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Plastering EWPA Qualification Route from Able Skills
This fast track route to the right level of qualification in Plastering is available to all time served and skilled plasterers, those of you who have never previously had the time or the opportunity to gain a qualification to reflect your plastering ability.
Able Skills has approval from Construction Awards Alliance and City & Guilds to assist skilled Plasterers in gaining an NVQ. This process is non complicated and can be completed in a relatively short time frame if all of the evidence required is readily available.
If you have been working as a plasterer for quite some time and you are competent in your Plastering ability and have a very good general knowledge in all areas of plastering, then come along to Able Skills to meet with one of our Plastering Assessors to discuss your route to gaining a Plastering qualification. A short meeting to establish your competence could put you well on your way to obtaining a Plastering NVQ, a requirement for any construction site worker for 2010.
We have all of the required assessment procedures in place: qualified staff, excellent facilities and all of the support and guidance to help you obtain a Plastering NVQ.
Candidate Criteria
All EWPA candidates include:
- Being site experienced in all the stated skills of the Plastering NVQ
- Having sufficient experience of the skills of the NVQ, so that planning your working day, problem solving and decision making and working to deadlines (with regard to Plastering) are a usual day-to-day activity
- An ability to cope with the demands of an intensive practical assessment process
- An ability to work safely at all times
- An ability to discuss your work activities with others
The following mandatory units make up the level 2 NVQ:
VR01: Conform to general workplace safety
VR02: Conform to efficient work practices
VR03: Move and handle resources
VR66: Produce internal solid plastering finishes
VR67: Produce external solid render finishes
Supported by TWO optional units from:
VR65: Apply finishing plaster to background surfaces
VR68: Install direct bond dry linings
VR69: Lay sand and cement screeds
VR70: Apply projection plaster and maintain equipment
VR71: Install mechanically fixed plasterboard
This is a fast route open through the CAA-ConstructionSkills / City & Guilds awarding body. It is available for workers with a minimum of five years experience and who don’t need any further Plastering training.
The whole process can be completed quite quickly if all evidence is in place and to start, you will undertake a profiling session with our Plastering assessor who will skill match you to identify your suitability for this NVQ fast track route.
If you are successful at the profiling stage, we will then arrange for you to come back to Able Skills Construction Training Centre whereby you will undertake a practical task as set by Construction Awards Alliance and a recorded Professional Discussion; this can be arranged for weekends if you are unavailable through the week.
You may also be required to obtain additional evidence: Witness testimonies, work records or photographic evidence etc to support the fact that you are an experienced Plasterer.
All the skills and evidence needed to pass the Plastering NVQ are included in the one practical task, this is observed by our approved Plastering assessor and photographic evidence is built for lasting evidence of the entire procedure.
The 4 Steps of EWPA
Step 1: Upon contacting Able Skills, we will arrange a profiling appointment for you and make recommendations of the kind of information and evidence you may wish to bring along to support your application as an experienced Plasterer.
Step 2: At your profiling appointment our Plastering assessor will introduce you to the process and make an initial assessment to ensure you are suitable to qualify through this method. They will look over any items of ‘evidence’ you may have with you, evidence you provide can be in a written form, such as witness statements from customers or supervisors worked with in the past, or it can take the form of photographs of your work, site plans, qualifications or proof of employment. If there is insufficient evidence but it is clear that you are a competent plasterer, you will be advised of what additional evidence is required. You will also be required to sit a health & safety test for your CSCS card if you haven’t done so already.
Step 3: Once all of the required portfolio evidence is complete, you will undertake a practical assessment of your skills which will be observed by our Plastering assessor. This will be followed by a recorded professional discussion to assess your knowledge of Plastering; we will aim to complete this process over a period of 2 days which can be weekends.
Step 4: If you are successful, you will receive your full, Experienced Worker CSCS card and your NVQ certificate. If you do not pass the assessment all is not lost: the work you have done can still count towards your qualification through OSAT.
Whether you are looking to gain an NVQ for the purposes of obtaining an Experienced Worker CSCS card or if you are considering emigrating and taking your Plastering skills to another country, this experienced worker fast track option is a fantastic route to gaining that all important qualification. This is an opportunity for you to have the paperwork that is sometimes an official requirement to prove that you are an experienced and skilled Plasterer.
Funding for Plastering NVQs
There is funding available for anyone looking to undertake their first full level 2 qualification; this is subject to certain criteria being met.
Staff at Able Skills will be happy to establish your eligibility or you can visit: http://www.traintogain.gov.uk/Helping_Your_Business/eligible/ for full details on how train to gain may help you gain the qualification you are lacking.
For more information, help and advice, please phone us on 0808 100 3245
Or for more information please Email us.
For people travelling longer distances Able Skills Ltd can provide their own reasonably priced accommodation on request or at the time of booking.
