The industry’s certificate of competence in pig husbandry skills has been relaunched by BPEX following an overhaul to make it more practical and relevant to everyday production.
The changes affect the assessment criteria and the learner manuals, with an increased emphasis being placed on applicants’ demonstration of on-farm knowledge and practical skills. The online written test, for example, which was included in the 2006 manual, has been removed to “ensure the assessment and qualifications are practical throughout”.
Other key revisions include:
- Mandatory units: pig stockmanship and welfare and the safe use of veterinary medicines have now been included in the pig husbandry skills learning manual folder. Before they were separate folders.
- Questions have been added which can be tailored to the candidate’s unit or system.
- Individual units are available to take as level 2 awards.
- New material covering outdoor production systems has been added to the learner manuals.
“These are practical and relevant qualifications, covering stockmanship, welfare, pig husbandry skills and pig unit supervision,” said BPEX skills development co-ordinator, Sam Bowsher. “Those who decide to take part are assessed on the farm, with the assessment criteria being based on the demonstration of knowledge and practical skills.”
While producers can still use the original 2006 learner manuals, in the meantime, updated editions carry additional content to cover a wider range of topics than before.
Access BPEX training and certificate of competence information
