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ETA will be offering the Low Carbon Heating Engineer Diploma to those looking to re-train after leaving the armed forces through its partnerships with the Ministry of Defence’s enhanced learning credits scheme.

The Level 3 Qualification runs over two years, blending learning with work experience. On successful completion, learners will have developed an understanding of how to plan, select, size, install, commission, service and maintain (including fault finding, diagnosis and repair) low carbon central heating and hot water systems, for working in the low carbon heating industry.

ETA co-founder Andrew Lamond, said:

“TheDiploma is currently available in England but none of the colleges or universities in Scotland offer it. By making it available at the academy, we are giving people pathways directly into low carbon heating jobs without the need to go through a traditional plumbing and heating apprenticeship.

“We know there is going to be a huge skills shortage when it comes to renewables. The plan has always been to up-skill existing gas engineers, but it is an ageing workforce who are generally not interested in re-training at the later stages of their careers.

“Currently, you have to be a heating engineer before up-skilling into low carbon technology, but this will be a complete programme providing a path into that sector, specifically installing air source heat pumps.”

He added:

“I started out with Scottish Gas six months after leaving the Navy after going through a managed learning programme for gas. We’re offering similar but for low carbon heating to meet the industry changes as we transition towards a greener, more sustainable future.”

Barry Sharp, founder of Falkirk-based Renewable Heat, one of Scotland’s top heat pump installers, said:

“The course has been driven and guided by the industry so we will get a product that is useful for us. This is something that the industry has been crying out for ages.

“We all sit and complain that we can’t get the right people but don’t do anything about it. We have been searching for a way to unpack this puzzle and this might be it, thanks to the work of the Energy Training Academy.

“The current roadmap to get into heat pumps is to do a four-year apprenticeship and then train on top of that so it could take six years for a young apprentice to be properly ready. That is not the roadmap for an industry that is growing exponentially.”

NOCN Group is an international charity which delivers future-fit skills solutions with social impact for colleges, training providers, employers and individuals. Our Qualifications, Apprenticeship End Point Assessment, Assured Courses, Competence Cards & Tests, and Short Online Courses are designed to advance skills in the areas where they are most needed including construction, engineering and the green economy.

NOCN Group also offers End Point Assessment of the Low Carbon Heating Technician Apprenticeship Standard.

Find out more about the NOCN Level 3 Low Carbon Heating Engineer Diploma here.