Update to the Experienced Worker Qualification - 2346

There has been a recent update to the requirements of the 2346 Experienced Worker Qualification.

With the pandemic forcing a lot of us to change the way we approach our delivery of training a lot of assessments, interviews and training has moved into the online space.

When the new experienced worker qualification was launched it's entire structure was based upon assessor and candidate too and fro, with the candidate having to provide sufficient evidence to the assessor to fulfil the criteria.

In the hands of a competent and supportive assessor, this level 3 qualification has the potential to repair a lot of the damage that short course routes and varying hurdles to entry had created over the past 15 years or so.

The one slight concern I had was the risk to the integrity of the qualification as I am aware many candidates fall victim to rogue traders and that includes assessors who do not carry out the work to the standards they are supposed to uphold - which in the long term does not help anybody and could put lives at risk.

Thankfully my confidence in this qualification has grown even further now that it has recently been announced and updated in the qualification workbook that of the two necessary direct observations the assessor needs to carry out, one of these which MUST be a physical, Face to Face, site visit. A seconds may be live streamed but both must be put forward and made available for quality assurance checks.

A little more about the 2346 qualification

This qualification is designed for those who have been working in the electrical industry through a training route which is not recognised on the electrical careers website. For example you may have attended one of the 'Part P' courses designed to rush you through in a few weeks and sign you on to a competent person scheme.

Those days are now gone and the doors are closed - and for the better.

If there has been five years of on the tools experience development since you completed that prior training, then this qualification is designed to identify the value of that competence development and to then compare it to the training criteria of todays equivalent electricians training course.

Remember that this is five years since completion of training, not including the training.

To quote the City and Guilds handbook:

This qualification is designed solely for those experienced persons who are, or have been, working in the Electrotechnical industry, practising as an Electrician, for a minimum of 5 years and who can demonstrate their technical knowledge, performance and competence to the industry standards at Level 3 in one of the occupations of this qualification and in line with the current edition of the IET wiring regulations (BS 7671).