Plumbing apprenticeships in England: are competency qualifications fit for purpose?

The current system often claims to assess an apprentice as occupationally competent before they have gained experience of doing the job in the real world. In this post, I argue that college-based knowledge and competence tests cannot support valid inferences about workplace competence and knowledge transfer. Further, I suggest that such competency assessments are a dangerous way of testing apprentices’ performance in a safety-specific occupation such as plumbing, which often involves electrical and gas work. My research Plumbing is a cornerstone of civilisation in contributing to human health, so it is in the interest of the public that competency qualifications are fit for purpose. However, plumbing is not licensed in the UK, unlike in other countries, such as Germany, where you must be a Meister (master) with 5 years of work experience to establish a business. It became apparent to me – as a plumbing employer, Further Education plumbing teacher and student – that the Engli