Why the Level 3 Award in Education and Training is still one of the most valuable qualifications you can take

I have always believed that organisations should own their own training.

Yes, there is absolutely a place for external trainers and consultants, but some of the most powerful learning comes from the people already inside your business. The people who know your customers, your systems, your challenges and your culture better than anyone else.

The question is, how do you help those experts become great trainers?

For me, that journey started completely by accident.

From hospitality to training

Hospitality wasn't part of some grand career plan. Like many people, I found myself working behind a bar after university and ended up falling in love with the industry. A summer job at a pub turned into years in hospitality, running our family coffee shop and then a pub before eventually moving into the apprenticeship sector as a hospitality assessor.

I stepped into training because I wanted to help others succeed in an industry that had given me so much. What I quickly realised was that being an expert and being able to teach are two very different things.

I thought if I knew my subject inside out, I would naturally know how to help other people learn it...I was wrong.

There is a real skill to teaching. There is structure, planning and purpose behind it. There is a science to helping people understand, remember and apply new knowledge.

That journey started for me with the Level 3 Award in Education and Training.

The qualification that changed everything

The Level 3 Award in Education and Training, often known as the AET, is usually the first step into teaching and training in further education and adult learning.

It teaches you how to plan and deliver learning, how to assess effectively and how to support different types of learners.

For Laura and me, it also has a very special place in our story. I had only been in my role for a few months when Laura came out to deliver a group session on lesson planning.

Neither of us could have imagined then that years later we would be launching our own Level 3 Award in Education and Training programme together.

Becoming a complete learning nerd

Somewhere along the way, I became a complete learning nerd.

I love learning theories. Bloom's Taxonomy still influences almost everything we build. We think constantly about moving people from remembering and understanding towards applying and creating.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs reminds us that if people do not feel safe, supported and confident, learning becomes much harder.

The ideas around intrinsic and extrinsic motivation influence how we design activities and scenarios.

The concepts of scaffolding and spiral curriculum have become second nature. Learning should build on itself. Ideas should be revisited, explored again and applied in increasingly complex ways.

All of these theories still shape the work we do at Emblem Training Solutions today.

A qualification that continues to evolve

One of the things I love most about the Level 3 Award in Education and Training is that it is not stuck in the past. The principles of good teaching remain the same, but the world around us is changing quickly. AI is becoming part of everyday life and, whether we like it or not, it is changing education and training too.

It is now possible for learners to use AI to write assessments, summarise theories and even structure assignments. That doesn't mean qualifications have lost their value. It means our role as trainers and assessors needs to evolve alongside the technology.

For us, this means thinking more carefully about how we assess learning and competence. Discussions, professional conversations, practical activities and examples of work are becoming increasingly important. They give learners the opportunity to explain their thinking, apply what they know and demonstrate genuine understanding in a way that an essay alone often cannot.

This is something we will explore throughout our programme because good trainers need to be prepared for the realities of modern learning, not just the theories that sit behind it.

Why train the trainer programmes matter

Businesses are full of experts.

Managers deliver inductions. Supervisors run toolbox talks. Team leaders teach new starters how things work. The knowledge is already there. What is often missing is the confidence and skill to deliver that knowledge in an impactful way.

That is why train the trainer qualifications and teacher training programmes matter.

The Level 3 Award in Education and Training helps people understand how adults learn. It gives them practical tools and techniques that they can immediately apply in the workplace.

It turns subject matter experts into effective trainers.

And when organisations develop those skills in-house, something really powerful happens.

They start to own their own training.

Why this matters now more than ever

Many organisations are struggling with onboarding, recruitment and retaining knowledge.

Having people internally who can deliver structured, engaging and consistent training makes a huge difference.

1. It creates resilience.

2. It helps protect knowledge when people leave.

3. It improves onboarding and supports time to competency.

4. It gives businesses confidence that training is not just happening, but happening well.

   
   

For industries like construction, where short, sharp learning such as toolbox talks can have a direct impact on safety, these skills are invaluable.

A dream we are finally making happen

This September, we will be launching our first cohort for the Highfield Level 3 Award in Education and Training.

This has genuinely been a dream of ours for a long time. We are also incredibly proud to now be a Highfield Approved Centre. As you would expect from us, we are taking a blended learning approach.

Learners will complete interactive digital learning before attending workshops focused on discussion, application and practical activities. The programme will culminate in a final micro-teach, where learners deliver a short teaching session and observe others teaching too.

It is a qualification designed to build confidence as well as competence. And for us, it feels like everything has come full circle.

From two people meeting over lesson plans and learning theories, to delivering the qualification that played such a huge part in both of our careers.

Investing in your people

I often joke that everyone should spend six months working in hospitality because it teaches you resilience, empathy and how to deal with people.

Teacher training does something similar.

It changes how you communicate. It changes how you support others. It changes how you think about learning. If your organisation wants to own its own training, investing in the people who deliver it is one of the best places to start.

At Emblem Training Solutions, we are passionate about helping organisations build training capability from within. If you would like to find out more about our September Level 3 Award in Education and Training cohort or discuss a bespoke Train the Trainer programme for your organisation, we would love to hear from you.

Get in touch