Agricultural engineers from the AGCO Apprenticeship Academy at Moreton Morrell College are celebrating being the first in the UK to pass through the tough new national apprenticeship standards for their industry sector.

Fourteen land-based service engineering apprentices, working at AGCO dealerships across the country, were delighted to learn that they had passed through their End Point Assessment (EPA), taken with Lantra at Moreton Morrell’s land-based college at the end of February.

The Agricultural engineers from the AGCO Apprenticeship Academy

An EPA is the final assessment apprentices undertake to make sure they are fully competent and can do the job that they have been training for. Government legislation states that a rigorous and robust EPA must be delivered by a separate body to the training provider giving employers the confidence that apprentices have achieved occupational competence. This is the first ever cohort within the agricultural engineering sector to undertake the assessment.

Apprentice Jacques Marshall, who works at Thurlow Nunn Standen Ltd in East Anglia as a trainee technician was very pleased to learn he had passed all elements of his EPA.

Jacques Marshall

The 23-year-old from Norfolk said, “It feels great to achieve after all the hard work and effort put into the four-year programme. Agricultural technicians are highly sought after so it’s really good to know that I now have the skills and will give me a good career for life. College has been great, and I’ve definitely made some friends for life.”

Anthony Linfield, AGCO’s training development manager, said, “I am delighted that AGCO’s dealer apprentices have become the first ever within the agricultural engineering sector to undertake their End Point Assessments including exams. The EPA represents a key element of the AGCO land-based engineering apprenticeship scheme, and serves as demonstrable proof at pass, merit or distinction of their qualification to the employers who have invested in them.”

Mark Eden, Director of Work Based Learning at WCG, said, “As their training provider it was really pleasing to see our latest group of AGCO apprentices complete their Land-Based Service Engineering Apprenticeship programme and become the first apprentices in the country to achieve this new apprenticeship standard.

“The group demonstrated a wide range of knowledge, skills and behaviours during the intense process of assessment spread over a two-week period. This is testament to all the hard work this group have committed to their apprenticeship and the support and guidance received from the team at Moreton Morrell College and the AGCO franchised dealer network these candidates represent.

“The group achieved some fantastic results across all elements of their EPA process, so I would like to thank Land-Based Assessment Limited and the team at Lantra who have supported WCG throughout this process.”

Lantra provides expert training and qualifications for land-based industries. Its Chief Executive Marcus Potter said, “As an EPA organisation we’re delighted that the first technical apprentices in Level 3 Land-Based Engineering, have recently passed through the new assessment process with Lantra. We’ve worked closely with all parties behind the scenes to ensure the end-to-end process has run as smoothly as possible. Feedback to date has been extremely positive, providing an excellent platform for moving forward.”

The AGCO Academy Apprenticeship is now in its twentieth year, and in partnership with Moreton Morrell College, part of the multi-site college group WCG, has been the starting point for some of the most highly-respected and sought-after agricultural engineers in the sector.

It combines classroom and workshop training with practical, work-based development to lay the foundations of a successful career, working with brands including Massey Ferguson, Fendt and Valtra.

Dealerships and those interested in finding out more about the opportunities through the AGCO apprenticeship scheme can email MasseyFerguson.apprenticeship@agcocorp.com, Fendt.apprenticeship@agcocorp.com or Valtra.apprenticeship@agcocorp.com