As an Engineering Maintenance Technicians you will work in a range of industries that use plant, equipment and systems. This includes energy, leisure entertainment, manufacturing, processing, and utilities companies. The working environments vary across the industries. Engineering Maintenance Technicians maintain plant, equipment and systems to optimise operations. They conduct planned and preventative maintenance to prevent issues occurring and reactive maintenance when problems occur. For example, responding to breakdowns. You must be prepare for and accept jobs, complete work safely to required standards, close the job, and complete work records. You will also contribute to continuous improvement activities, and may complete work as part of a team or alone, depending on the task.

You will interact with other maintenance technicians, engineers, and support operatives, and have contact with other internal and external stakeholders, which may include operations, managers, quality, research and development, and admin staff. You may also have contact with auditors, regulators, and customers undertaking site visits, and will typically report to an experienced maintenance engineer.

As an Engineering Maintenance Technicians you must maintain the safe and reliable operation of plant, equipment and systems. Work must comply with any industry specific regulations. Safety is a key priority. You must comply with health, safety, and environmental regulations and procedures, and sustainability practices. You must complete tasks in line with their company’s procedures and timescales, and also take account of wider business considerations such as cost and service level agreements.

As a technician, you will have the responsibility of maintaining the safety, integrity and effective operations of plants and equipment in one or more of the following industries that are part of or have activities part of a broader national infrastructure engineering sector.

These include-

• The electricity generating environment- which may use different fuels including coal, gas, nuclear, wind and other renewable sources.

• Telecommunication power plants

• Oil and gas refining

• Nuclear waste reprocessing

• Processing and the production of chemicals

• Human and animal food

• Cosmetics

• Petrochemicals

• Sewerage

• Exploration and exploitation of oil and gas

If you pursue a career as a Mechanical Technician you will work on various types of plant and equipment commonly found throughout the Engineering Industry sectors and the Technicians can be expected to migrate through these sectors during the course of their careers. Depending upon the sector that you are employed in there may be subtle differences in terms of the composition and application of the plant and equipment. However, the fundamental principles of operation will be the same regardless of the engineering sector.

As a mechanical technician, you will be learning to:

• Position, assemble, install and dismantle mechanical plant and equipment which may include pumps, valves, gearboxes, and pipework, to agreed specifications

• Carry out planned, unplanned and preventative maintenance procedures on mechanical plant and equipment

• Replace, repair or remove components in mechanical plant and equipment and ensure that it returns to operational condition.

• Diagnose and determine causes of faults in mechanical plant and equipment

As an apprentice, you need to be employed for at least 30 hours a week and you will attend college one day a week.

During your qualification you will be building up a portfolio of evidence including evidence of practical observations, progress reviews and work activities- this will go on to support you when you then reach the End Point Assessment period at the end of the programme.

Assessment methods on this course will include

Observation with questions

You will be observed by an independent assessor completing your work. It will last at least 4 hours. They will ask you at least 4 questions.

Interview underpinned by a portfolio of evidence

You will have an interview with an independent assessor. It will last at least 75 minutes. They will ask you at least 9 questions. The questions will be about certain aspects of your occupation. You need to compile a portfolio of evidence before the EPA gateway. You can use it to help answer the questions.

Multiple-choice test

You will complete a multiple-choice test. It will be closed book, meaning you will not have access to any books or reference materials. In the test you can have:

• a scientific calculator

The test will have 40 multiple-choice questions. You will have 60 minutes to complete it.

For more detail on the Apprenticeship standard for this qualification visit the Institute of Apprenticeships and Technical Education.

This course information is taken from the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education Website- Course Code (ST0154 ), Version (1.4)

This Apprenticeship has been developed by Rolls Royce, UTAS, AMTC, Silicoms, MoveTech UK, Paradigm Precision, MGTS, Heller Machine Tools, Selex, and Zeiss.

Upon completion of this apprenticeship you may wish to progress onto full time work including:

• Engineering maintenance technician

• Engineering technician 

• Maintenance and operations engineering technician 

• Maintenance engineering technician 

• Maintenance technician 

• Mechanical craftsperson 

• Mechanical maintenance technician

You will meet the professional standards of the Engineering Council for registration as Engineering Technician (Eng Tech) by an appropriate Professional Engineering Institution.

You can discover all the opportunities available to you by exploring the full list of careers in the industry.

Students must consider the following:

• Awareness and regard for good health and safety practices

• Good communication and interpersonal skills

• Work well individually and as part of a team

• Attention to detail

• Commitment to study (attendance, punctuality & behaviour)

• Enthusiasm for the subject/area

2 GCSEs at Grade 4/C or above including English, Maths and Science or Functional Skills Level 2

Or the ability to demonstrate ability to this level through initial assessments.

The End Point Assessment (EPA) is made up of three elements which include;
• A Knowledge Assessment- weighting 20% of your overall grade. This involves an exam lasting 45 minutes consisting of 30 multiple choice some scenario-based questions. This will allow you to demonstrate the core technical knowledge in the standard.
• A Practical Observation- weighting 40% of your overall grade. This involves an independent assessor coming to observe you in practice. The content of the observation will relate to the specific role you are working towards. During this observation, you will be asked questions to show the assessor your reasoning behind the different actions and choices you have taken to complete a task.
• A Technical Interview- weighting 40% of your overall grade. This involves coming together with two independent technical experts for an interview to discuss the contents of your evidence portfolio which you will have complied over the course of your apprenticeship and finalised over the End Point Assessment period. The interview will allow you to be tested on the validity and coverage of the evidence you have covered in line with the knowledge, skills and behaviours in the standard. It will involve three scenario based question areas.

If you would like to apply for this course, please click 'Apply' in the top right, follow the steps, and our Admissions Team will be in touch with you.

For more information, advice and guidance please phone Student & Learning Services on 01524 521385 or 0800 306306 or email advice@lmc.ac.uk

Course code: A64289-A1A