FIELD                 ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

 

Review of Mechanical Engineering qualification

 

National Certificate in Mechanical Engineering (Level 2) [Ref: 1220]

 

Competenz has completed the review of the qualification listed above.

 

Date new versions published                                                      July 2008

 

The next qualification review is planned to take place during 2013.

 

Summary of review and consultation process

 

During review of the National Certificate in Engineering - Fabrication (Level 4) with strands in Heavy Fabrication, Light Fabrication, and Welding [Ref: 0122] industry decided to utilise the common engineering skills contained in the National Certificate in Mechanical Engineering (Level 2) [Ref: 1220] as a prerequisite.  However, to achieve this it is necessary to slightly alter the structure of the level 2 qualification to accommodate an engineering fabrication elective unit standard.

 

The proposed changes were endorsed by the Sector Advisory Group in April 2008.

 

Main changes resulting from the review

 

An elective section has been added to make this qualification suitable for use in fabrication apprenticeships.

 

National Certificate in Mechanical Engineering (Level 2) [Ref: 1220]

 

Review category

B

See Key to Qualification Review Categories at the end of report

 

Changes to structure and content

·      An elective section has been added.

·      A new standard 25075 has been added to the elective section.

·      Standard 21906 has been moved to the elective section.

·      The credit value for standard 497 has been updated.

 

Transition

 

Existing trainees are not affected by this review and therefore no transition arrangements are required.

Key to Qualification Review Categories

 

Category A

The qualification is published as a new version with the same NQF ID

Changes are made to SSB name, contact details or purpose statement

No change is made to title, rules or components of the qualification

No transition arrangements are required

Category B

The qualification is published as a new version with the same NQF ID

Changes are made to title, rules or components

The new version of the qualification recognises a similar skill set to that recognised by the previous version

The SSB is confident that people awarded the new or previous version are comparable in terms of competence

Transition arrangements are required if candidates must gain additional/different credits for the new version

Category C

A new (replacement) qualification is published with new NQF ID

Significant changes are made to the qualification in terms of components, structure, type or level

The SSB views people with the replacement qualification as being significantly different in terms of competence from those with the replaced qualification

Transition arrangements are required

Transition may be limited to phase-out dates

Category D

Qualification will expire.

There is no replacement qualification

Qualification is no longer required by industry

The qualification is designated as expiring and a last date for meeting the qualification requirements is set