NPORS Excavator 180° Training (N201)

In practice, yes. The NPORS N201 Excavator 180 category covers rear mounted 180 degree excavators, which is what a backhoe loader is. Tell us the make and model you run and we will train and test on that type of machine.

Ten days on the NPORS novice route, which reflects the fact that the operator has to learn a rear excavator and a front loading shovel. An experienced operator sits a shorter test focused route of one to two days, and a refresher is shorter again. We confirm the length when we quote, because it also depends on how many are on the course.

Yes. The category is the machine, not just the boom, so loading, stockpiling and backfilling with the front bucket are trained and assessed alongside the excavating.

If the machine goes on the public road, yes. The NPORS card proves you can operate the machine; the driving licence entitlement for road use is separate and it is for the employer and the driver to make sure it is right.

The N201 is a 180 degree machine with the excavator on the back, normally a wheeled backhoe loader. The N202 is a full slew 360 excavator, tracked or wheeled. They are separate NPORS categories with separate tests, and the card has to match the machine being operated.

The NPORS N201 category on an NPORS card. Without an NVQ that is a Red Trained Operator card; with the relevant plant operations NVQ it is a Blue Competent Operator card. Either carries the CSCS logo only while you hold a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass taken within the last two years.

That is exactly what the experienced worker route is for. It is test focused rather than taught and NPORS allow four candidates on it. We will still look at how the machine is being worked first, because the test is against the NPORS specification and habits picked up over twenty years are not always what it asks for.

Yes. Your operators train on your machine and your ground, and the machine never leaves the job. We need a safe training area and a machine in good order. There are no scheduled dates: we run it when your people and your machine can be released.

NPORS courses are priced per course, not per person. What you are paying for is the instructor, the registered tester and the machine time, so the figure turns on four things: the category, which route your operators need (novice, experienced, conversion or refresher), how many people are coming, and whether we run it on your site or at one of ours. It is also why a squad works out considerably cheaper per head than sending operators out one at a time. Use the course builder on this page: tell it who is coming and it works out how many days the course takes and how many times it has to run, which is what the price is built from. Then ask us and you will get a figure for that exact group rather than a list price with conditions attached.

We run NPORS courses across the UK rather than out of one fixed centre, and for most categories the better answer is that we come to you: your operators are assessed on the machine they will be using anyway, nobody loses a day travelling, and for a group it costs less. If you would rather come to us, we have centres at Trent House in Stoke, Pride Park in Derby, Europa House in Manchester and Kingsway House in Liverpool. Tell us where the work is and we will say honestly which way round makes more sense.

There is no fixed timetable to wait for. NPORS courses here are run to order, which means the dates are built around your programme rather than ours, and a single operator or a full squad can normally be booked in within a couple of weeks. If you have a card about to expire or a start date to hit, say so when you enquire and we will work to it.