Proof of apprenticeship 1970s

[Donnie]

A question to anyone who served their apprenticeship in the Uk during the 70s and early 80s,do you remember what paperwork you were given on successful completion of you apprenticeship,I hit my C&G certificates and I remember getting a paper sjib card but nothing else, the card was lost a long time ago, now trying to get a new grading card but without proof of my apprenticeship it is difficult,has anyone else been in this position, by the way I have always worked as an electrician /electrical fitter since 1976.cheers Donnie

 

[ipf]

I would have been just down the road from you at Ward & Goldstone serving my time as an apprentice toolmaker! Circa 1978.

Volex, eh? Ward and Goldstone crap, we used to call it.
A good friend, long gone, used to be chief electrical engineer there a few decades ago.

 

[Tom256]

Tom.
Thanks for posting this ,I did not know about the update on the EAS site,I had given up on pursuing this any further,but now I might give it another go .
Regards
Donnie

I am still pursuing this and wanted to update.

I made a subject access request to HMRC for information on my employment between 1980 to 1985 - the period that covered the apprenticeship with NORWEB (plus a year)
HMRC have records and sent me details that show I was working where I claimed to be year by year. They even have the amount of pay received each year. Of interest the pay shows the increase in salary that an apprentice would receive with each milestone reached.

No other records exists that I have been able to locate from this age pre-AM2. Electricity North West (was NORWEB) never kept records. As such my statement to ECS - who have themself stated in their own guide to qualifications that pre 1994 qualifications were highly likely to have been part of an apprenticeship. As such if no organisation deemed it neccesary to keep these records from 40 + years ago, and if it is reasonable to say a paper document its form unknown could be lost, then should not other forms of evidence be open to assessment to establish proof beyond reasonable doubt.

HMRC records can convict a person so you would have thought it would be enough. I suspect now the reply will be to question if the apprenticeship was 'any good'.

 

[Tom256]

Update on this thread:
As covered in my previous posts within this thread, I qualifed pre-AM2 and long lost my final apprenticeship completion letter. The ECS card criteria permits those with the required qualifications who completed pre-AM2 to gain the card on qualifications plus prove of the Apprenticeship completion. I was never able to provide that final letter of completion. Despite well over 25 years spent in the Electrical industry, over the last 40 years since qualifiying, such has meant I was unable to obtain the Installation Electrician ECS Gold Card.

However, I have fought hard and worked to compile and present a substantial evidence file that went to the JIB 2nd stage appeal. The final pieces of that evidence file being the testimony from Electricity North West and the HMRC records.
This morning I heard the oputcome of that appeal

Quote:
The steering committee have agreed that due to the documentation provided, we can provide the Installation Electrician Gold card as long as you meet these requirements.
We can see you hold the 18th edition certificate, but we still require you to provide valid H&S and a copy of your photo ID to confirm the names on your Part 1 and Part 2 certificates.
[end quote]

 

[littlespark]

Well done.

Determination pays off in the end

 

[Tom256]

Well done.

Determination pays off in the end

Thank you that is appreciated.

The industry needs the mix of men and women from all levels of time served to be able to come together and share knowledge and experience. This is for the good of the trade because there was great value in the 'old ways' all but lost.
It has been so very frustrating and I was not going to go down without exhausting every possible option open no matter how many years that was to take.