training matters
MES apprentices: JTL will pay your employer
£800 for ACS Training & Assessment if
you’re qualified to Level 3 with us
GAS SKILLED
NEW RECRUITS
COULD BE IN
SHORT SUPPLY
If you’re entering the plumbing
and domestic heating areas of
building services engineering,
changes in syllabus choices
could be creating skill shortages
associated with gas installation,
design, service and maintenance.
For new learners, you can combine
study and work for either Level 2 or
Level 3 qualifications. While it’s not
recommended, you can go forward
to complete gas certification after
successfully completing Level 2.
Those studying Level 3 can choose
between two routes which result
in different qualifications as part
of the syllabus, by taking either
an environmental route or a gas
pathway as completion routes for
Level 3. Both offer the prospect of
full apprenticeship certification on
successful completion, but only the
latter allows entry onto the Gas
Safe Register.
Evidence suggests that since
environmental studies became an
option in 2010, the number of
students choosing the ‘gas pathway’
10
& Assessment, which is available to
employers of every qualified JTL MES
apprentice who achieves Level 3 with
us, to help you go forward and gain
the gas-qualified certification.
Employers also need to know where
they can gain the necessary college
or training centre support and this is
not always obvious. We have this
knowledge, due to a long-standing
agreement with companies such as
KIER, who have specialist facilities at
both Sheffield and Killingworth, and
because of close partnerships with
colleges across the country, which are
investing in the right equipment and
expertise to help you.
has dropped significantly, which
could lead to a major reduction in
gas-qualified engineers in the future.
As gas will undoubtedly continue to
hold a major share of domestic
and commercial business, it holds
good prospects for those interested
in this pathway. With a skills’
shortage, you could become a
sought-after employee.
Gas Safe is not without its challenges,
though, and it takes an estimated
250 hours of work to complete a
successfully assessed portfolio of both
knowledge and experience. While
you can complete a high proportion
of this written work and evidencegathering in your own time, employers
need to give you time off for training
and assessment and evidencerecording on jobs which show your
understanding and proficiency within
the submitted portfolio.
Here’s where JTL can help amidst
the prospect of a shortage of newlyqualified gas people. Should you
have opted for the environmental
pathway, and qualified, we will give
your employer £800 for ACS Training
As we increase apprenticeship
numbers in plumbing, heating,
ventilation and refrigeration, we’re
also intent on rising to a wider skillsbased challenge. Talk to your JTL
Training Officer to find out more.
• Almost half of people
(43%) don’t’ get their
appliances checked
annually
• One in 10 people use
gas appliances that have
never been checked
• The Gas Safe Register
estimates there are
approximately 7,000
illegal fitters working in
Britain today
• In the last year, the
Health and Safety
Executive reported 202
gas-related incidents
resulting in four deaths
and 333 injuries.
Source: Gas Safe Register