Plant standards and grants

On this page:

• Overview
• What's changed?
• Grant rates
• What this means for employers
• What this means for training providers
• More information

Overview

Following a review of plant grants, from 31 July 2023 we launched new plant training standards and grants for 8 categories of Plant. From 11th December 2024 new durations and ratios are being introduced for 7 of those categories (Industrial Forklift remains unchanged).

The training standards have been developed in collaboration with industry working groups, made up of employers, providers and federations. After further collaboration and consultation, the training course durations and ratios have been adjusted and refined to better align with the updated standards.

What’s changed?

The new durations are set out according to the learner: trainer: machine ratio i.e. how many learners on a course, how many trainers and how many machines.

The durations now also include the assessment time (theory and practical test) which previously they did not – removing any doubt as to how long the training and testing in total should take.

The novice standards also now state: “How the duration is organised is at the discretion of the training provider”.

The eight standards are listed below alongside the plant grant tier:

These new standards are supported by the grants detailed below.

Grant rates

The “experienced” plant grant rate is to support those who require some training before taking a test. In order to be eligible for the grant, experienced training will have to cover all elements in the relevant experienced training standard.

The higher “novice” grant rate is for employers who are putting staff through plant training, who have never had experience in the type of machinery they are being trained in. This is to help respond to the industry’s need for more people to become highly skilled and competent plant operators.

The plant grant rates for novice and experienced are as follows:

What this means for employers

The new standards affect eight of the most commonly used plant categories. In order to be grant eligible, the training and testing for these eight categories must:

• Meet our new standards
• Lead to a card carrying the CSCS logo, and
• Be delivered by an Approved Training Organisations (ATO).

To receive grant, you must use an Approved Training Organisation (ATO) and provide your CITB registration number, so that the ATO can apply for the grant on your behalf.

Any other plant training for categories not covered by the new standards remains eligible for grant and you can find more information on how to apply on the short course grant page.

What this means for training providers

If you wish to deliver plant standards, you will need to complete a self-assessment to gain approval.

If you do not complete a self-assessment, you will be unable to submit courses or schedules to the Construction Training Directory (CTD) or achievements to the Construction Training Register (CTR).

Upon submission of your self-assessment, you will need to demonstrate and upload evidence of your approval with a Recognised Organisation (CPCS and/or NPORS) for the specific plant category that you wish to offer, along with a copy of your latest audit report from your Recognised Organisation.

Self-assessments can be found on the Recognised Product tab within your CITB Portal (ATO) and please refer to page 27 of the Approved Training organisations (ATOs): Everything you need to know - ATO Information Pack (PDF, 7.6MB)

If you are a training provider that already provides plant training on behalf of a CSCS partner card scheme, but you are not an Approved Training Provider, you can sign up to become an ATO by visiting our How to become an ATO webpage.

More information

If you need assistance to complete the self-assessment, please email quality.assurance@citb.co.uk

If you have ATO Training courses that will need moving over to the new full standards, please contact the Quality & Verification Team at quality.assurance@citb.co.uk

If you have any other queries, please contact us.