE.”
The new high quality Tech Levels will
be taught from September 2014 and
send a strong message regarding the
government’s commitment to giving
vocational education the same esteem
as academic learning. The move is part
of a response to Professor Alison Wolf’s
report that called for a radical overhaul of
vocational education. As a result, 91% of
the 3,721 qualifications currently approved
for teaching will be removed from the
20 M