“For example, although loss is an accepted practice in industries such as retail, any level of loss is unacceptable in the defence industry. It could literally mean a breach of national security.” explains Paul.

So, how did Senate and BAE Systems develop the ‘BTEC Defence Industry – Security Officer Qualification’?

Skills gap analysis was an essential first step in the development process. Undertaken by BAE Systems, the analysis identified areas for improvement and enabled the company to develop a training matrix for officers at different levels of competency and service. Four key training stages were identified - Probationary, Initial, Intermediate and Skilled.

Skill sets and training requirements were then identified and agreed for each training stage, and the existing NVQ programme was assessed against these criteria. The NVQ failed in two key areas
 
“At this stage, it became blatantly clear that the NVQ didn’t meet our training requirements and, because officer performance couldn’t be linked to pay, that it couldn’t help us drive improvements in security standards by rewarding excellent performance.” says Mick Baines of BAE Systems.

Officers were also unhappy with the NVQ because of its generic approach to security training. Officers felt it failed to provide an understanding of key factors that were critical to their role on a defence site, that it didn’t really impact on their ability to do the job and that it didn’t motivate them to improve.

“Although the NVQ is a recognised and respected qualification, like other national accredited courses, it just isn’t sufficiently tailored to work well in our industry.” says Mick. “That’s why we approached Senate.”