Call for employers to help build standards for new groom apprenticeship

Equestrian employers are needed for a survey looking into the standards required for the new equine groom apprenticeship.

Through the radical apprenticeship reform, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills aims to increase the quality of apprenticeships, put employers in the driving seat and simplify the system.

In doing so, it expects that the successful apprentice will be held in the same esteem as a university graduate.

The government is currently redesigning 76 different apprenticeship schemes, ranging from TV production to welding.

Now a steering group — which includes representatives from the British Equestrian Federation, British Horseracing Authority and the Household Cavalry — is working together to standardise the national equine groom apprenticeship into a qualification that fits the needs of today’s employers.

The standards for the new level two and three equine apprenticeships have been drafted by the Trailblazers Equine Apprenticeship group.

The employers’ feedback survey runs from 1-21 April and is part of the government’s request for world-class apprenticeships.

“We need employers’ input to the proposed standard to ensure it meets the requirements of the industry and that we deliver the government’s request for world-class apprentices,” said Sue Martin, who set up the steering group for the new Trailblazers Equine Apprenticeship group. She is the owner of the Trent Park Equestrian Centre on the outskirts of London.

“The reform aims to standardise the core knowledge and skills of the grooms, while offering training in a chosen sector of the industry including breeding, driving, racing, riding and equestrianism as a whole,” she added.

Brian Hutton, a member of the steering group and manager of Talland Equestrian Centre, added: “What we are trying to do by providing level two and three apprenticeships is to drive a wedge of good practice into the heart of the industry.”

The proposed standards for the level two apprenticeship were agreed at a meeting earlier this month.

“Feedback is now needed from all employers right across the equine industry,” added Mr Hutton.

By 2017, the government hopes that all apprenticeships will use employer-led designed standards.

To take part in the survey, visit: www.equinetrailblazerapprentices.com

Ref: Horse & Hound; 2 April 2015

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