Basic education and training

In October 1979 a group of major oil companies operating in the North Sea, in conjunction with the then Petroleum Industry Training Board (PITB) set up an Instrumentation Technician Training Scheme. This Scheme developed into a Higher National Certificate in Industrial Measurement and Process Control along with an approved programme of "off the job" and "on the job" skills training. The success of this initiative led to an Electrical Training Scheme being introduced in 1983. The framework followed the same general format as the Instrumentation Technician Scheme with a final academic award now called a Higher National Certificate in Electrical Engineering (Oil and Gas Production) which has been approved and validated by the Scottish Technical and Vocational Education Council (SCOTVEC). In 1990 the management of these Schemes was taken over by the Scottish Offshore Training Association Limited (SCOTA) and in 1991 the Electrical Scheme received accreditation from the Institution of Electrical and Electronic Incorporated Engineers (IEEIE) as meeting the training requirements for corporate membership