In light of this, delivering large-scale decarbonisation across heavy industry, power generation and manufacturing will require not only infrastructure and investment, but a skilled, safety-competent workforce ready to operate within this rapidly evolving sector.
SIAS is proud to announce the launch of two new qualifications designed specifically to meet this challenge:
Both qualifications come with online teaching and come with online learning resources, assessment is via an externally set online multiple choice question exam.
Operational from 7th March 2026, these qualifications represent a significant step forward in developing structured, industry-aligned skills pathways for the carbon capture and storage industry.
While awareness of carbon capture has grown in recent years, accessible and regulated qualifications tailored specifically to the sector have remained limited. Training provision has often been fragmented; delivered through short courses, internal employer programmes, or adapted training from adjacent industries.
The Carbon Capture Skills Framework was developed to address this challenge. It outlines the knowledge, behaviours and competencies required across the CCS value chain, from entry-level awareness through to advanced operational and safety-critical roles. Its goals are clear:
SIAS has worked directly against this framework to design qualifications that are structured, regulated and responsive to employer need.
These new qualifications have been developed in consultation with industry employers, technical specialists and sector stakeholders working across carbon capture, transport and storage operations.
Through employer feedback and collaborative design workshops, SIAS ensured that content reflects real-world operational demands from understanding CO₂ process hazards to recognising the critical importance of geological storage integrity and emergency response planning.
The result is a suite of qualifications that provides both foundational understanding and applied safety knowledge — equipping learners with the competence industry has identified as essential for success.
The SIAS Level 2 Award in the Introduction to Carbon Capture and Storage provides learners with a structured and accessible entry point into the sector. Learners will develop knowledge of:
As CCS facilities scale up, safety, compliance and process integrity are paramount. The SIAS Level 3 Award in Carbon Capture and Storage Safety provides learners with the applied knowledge required to safely operate, monitor and manage CCS processes. Coverage includes:
As an Awarding Organisation regulated in England and Northern Ireland, SIAS is committed to driving positive change across STEM and low-carbon industries.
Therefore, launching these qualifications reflects more than curriculum development, it represents a commitment from SIAS to supporting national decarbonisation, strengthening workforce capability, and empowering learners to play an active role in the transition to a sustainable future.
Click here for further information on our clean energy and green skills qualifications.
If you are interested in delivering these qualifications, please contact your partnerships and growth manager or email partnerships@siasuk.com
Together, we are #AlwaysMovingForward.
Nostalgia Is Not a Strategy: Navigating the New Era of Apprenticeship Assessment February 12, 2026The further education and skills sector is facing one of the most significant shifts in its recent history. The move away from end-point assessment towards a new, principles driven apprenticeship assessment model is not a technical tweak, it is a fundamental change in how we think about quality, assurance and trust.
In a recent speech at Davos, Mark Carney, Canada’s Prime Minister, reminded global leaders that “nostalgia is not a strategy.” That phrase has stayed with me because it resonates so strongly with where our sector now stands. It is understandable to look back at what felt familiar and certain, but the reality is that the old model is not coming back.
The question is not whether change will happen, but how we choose to respond to it.
This new assessment landscape brings real challenges. It asks providers and AOs to rethink delivery models, build new capability and have confidence in different approaches to assessment and marking.
Yet it also creates opportunity.
Opportunities for the best Awarding Organisations to design assessment that is better aligned to learning, more responsive to employers, and more embedded within programmes rather than bolted on at the end.
To make this work, mindset matters. We need to move from a defensive posture to a constructive one. From seeing change as something being done to us, to recognising it as something we can actively shape.
At SIAS, that belief sits at the heart of our culture, we are leaning into this moment.
Our new, agile, and flexible assessment models reflect the new rules and realities of the system. This new SIAS assessment is driven by a simple principle: putting providers and employers and what they need at the heart of our approach.
Our new assessment strategies are designed to support those who want to take greater ownership of assessment within their programmes, while also allowing us to continue working alongside providers who need or prefer awarding organisation-led delivery. It is a deliberately tailored model, built around choice and collaboration rather than a single mandated pathway, recognising that providers will start from different places and face different constraints as they navigate this transition.
Leadership in this moment is not about holding on. It is about stepping forward, with clarity, confidence and purpose.
To understand more on apprenticeship reforms, visit gov.uk.