Act now to avoid additional costs of CPC re-sits

Modernisation of National Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) training legislation will force unprepared passenger and freight transport operators to urgently re-evaluate their CPC training plans, the Freight Transport Association (FTA) warns.

As of next year, the current syllabus will change, forcing those who do not achieve a full National CPC qualification on or before December 2, 2011, (the final date for CPC exams in 2011), to additionally undertake the new course and/or examinations in 2012.

Candidates who fail one or more of their National CPC examinations in December 2011 will not be able to re-sit their exams from January 2012, and will have to re-take new exams under the new syllabus.

Isobel Harding, FTA's national training manager, said: "These changes must not go unnoticed by the industry and should serve as a kick-start to potential O-licence holders to obtain full qualifications if they have not already done so.

“Failing to grasp the nettle now could mean facing costs of re-sitting entire courses which have already been partially completed under the old syllabus. When transport operators are struggling to keep their costs down, the last thing they need is to waste money and time by getting caught out by changes in legislation."

Current holders of a National CPC will have a limited time (at this time unconfirmed but possibly to be between one and three years) in which to gain their International qualification, after which point only the new amalgamated course syllabus will exist.

Over 1,000 delegates study with FTA each year and consistently achieve a pass rate significantly higher than the national average. FTA will be offering pre-course analysis to any FTA CPC candidate to assess and aid their learning, and to help make the decision to attend this year's remaining courses and examinations.

A range of CPC course structures have been developed to suit delegates' training needs and can be delivered in-company or at one of its venues nationwide or through a blend of on-line and classroom solutions.

Harding concluded: "There is still time for this legislative change to be factored into companies' training plans, but the window of opportunity is closing so our advice would be to act sooner rather than later to avoid potential cost and disruption."