The CITB has just announced the tender winners for the delivery of the CITB Specialist Applied-Skills Programmes (SAPs). The three SAP courses that are most attractive to the natural stone sector are the programmes for:

• Level 3 Heritage Stonemason
• Level 2 Stonemasonry Stone Fixing
• Level 2 Façade Preservation

These programmes are popular as they are minimally disruptive to the contractor’s workload. The programmes combine three elements: 

1. Employer mentoring of the learner
2. Off-site training, which averages about 20 days over a year
3. NVQ assessment

 The programmes are 18 months long with the off-site training in the first 12 months. During the remaining six months the learner is assessed against the relevant NVQ.

Two winners were awarded the Heritage Stonemasonry SAP, they operate separately and under separate contracts to the CITB, but likely there will be some collaboration. Then one winner secured both the Stone Fixing and Façade Preservation SAPs.

The tender winners are as follow:

The CITB, through its National Specialist Accredited Centre (NSAC) and its Specialist Applied-Skills Programme team do much good for this sector in providing access to what is essentially a fee-neutral offering. Mark Priestman says: "I shudder to envisage how the workforce in the specialisms would fare without the keen focus and appetite for qualifying the workforce that the CITB’s SAP and NSAC team provide."

Financial support provided by CITB not only covers the cost of the training but also travel and accommodation cost.