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Engineering Skills Intermediate 1 (SCQF level 4)

Contact the Qualifications Manager for this subject area
Dave Main GRAPHIC: email icon.

Structure of the Course

This Course is at Intermediate 1 level and consists of four 40 hour mandatory Units.

Mandatory Units:

Engineering Skills: Mechanical (Intermediate 1)

1 Unit credit

Engineering Skills: Electrical/Electronic (Intermediate 1)

1 Unit credit

Engineering Skills: Fabrication (Intermediate 1)

1 Unit credit

Engineering Skills: Manufacture and Assembly (Intermediate 1)

1 Unit credit


 

Summary of Course content

The overall purpose of the Course is to ensure that candidates start to develop the generic and practical skills, knowledge and understanding and employability skills needed within an engineering sector.

The Course focuses on the four broad areas of Mechanical, Electrical/Electronic, Fabrication and Manufacture. This will allow the candidates to gain basic transferable skills which can be applied to any of the above engineering areas. The Manufacture and Assembly Unit allows candidates the opportunity to apply the mechanical, electrical/electronic and fabrication skills they have learned in the manufacture and assemble of an artefact(s). The generic employability skills are integrated into each mandatory Unit and should be developed in conjunction with the practical activities of each of these Units. This will help candidates to understand that the generic skills such as time-keeping, following instructions and carrying out quality checks of your own work are just as important as the practical skills which they will learn.

The primary target group for this Course is school candidates in S3 and above. It is anticipated that, for this group of candidates, the Course will rely on and build on existing partnerships between schools and colleges and employers (or other agencies). This may be particularly pertinent in this Course due to the specialist expertise and facilities available in, for example, Further Education colleges and training providers. Nevertheless, the Engineering Skills Course is designed at a level and scope such that it can be delivered in schools, if the school has suitable facilities and teaching expertise. A partnership approach would still be necessary in order to provide the contact with the workplace which is an essential part of the experience for candidates. The Course is also suitable for adult candidates who are seeking to enhance their employability and develop introductory vocational skills in an engineering sector.

Summary of content of each Unit:

Assessment Approaches

In all of the Units, which focus on the development of specific engineering skills, assessment follows a similar pattern involving a range of practical activities which will produce evidence for all the Outcomes. The evidence will be confirmed by the use of an assessor checklist which will cover:

The assessment of employability skills is integrated in all of the Units and is based on assessor checklists and the completion of a candidate review sheet on four different occasions throughout the Course. This review allows the candidate to record development of employability skills in the context of different skills areas.

Each Unit will be supported by a National Assessment Bank (NAB) item which will provide an assessment package and will exemplify the national standard.

Learning and Teaching Material

Learning and teaching packs have been produced for each Unit, in partnership with the Scottish Further Education Unit (SFEU). These can be accessed via the SFEU website.

Experience of the workplace

Work placements are not mandatory for candidates taking this Course. However partnership arrangements will enable candidates to carry out the wide range of practical assignments required in the Course, in a workshop environment. This may also have the advantage of bringing candidates into contact with a range of employed students and apprentices.

It may be possible for centres to arrange visits to engineering firms as part of the candidates’ learning experience. A visit to a local firm(s) would be useful because work in progress will be at different stages and candidates can see various engineering trades working at the same time.

Visiting speakers from local firms should be encouraged in order to enhance understanding of employability skills, job roles and career paths for the candidates.

Centres are encouraged to establish links with local industry. Local engineering companies, trades associations, Sector Skills Councils (SSCs), Institutes and Chambers of Commerce may be prepared to offer support, for example, in the form of visits from representatives of their organisations. Visitors from industry will be able to give candidates a realistic view of jobs and conditions in the engineering industry.

Through their experiences of the various practical skills in the Course candidates should become aware of steps to employment or further training and this will help them to make valid personal choices regarding careers and further study.

Resource Requirements

Centres will require relevant workshop facilities for the practical Units in the Course. Equipment and small tool requirements are not onerous and are no more than would be expected for basic engineering craft work at this level.

Appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) will be essential for all candidates. This may include safety footwear, overalls, gloves, masks and hard hats as required. (This list of PPE is not intended to be exhaustive and centres should carry out risk assessments for all activities as required).

Progression

This Course may provide candidates with opportunities to progress to:

Conditions and Arrangements

 

Arrangement documents

Subject:

Engineering Skills
Level: Intermediate 1
Code: C243 10
Edition: Version 1, April 2007
Downloads: SfW Engineering Skills Intermediate 1 Course and Unit Specifications (266 KB)

Internal Assessment Report