TTE Consulting, a subsidiary of the TTE Management and Technical Training Group, has won a contract to become the sole provider of independent training assessment for the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB).

This is the first time the ECITB has outsourced the assessment of its on-site training and is part of a move to further validate the quality of its Advanced Modern Apprenticeships (AMA) among employers.

The ECITB focuses on improving craft and supervisory skills, together with design and project management.

The UK's engineering construction industry employs about 80,000 people.

TTE, the UK's leading independent technical training provider, will employ a team of assessors who will travel the country observing and assessing 150 apprentices during the first year of the contract.

TTE assessors will also observe the practical and academic development of each apprentice, providing a mentoring/pastoral role.

Last year, 121 ECITB Advanced Modern Apprentices were awarded a Level 3 vocational qualification and went into full-time employment.

Keith Hunter, managing director of TTE Management and Technical Training, said: "It is an excellent indication of the forward thinking and innovative approach towards the training of young people that the ECITB has looked to TTE to provide a high-quality assessment service for its Advanced Modern Apprenticeships."

Nigel Spencer, head of competence assurance at ECITB, said: "TTE has a strong reputation within industry of working in unison with companies to create future workforces.

"This puts them in an excellent position to understand our desire to provide valid, up-to-date and relevant training for young people and their employers, which can be independently assessed to a level that further substantiates the quality of the qualifications and enhances the standard of industry's on-site skills base."