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Accreditation of Company Training Schemes


Background


An objective set by the Council of the Geological Society of London in its ten-year strategy adopted in January 2007 is to assure high professional standards by among other things promoting, endorsing and providing training, guidance and CPD (including professional development leading to Chartership). To that end the Society recognises the achievement of professional competence through the award of Chartered Geologist and Chartered Scientist status.

The Geological Society presently offers Endorsement for Company Training Schemes whereby it informally recognises that a company scheme provides an opportunity for participants to gain the core skills, experience and competencies necessary for either pathway to Chartership (CGeol or CSci). The Society now wishes to raise the profile and status of professional qualifications in the geosciences by offering formal accreditation of appropriate employment-based training schemes.

The Accredited Company Training Scheme will be a partnership between the Geological Society of London and the participating companies to produce an increased number of professionally qualified individuals who work in the field of geoscience. It addresses the need for structured training following graduation, at the critical stage in a person’s career during which he/she makes the transition from graduation to becoming a professional whose competence is assessed on the basis of experience gained. 
 

Professional context


Accreditation of Company Training Schemes extends the Geological Society’s engagement with formal professional development. The Society now accredits almost all UK and some overseas undergraduate programmes, and a small number of MSc programmes. Participation in an accredited degree programme or an Accredited Company Training Scheme offers the opportunity for suitably experienced candidates to be eligible to apply for Chartered status earlier than others, because accredited training is designed to optimise the acquisition of professional skills and experience.

With an appropriate combination of accredited degree and an Accredited Company Training Scheme, a candidate would be eligible to apply for Chartership four years after graduation, provided he/she had gained sufficient breadth of experience and satisfied the expectations of experienced Sponsors. 


Backdating


The benefits of accreditation will be back-dated, up to a maximum of 3 years, to the start of an accredited scheme, provided that the company concerned can demonstrate that the scheme has remained substantially unaltered for the period in question, documenting minor changes in response to experience gained during the scheme’s operation. 


Period of Accreditation and Cost


A Company Training Scheme will be accredited for a period of 5 years. The Geological Society will make a modest initial charge for accreditation (currently £900), with an annual fee (currently £100) charged each of the four years that follow successful accreditation. Companies are asked to bear in mind that this is a contribution towards the full cost of operating the accreditation process, and that the fee charged by the Geological Society for individual applications for chartership is low compared with many other professional bodies.

During the period of the accreditation, the Company and the Geological Society will liaise regularly to ensure that experience gained during operation of the scheme is optimised to meet the needs of participants. 


Format and Content


A Company Training Scheme has first and foremost to serve the needs of the employer, and each will be unique, in detail. Within the field of engineering geology, the concept of company training schemes is well established, and in other areas formal training schemes have also been developed. The Geological Society expects that all Accredited Company Training Schemes will involve a process of continuing professional development that builds a culture of reflective planning and self appraisal, with appropriate record keeping to provide supporting documentary evidence. It is expected that professional staff with expertise in human resources, who may not be geologists, will participate in administrating an accredited scheme where appropriate.

The Engineering Group of the Geological Society (EGGS) has developed a general training scheme expressly aimed at those working in this area. Experience has shown that a scheme of this type is highly attractive to employers and employees who wish to engage with the Chartership process. The EGGS generic scheme forms the core of a number of the company schemes that the Society has endorsed, and its adoption and adaptation is commended. In other areas, individual employers may have in-house training schemes which may or may not mirror that produced by the Engineering Specialist Group. 


Benefits to Participating Companies


Accredited Company Training Schemes will be listed prominently on the Geological Society website. Companies with accredited Company Training Schemes are expected to benefit in the following ways:
 

  1. Accreditation raises the status of geoscientists in the Company.
  2. It indicates that the company has a strong interest in the professional development of its employees.
  3. It enhances a company’s ability to recruit highly motivated staff
  4. It encourages a steady flow of employees towards Chartered status.
  5. It guarantees that the Training Scheme develops and maintains its quality.
  6. It provides external recognition that the Company looks to develop professionals of the highest quality.
  7. There is potential to charge higher fees to clients because of the increased number of employees with professional qualifications.
  8. The company receives clear guidance from the Geological Society of London for candidates preparing their Chartership application.
  9. The company has input into the Geological Society of London to support Chartership standards.


Benefits to Trainees


Trainees participating in the scheme will benefit in the following ways: 

  1. Development objectives are matched to their personal development needs as a geoscientist generally, possibly extending beyond those of the Company.
  2. Objectives are agreed so that the trainee gets a broad training and experience and has a more satisfying role.
  3. The trainee is required to be involved in planning their own professional development.
  4. Mentoring is guaranteed to ensure that the development progress continues and weaknesses are spotted early and corrected.
  5. There is assurance that all the necessary core competencies for Chartership are addressed, and that opportunities to gain the necessary experience and skills are available so enhancing the probability of a successful application.


Requirements


In detail, the content of a Scheme is to be agreed with the Geological Society of London’s Professional Committee and will be administered within companies by Mentors involved in the chartership process. Those Schemes presently Endorsed by the Society will readily be eligible for Accreditation.

All Accredited schemes will have the following requirements: 

  1. All trainees will already be or will become Fellows of the Society.
  2. The company will appoint a Training Officer to run the scheme.
  3. Each trainee will be assigned a Mentor who is Chartered, to guide them in planning how they will achieve the scheme’s objectives.
  4. The trainee will keep a training record that is reviewed with the Mentor on a quarterly basis. This record will be important for the trainee should they move between Companies and also for later demonstration of skills and experience in their Chartership application.
  5. The trainees will prepare, in discussion with the Mentor, an annual CPD plan outlining objectives to be achieved. Action on the plan will be recorded using the GSL on-line system. Each year the trainee will discuss CPD achievements with the Mentor, reflect on this and propose a plan with objectives for the following year.
  6. The trainee will prepare a written report of their achievements over the year, in terms of development and learning, and have this agreed and signed off by the Mentor. In particular, the report should emphasise objectives achieved, skills learned, experience gained and responsibilities undertaken.
  7. At the end of 3 year a major review of attainments will be undertaken to assess the progress made by the trainee relevant to the core competencies required for Chartership. At this stage plans will be made to ensure that weaknesses or omissions are addressed, that the skills learned are practiced and experience is broadened.


Duration of individual training programmes within an Accredited Scheme 


Individual schemes may last for up to 5 years and the trainee should maintain the relationship with the Mentor up to the time they attain Chartership and in the early career years following professional validation. In some instances the basic training objectives may be reached in 3 years. If so, guided by the Mentor, the emphasis then should move to the broadening of experience, practicing of skills, continuation of CPD planning, taking on increasing responsibility for projects and so on until such time as the trainee is considered by their Mentor to meet all of the competencies and be ready to apply for Chartership. At this stage, the Mentor could become the candidate’s Sponsor.

As a generalisation the usual length of time after graduation needed to satisfy the requirements of Chartership will be 4 years or more. At that stage in an individual’s career, there will be a major review with the Mentor of achievements and competencies. If, in the Mentor’s professional opinion, the necessary competencies have been attained then the Professional Report should be prepared and the Supporting Professional Documents assembled. Once this is complete then a meeting with the Mentor (as one Sponsor) and a second Sponsor should review all aspects of the application before it is submitted.
 


Mentors


Mentors are a most important aspect of the accreditation of Schemes and the Society will rely heavily on their professional judgement regarding attainment of skills and competencies. The Professional Interview will thus be able to more clearly focus on the competencies and judgement skills of the candidate. Generally, Mentors are to be Chartered Fellows of the Society and their names registered with the Society against each Scheme. The Society will invite all Mentors to join the Society’s panel of Scrutineers. In exceptional circumstances it may not be possible to identify a Mentor who is a Chartered Fellow, in which case alternative arrangements must be agreed with the Chartership Officer.

There will be a meeting each year in Burlington House to which all Mentors will be invited to share experiences and advise on possible changes for improvement of the Accreditation Scheme process. 


Annual Review


Each year the Society will require companies to supply a short report on each Accredited Scheme that will include details of any changes that have been made to the training scheme, a list of trainees and the levels they have achieved, and when they might be eligible to apply for Chartership. 


Cost


A fee of £900 will be charged to cover processing the Application and the first year’s accreditation. Subsequently fees will be £100 per annum. A reduced rate may be negotiated for very small organisations. Accreditation will be for 5 years in the first instance. 


For more information on how to apply, contact:
Bill Gaskarth, Chartership Officer at chartership@geolsoc.org.uk 07916138631 or
Mohammed Jahangir, Fellowship Services Manager at mohammed.jahangir@geolsoc.org.uk or 020 7434 9944