Success Story
HMD/Royal Navy
HMD Ltd is a leading training company in the South East of England, with over twenty years experience in its field. It provides publicly funded training, as well as some commercial training, and operates several Learndirect and ECDL test centres. HMD is well practised in delivering ICT and vocational training and was one of the first training providers to pilot the new ITQ. The company was quick to recognise the potential value of the ITQ pilot project to its clients, which include the Royal Navy. HMD is currently working closely with the Royal Navy to develop and implement highly tailored ITQ programmes.
A New Approach to IT Skills Training
Gary George the ITQ project co-ordinator of HMD, who has over twenty-two years of experience within the Royal Navy, believed ITQ’s flexible qualification structure could suit a variety of his clients training needs - even the advanced requirements of the Royal Navy.
"ITQ offers an IT vocational qualification that is so flexible, it can be tailor-made or moulded to fit any business, any job role and any IT training requirement. We could see that its modular structure provided a 'pick and mix' training framework that could span across all skill levels, addressing the most basic to the most advanced needs of our clients," commented George.
"Also a key element of the ITQ, is the simplicity and speed with which learners can have their prior knowledge and experience acknowledged as part of their training. One of the difficulties with IT skills is that many are gained over a long period time and are self- taught. For the first time, learners will have the ability to accredit what they know already, within the qualification, which is great both for the employer and employee."
Working with the Royal Navy
The Royal Navy operates a range of high quality training schemes - that have been developed over a long period of time – to identify and develop the skills, knowledge and understanding required to build the competent performance of its staff. The organisation runs its own training for IT skills development as part of its Professional Royal Navy Training Courses, but wanted to explore using ITQ to validate its training with a national qualification.
"Based on the new National Occupational Standards (NOS) and accredited into the National Qualification Framework, ITQ could enable the many IT users serving within the Royal Navy to gain recognition of their skills within a national framework, and provide an opportunity to incorporate and validate their own training courses within the ITQ programme," explained George.
It was decided by HMD to initially concentrate on the validation of one course and a sample of 12 candidates working in the Operations room simulators of one of the Royal Navy’s Training Establishments, HMS Dryad. The Operations room within a ship contains a large amount of highly customised Information Technology applications and software used by members of the Warfare Branch. A core element of this is the Computer Assisted Command System (CACS) a very large and specialist bespoke unit that has been especially designed to meet the demands of the Type 22 Frigate’s Command and Control system, which is controlled by the Petty Officer (Above Water Warfare Tactical) - PO (AWT). Logically the IT proficiency of the PO (AWT) needs to be the greatest and was the focus area for the initial ITQ candidates.
Developing Highly Customised ITQ Profiles
To determine the ITQ project plan, a detailed study and assessment was conducted by HMD which incorporated an analysis of the Royal Navy’s organisational objectives, existing training practices and proposed candidate’s skill levels, alongside an audit of the systems and software the department used. This enabled HMD to establish the skills required to meet the Royal Navy’s organisational needs and measure the true level of staff IT competency, matched against the NOS. From this, HMD was able to develop an ITQ profile - the training options and programme for each candidate - enabling them to address the Royal Navy’s training requirements in great detail with individually customised courses for each PO (AWT), specifically designed to the Royal Navy’s IT environment.
Due to the highly specialised and unusual nature of the activities being assessed by HMD a coordinated visit from a City & Guilds External Verifier, Steve Lloyd, was set up to further validate the findings and assessment plan of HMD.
A Successful Start
Ten of the twelve candidates completed and achieved the ITQ level 3 award in March, together with the validation of the PO(AWT) training course. One candidate will receive part credit as he was appointed to sea during the pilot and the remaining candidate is expected to complete soon.
PO Morris, one of the candidates taking part in the ITQ project, reflects on his experience, "By integrating the ITQ syllabus as part of my professional training, I’ve been able to gain a valuable qualification and improve my skills at no extra cost or effort. What has been of real value is the ability to officially certify my existing knowledge of IT and utilise the skills I’ve gained within the Royal Navy to achieve a civilian recognised qualification."
"From my experience, I can easily see how ITQ can have a significant impact on our organisational performance if it is extended to more staff, by helping to develop even more efficient and effective methods of using IT within our department,” added PO Morris. “Following the success of the initial pilot, I believe the Royal Navy is now investigating the possibility of integrating the ITQ award into several of its professional training courses."
HMD is committed to sharing best practice and supplied the Royal Navy’s own NVQ cell with the results of the ITQ pilot project to demonstrate how ITQ can further support the validation process of other Warfare Branch training courses.
About HMD Ltd
HMD Limited has been involved in training since 1984, originally providing management and training services in the hair and beauty industry, it has since broadened its activities to include training and development services in a range of other industries.
Based originally in Fareham, HMD has expanded its training operation throughout Hampshire and neighbouring counties offering total training solutions for businesses however large or small. Through expansion and acquisition we have developed specialist subsidiary operations with a wealth of knowledge and expertise in their sector.
In 2004 HMD was inspected by the Adult Learning Inspectorate and was considered good in all sectors of learning and its company management. HMD is now approved by many awarding bodies to offer Nationally and internationally recognised qualifications. The Investors in People Award was achieved by the Company in 1997 and has been re-accredited each year subsequently.
About the Maritime Warfare School and HMS Dryad
Within the framework of the Naval Recruiting and Training Agency (NRTA), the primary aim of the Maritime Warfare School (MWS) is to deliver world class Maritime Warfare Training, providing the required number of Warfare Personnel appropriately trained for their individual tasks – "Ready to Fight and Win". The Maritime Warfare School currently consists of HMS Collingwood, Dryad and Excellent.
Dryad provides training to over 5000 students a year, attending over 265 different types of courses. An annual budget of some 36 million pounds is required to manage assets which include an estate of some 300 acres and 65 buildings, efficiently to ensure that, within these available resources, personnel continue to be trained as effectively as possible.
Last modified: 16 Jun 2007
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Quotes
"Appointing an ITQ champion was crucial" - Kit Ruparel, Message Pad