City & Guilds - Examination in Caravan Service Engineering
PLEASE NOTE - This is an exam only, based upon skills engineers have learnt in the workshop. There is not a taught course.
Touring caravans and motorhomes are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and customers have even higher expectations of the level of service engineers' competency. SkillsActive Caravan Industry Training provide the only industry specific City & Guilds qualification, designed to assess and formally recognise the abilities of touring caravan and motorhome service engineers.
Why take the assessment?
The assessment provides evidence to both an employer and their customers that a service engineer is competent and performs to a recognised standard of work. The syllabus for the assessment follows what the industry consider should be the minimum service carried out on a touring caravan or motorhome. Service technicians taking the certificate in caravan service engineering are assessed on their competence to service a touring caravan or motorhome in compliance with the industry service standard and their understanding of these requirements.
Achieving a City & Guilds qualification demonstrates commitment to ensuring that work carried out meets customers’ high expectations. That workshop staff hold the certificate is therefore now a requirement within the Approved Workshop Scheme.
What is involved?
The qualification consists of an observed service carried out in a caravan workshop, and a short multiple choice exam (tick box) to make sure that candidates understand some of the theory behind industry standards, gas, electricity, health & safety and other issues.
Although under exam conditions, the observed practical assessment simply follows the service engineer through a caravan service, typical of their everyday work. Examiners understand that candidates are often practical and non academic, and do their best to put them at ease. To prepare the candidate for their written exam, the candidate will receive a copy of the Service Technicians’ Handbook which contains all the background information they will need in order to pass along with best practice guidance on the practical service of a touring caravan or motorhome. There are no trick questions or hidden problems for them to identify. Both the practical and the written assessments examine the candidate on their knowledge, the competence of their every day work and conformity to health & safety requirements.
Candidates are able to take the assessment on the type of unit they are most familiar with; either a touring caravan or motorhome. There is also the option to take a ‘combined’ exam which assesses candidates on a touring caravan for their practical exam but includes motorhome related elements in a combined written paper.
What happens when I pass the assessment?
Having achieved a successful pass in both parts of the assessment, the candidate will receive a City & Guilds certificate in Caravan Service Engineering.
Locations & Cost
The written assessments are held across the country at regional exam centres during early March and November of each year.
Written Exam Locations
Typically exams are held at Aldershot, Bradford, Cornwall, Exeter, Glasgow, Gloucester, Maidstone, North Wales and Nottingham. However, when there is sufficient demand, additional centres of Bournemouth, Cambridgeshire, Cardiff, Carlisle, Manchester and Tyneside may be used.
Practical Exam Locations
Caravan Industry Training relies upon the goodwill of workshops across the country in providing workshop space for the practical assessments. Practical Exam centres are planned each year according to demand and location of candidates and are held on a rolling basis. The majority of assessments take place in the autumn and winter, however where ever possible candidates will be assessed as soon as possible.
How Long will it take to compelte the programme?
It generally takes between 6-9 months from registration to complete the programme. From the time of registration you will know which month your written exam will be (March or November) It is however a little harder for us to predict the date of the practical exam.
If you are in a position to be a host workshop we are able to organise a date for the practical exam fairly quickly, however if you are unable to host the exam yourself (for example if you are a mobile service technician) we must place you at a workshop when one becomes available. The practical exams take place throughout the year and therefore exams are organised as soon as we are able to allocate candidates to a host workshop. This will always be arranged as soon as possible for you; however the time scale will be dependent upon the generosity of workshops permitting external candidates to use their facilities.
Enrolment Deadlines
- Autumn enrolment (November Written Exam) - 31st July
- Spring enrolment (March Written Exam) - 31st December
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