Engineers have been invited to participate in a consultation on an overhaul of the Bus and Coach National Occupational Standards (NOS) undertaken by the Institute of the Motor Industry.
NOS underpin the coach and bus apprenticeship framework in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. However, road transport technician development consultant Lloyd Mason – who has led the exercise – says that coach and bus apprenticeship standards for England are also due for review and that the outcome of the NOS work will likely influence any changes there.
Mr Mason has called on engineers in all spheres of the industry to participate in the consultation, which closes on Friday 12 February. A review of responses will be carried out at a meeting on 16 February, at which all stakeholders will be welcome.
“We have brought NOS into line with what is required,” he says. Mr Mason adds that NOS for HGVs were viewed as more comprehensive than those for coach and bus, and thus for the mechanical and electrical section the two have been aligned, although some aspects are tailored to coach and bus requirements.
“The heavy vehicle NOS have more detail and we had a lot of support for looking at them and making them fit coach and bus,” he continues. The updated NOS have seen parts of the separate electrical vehicle standards mapped across to suit coach and bus applications.
NOS coachbuilder standards have also been revised and improved. That work has used bodybuilder standards for heavy vehicles, but Mr Mason says it has been “tuned” to suit coach and bus applications. He hopes that those changes will permit more training providers to offer such apprenticeships.
“NOS are static documents. As technology moves on, those standards need to be updated to reflect them. The last review took place in 2014 and this work is overdue. I encourage anyone with an interest to contribute to the consultation.”
Find out more about the revised Bus and Coach NOS and contribute to the consultation here.
