Changing goal posts

'Snobby' was a term used to describe the IMechE by some who undertook apprenticeships in the 1950’s

Referring question 7 of “8 Questions” in the March PE, snobby was perhaps the most complementary term used to describe the IMechE by some of the people who undertook five year indentured apprenticeships and studied for HNC’s in the 1950’s and 60’s.

These “old” HNC’s were of a higher and more academic standard than the later ones, they used degree textbooks and were described by the lecturers to be the equivalent of a degree on a subject by subject basis. The IMechE said that completing an appropriate apprenticeship and an HNC with suitable endorsement subjects would, when a position of acceptable responsibility was reached, make it possible to apply for membership of the institution at the level which is now MIMechE.

The goal posts kept changing. Credit passes became necessary and endorsement subjects needed to be done in a prescribed order. Undeterred we soldiered on meeting all the requirements along the way finishing up, after completing the engineering subjects, with courses covering law, finance, history and psychology in order to satisfy the IMechE. For some people it could take the best part of ten years of part time study while working as an apprentice and beyond.

It was then decided that the riff-raff that had studied while working were no longer fully acceptable to the IMechE and a date was given when the drawbridge would be raised and these part-timers would no longer be allowed full membership, now MIMechE. This meant, of course, that anybody not achieving the required level of professional responsibility until after the cut-off date would never be able to use their hard earned certificates in the way that they had originally been led to believe even when eventually they had all the original requirements and perhaps more.

With apprenticeships now quite rightly gaining in popularity again I trust that any repeat of this snobbery is not going to impact on today’s apprentices in the same way.

Alan Bealing, Kew, Surrey

Next letter: A 100-year-old idea