People interested in pursuing a career as a plant operator in the construction industry and are motivated to work hard, sometimes away from home, to become valuable members of the workforce.
The Plant Operations course is offered as part of the Apprenticeships programme and sets out to produce plant operators trained to operate a specific range of machines to become responsible and skilled workers in the industry. This is a new 12 week college programme consisting of four elements of plant. During their training at the college, apprentices gain a good understanding of the activities, techniques and procedures relating to plant operations. This includes training in servicing, basic maintenance, and levelling and setting out.
Course content
Key Skills
- Application of numbers
- Communications
Practical Training
The course includes training on the following:
- 180° Digger Loader
- 360° Excavator <10t
- Forward Tipping Dumper
- Telescopic Handler
Training includes a selection of the following as appropriate to the apprentice’s chosen trade:
- Contributing to an efficient and effective work environment
- Contributing to health and safety in the workplace
- Operating specialised plant and machinery to performance requirements:
– lifting and transferring
– extracting and excavating
– construction and formation
- Transporting and discharging bulk material loads
- Extracting and excavating materials
- Lifting, transferring and positioning loads
- Distributing, layering and consolidating materials
- Lifting, transferring and positioning loads for access
Entry requirements
All candidates will be required to complete a Skills Learning exercise, and some will need to attend the college for further tests.
Training methods
- Practical/hands on
- Classroom/tutorials
Methods of assessment
- Practical test
- Written test
- Continuous college and on-site assessment
Qualification/Certification
- Apprenticeship – Plant Operations
- NVQ Level 2 – Plant Operations (Construction)*
- Key Skills – Level 1
- Intermediate Certificate (ICT) in Specialised Plant and Machinery Operations
- Construction Plant Competence Scheme (CPCS) Trained Operator’s Card
- First Aid Appointed Persons
- Health and Safety test
*The college assessment team will track apprentices on-site for the first category of plant as selected by the employer for conversion to NVQ and the full CPCS Competency Card. Assessment for additional NVQ categories are available through the National Construction College – please contact us for prices and details.
This apprenticeship is available through the following campus:
NNC East (Bircham Newton)
Year 1: 12 weeks (NCC East)
Year 2: The remaining part of the programme is spent on-site with the apprentice’s employer to gain work experience.
For details of our apprenticeship programmes call 0844 8440409
For apprenticeship recruitment enquiries call 0844 8440043
To find out more about this apprenticeship download the training programme (328kb PDF file).
