A lot of thought has gone into updating the AM2 assessment. Stephen Plant, NET business development manager, explains what the changes will mean to future candidates.

For the last 25 years the Achievement Measurement 2 (AM2) has been recognised as the gold standard for the electrotechnical industry, providing valuable evidence of an individual's occupational competence for tens of thousands of electricians. But as standards become more demanding, so the AM2 must reflect this.

The review

The review of the AM2 was not done overnight. The last two years has seen National Electrotechnical Training (NET) carry out a thorough consultation process, encouraging all areas of the industry, apprentices, employers, practising electricians and examiners alike, to give their opinion. This feedback has been invaluable and has led us to take the opportunity not just to review the assessment itself, but also to reconsider the way in which it is administered and marked, as well as our guidance to candidates.

The consultation highlighted the need to make the assessment reflect current working practices, including the use of modern connection and wiring systems. The revised AM2 is now entirely competence, rather than systems, based and encompasses methods of installation and termination, safe isolation, risk assessment, inspection, testing and fault finding.

In the past, some candidates undertook the assessment before they were fully prepared. While remaining challenging, the new AM2 will have much better guidance so candidates can better measure their state of readiness before putting themselves forward to do the assessment. The guidance will come in the form
of a recommended pre-requisite checklist. This will allow candidates to check their competence
against the individual elements of the AM2. When they feel comfortable with each component, they are then ready to undertake the assessment.

The Future

We believe the changes made to the AM2 accurately reflect the skills required by the industry. The new assessment will boost the confidence of the next generation of electricians in their own level of skill and ability, and will be their mark to show that they are capable of providing the best level of service to their clients and employers alike.

For more info, please visit www.net-works.org.uk