Transporting Goods By Road

A Unique Qualification for the Courier

In the past, there have been many different vocational qualifications. But it was sometimes difficult to tell which qualification was best for a job and, in any case, some qualifications were restricted to people of a certain age, educational achievemnet or past experience.

NVQs are different. They are open to all and are based on standards developed by employers for their industry.

The Road Haulage and Distribution Training Council (RHDTC) in collaboration with the Despatch Association and Camelot Courier Training developed the nVQ that is available for motorcycle couriers today. It is entitled ' Transporting Goods by Road' and is intended for motorcycle couriers.

Standards in the NVQ are relevant to the day to day work of the same day motorcycle courier. They are widely recognised by the courier industry and valued by employers seeking new couriers.

Being awarded the NVQ is rather like passing a driving test. It does not matter whether you went to a driving school or wheather a friend taught you. What matters is that you can show an assessor that you can drive competantly. Similarly with the NVQ Transporting Goods by Road it does not matter wheather you trained at the Camelot Courier School or gained your competance on the road at a courier company. If you can proove to the assessor you have met the standards to be a competant courier you will be awarded the NVQ.

Typical Questions

Will I have to pass an exam

No - NVQs are primarily assessed by watching you work as a courier. There are ocasions where written or oral questions form part of the assessment process. Tests in phonetic radio code or postcode tests. Traditional exam techniques will not form part of this process. There will be no great lengthy paper to sweat over.

Will previous experience as a courier count towards my NVQ

Yes - This is known as prior learning. Documents such as your motorcycle licenec are a good example of prior learning. You will need to provide evidence of your experience as a courier. Past refferences, Pay sheets or signature sheets showing the work levels you achieved.

Will I have to pay for my NVQ

Yes - There will be a fee to cover registration, assessment and certification. These fees are paid for you if you are on the Camelot Courier Course by the government. Otherwise you may find your courier company may help with fees.

Units of the NVQ

The NVQ is made up of a number of units. To get the full NVQ you must be assessed competant in all of the units. You can do them one at a time. You can choose not to do them all. You will get a certificate for the whole NVQ or for the individual units you take. A brief summary of the units is given below.

Transporting Goods - Operation and control of the motorcycle. Checking the bike and findin your way.

Collection and Delivery of Goods - Preparing for the transfer of goods, delivery locations etc

Health & Safety - Safety on the road, in the workplace, lifting and handling goods.

Security in the Work Place - Security of the goods, risks to security of your bike

Working Relationships - Working with your controller, fellow couriers and clients

Customer Services - Relationships with customers, information on signatures, complaints, timing of deliveries.

Camelot was involved in the development of the qualification.

Lord Falkland, All party group for motorcycling, awarded the very first NVQ in this subject to a Camelot candidate in 1994 Between 1994 and 2001 over two and a half thousand successful qualifications have been successfully achieved by Camelot Candidates.

Camelot has been innovative in bringing qualifications to the courier industry. The Transportation stream of the NVQ covers a vehicle delivery industry of around 400,00 drivers. NTO figures show Camelot have delivered 1,000 of only 8,000 certificates for this stream of the whole transport industry covering trucks and deliveries.

Driver Numbers Aprox NVQ’s Take up %

Courier Industry 10,000 1,000 10.00%

Transportation   400,000 7,000  1.75%

Camelot Training are the only independent training centre in the UK to offer an OCR NVQ level II for motorcycle couriers in the transportation of goods by road.

Camelot is the only training school to have been audited for the delivery of the NVQ Transporting Goods by Road by the Training Standards Council.

You will build up a portfolio both on the course and also whilst working. When awarded the qualification you will have been judged to be a competent and professional courier. The qualification is recognised by all the leading courier companies. This will be another boost to your earning potential.

NVQs at Camelot Courier Training.

Candidates begin work towards their NVQ at Camelot by taking part in real work simulations. Demonstrating their ability to use radio, find postcodes and deal with client situations. A portfolio of evidence begins with notes from class work done on the course. Taking part in the course alone is not enough. Clear proof of work at a competant standard is needed. Such proof is built up with courier delivery signature sheets, client reports and employer testimonials.

Following the course, a candidate is  strongly encouraged to return to Camelot with ongoing vocational work proof. This can be assessed to complete the NVQ portfolio. This work data builds up to show a competent level of work skills which results in an NVQ level 2 certificate. The typical time scale of a candidate start to certificate is six months.

From NTO figures an ex Camelot candidate is ten times more likely to achieve their NVQ than in any other area of the transport industry.

TEC candidate follow up also takes place. This includes job outcome data and satisfaction analysis. NLTEC analysis three months after candidate’s exit shows the 85% job outcome level to have been sustained.

‘Three months after leaving only 15% of starts return to unemployment’