Digital badges
Showcase your skills and technical competence at a glance with three different digital badges that prove Connected Competence. In just a few clicks, employers can validate your credible, certified and transferable achievements.
Quick start guide
Our straightforward quick start guide will help to get you going.
Quick start guide
Technical test badge
You have the option of taking several technical tests, depending on the industry you work in and your specific trade. You’ll get a badge for each separate one you pass.
Trade award badge
You will be awarded a trade award badge if you complete all the technical tests for your discipline. This one will really make you stand out to employers as demonstrating full currency of base technical competence across your trade.
How your badges work for you
Here’s a quick overview of how your Connected Competence badges will work for you:
Delivered directly into your inbox – your badges will be emailed directly to you after you have successfully completed a test. All you have to do is accept the badge through our partner platform ‘Credly’, and they will be added to your online profile.
Showcase your transferable skills in just a few clicks – remember, you have ownership of all your skills and achievements with Connected Competence, and they are transferable across sectors. Employers can view your badges and verify technical competence in just a few clicks.
Share your skills – from Credly, you’ll be able to share your badges onto your social media profiles, making your achievements visible to future employers. You can also embed them in web pages, email signatures and on your CV. If you want to share your whole profile, you simply copy the link.
Get alerts when it’s time to renew – Credly will give you advance notice of expiring badges so you can plan ahead and book your renewal tests every 3–4 years to prove your ongoing technical competence.
Keep your email up-to-date – make sure you register your personal email along with any work emails in your Credley account so your digital badges move with you when you move around. Here’s what to do.
Add to your skills – when you accept a badge, you’ll receive recommendations for further upskilling opportunities and associated badges, meaning you can further your competence and work opportunities.
Digital badges benefit everyone
The benefits of digital badges aren’t just for workers – there are many plus points for employers and stakeholders, as well as the test centres we partner with.
Benefits for employers and stakeholders
- Instantly see that a worker is competent to carry out technical work scopes.
- Verify competence in just two clicks using Credly – a secure, reliable enterprise-class platform.
- Mobilise employees and transient workers more efficiently and quickly.
- Reduce the risk of fraudulent certifications, as well as inaccurate, outdated or exaggerated self-reported achievements.
- Digital badges make recruitment decisions easy as they are based on verified technical skills.
- Credly provides a quick and efficient method to demonstrate compliance for audits.
- Base technical competence achievements completed through an employer’s own competence management can be aligned to Connected Competence and recognised through digital badges.
Benefits for test centres
- Share your ‘Approved Testing Provider’ digital badge through social media channels.
- Gain a reputation for facilitating technical tests at your test centre that have increased impact and are widely recognised in the industry.
- Worker recognition of digital credentials can increase the demand for technical tests at your centre.
- Recommendations for additional upskilling and associated tests are offered when a worker accepts their badge, meaning even further demand for tests.
- Less last-minute bookings as workers are given advance notice of expiring badges so they can plan ahead when booking renewal tests.
Claim your trade award
Have you gained all your technical tests for your discipline? Stand out from the crowd and claim your trade award to demonstrate your current base technical competence across a full range of trade activities.
Email us to claim your trade award. Be sure to include your name, date of birth and/or your National Insurance number, as well as the discipline you’re claiming.