How you’d get this certificate
- Zavmo teaches you. You learn the units one-to-one with an AI tutor, on your own work.
- You register with an approved centre. That is a college, training provider or employer GQA Qualifications Limited has approved to offer this qualification. Zavmo is not an approved centre, so you register with them, not with us.
- The centre assesses, and GQA Qualifications Limited awards. A qualified assessor at the centre judges your evidence, and the certificate comes from GQA Qualifications Limited.
This Level 3 NVQ diploma is designed for individuals managing machine printing operations. Competence is developed in areas such as setting and running guillotines, making photopolymer and lithographic printing plates, and managing printing machines within the manufacturing technologies sector.
These are the units GQA Qualifications Limited registers against this qualification. It is a catalogue, not a syllabus. Which of them you take depends on the combination the qualification requires, and that is set by the awarding body rather than by us. Every unit here is regulated. Zavmo teaches towards them on your own work, and work done here is recognised as prior learning under the agreements we hold.
Zavmo is not an awarding body, is not an approved centre, and is not affiliated with GQA Qualifications Limited. It does the teaching and the mapping. GQA Qualifications Limited sets this qualification and awards it, and a qualified human assessor makes the assessment decision.
Free first step
Try a free Future Fluency lesson first
The free part is a Future Fluency lesson on using AI at work. It is not part of this qualification. Next, a free account. We build your plan for this qualification as you set up. Teaching towards this qualification begins when you subscribe.
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What each unit actually teaches you to do
Contribute to Improving the Effectiveness of the Print Organisation Real unit · GQA Qualifications Limited
What you'll be able to do
- Obtain and understand the work schedule within the print organisation.
- Ensure that the correct quantities of products, materials and human resources are used in the print organisation.
- Minimise wastage of materials within the print organisation.
- Know why it is important to contribute to improving the effectiveness of the print organisation.
- Know what information to share with colleagues regarding your job role and understand why this is important for effective teamwork.
- Share information effectively with colleagues within the print organisation.
- Identify and pass on suggestions for improvements to work activities within the print organisation.
- Know how and why to identify opportunities and needs for self-development and know how to manage this information effectively.
- Know why it is important to have good relationships with customers of the print organisation.
Maintain Print Equipment in Working Order Real unit · GQA Qualifications Limited
What you'll be able to do
- Maintain print equipment in working order, following established maintenance schedules and procedures.
- Maintain print equipment in working order to ensure optimal performance and minimise downtime.
- Identify, correct and record machine faults accurately and efficiently.
- Implement a programme of lubrication and maintenance to prevent equipment failure and extend its lifespan.
Make lithographic printing plates Real unit · GQA Qualifications Limited
What you'll be able to do
- Produce lithographic printing plates to the required standard
- Describe how to maintain lithographic printing plates in good working order
- Explain the process of producing lithographic printing plates
Make photopolymer plates for flexographic printing Real unit · GQA Qualifications Limited
What you'll be able to do
- Prepare photopolymer plates for printing processes
- Process photopolymer plates according to specifications
- Describe the process of making photopolymer plates for flexographic printing
Manage Foil Blocking Machinery Real unit · GQA Qualifications Limited
What you'll be able to do
- Make-ready the foil blocking machinery, ensuring correct set-up and alignment for the specific job.
- Manage output from foil blocking machinery, ensuring consistent quality and minimising waste.
- Manage foil blocking machinery effectively, understanding its capabilities and limitations.
- Monitor the quality of output from foil blocking machinery, identifying and addressing any defects or inconsistencies.
- Monitor the quality of printed product from foil blocking machinery, ensuring it meets the required standards and specifications.
Manage printing machines Real unit · GQA Qualifications Limited
What you'll be able to do
- Prepare printing machines for production, ensuring they are correctly set up and ready to run.
- Manage the output from print production machines, ensuring it meets the required specifications.
- Know the procedures for managing printing machines effectively, including maintenance and troubleshooting.
- Monitor the quality of output from print production machines, identifying and addressing any issues.
- Monitor the quality of product throughout the production process, ensuring consistent standards are maintained.
Output Digital Image Carriers for Print Real unit · GQA Qualifications Limited
What you'll be able to do
- Impose images electronically using appropriate software and techniques.
- Prepare images for processing, ensuring they meet the required specifications for output.
- Produce and process image carriers, following established procedures and quality control measures.
- Produce computer-generated image carriers, understanding the different methods and technologies involved.
Plan work to meet production requirements Real unit · GQA Qualifications Limited
What you'll be able to do
- Interpret production requirements from specifications, job sheets, or other documentation.
- Plan production tasks to meet customer requirements, taking into account resources, deadlines, and quality standards.
- Plan work to meet production requirements, including risk assessment and contingency planning.
Prepare Inks and Coatings for Printing Real unit · GQA Qualifications Limited
What you'll be able to do
- Mix and match ink to meet the production specification
- Describe how to adjust viscosity to suit materials or print conditions
- Describe how to adjust tack to suit materials or print conditions
- Store inks and coatings in accordance with Company procedures
- Describe how to prepare inks for printing
- Describe how to prepare coatings for printing
Prepare Stencils for Printing Real unit · GQA Qualifications Limited
What you'll be able to do
- Prepare the mesh for stencil production
- Describe how to prepare the mesh for stencil production
- Prepare stencils for printing production
- Describe how to prepare stencils for printing
Prepare and Maintain Image Carriers for Printing Real unit · GQA Qualifications Limited
What you'll be able to do
- Prepare image carriers for printing processes
- Describe how to store image carriers correctly
- Explain how to prepare image carriers for printing
- Explain how to maintain image carriers for printing
Promote and Maintain Health and Safety in a Print Related Working Environment Real unit · GQA Qualifications Limited
What you'll be able to do
- Know which acts, regulations and guidelines apply to the print related working environment, including relevant health and safety legislation.
- Monitor and implement changes in health and safety acts, regulations and guidelines within the print related working environment.
- Carry out a formal assessment of hazards and risks in the print related working environment and understand the types of risk or hazards that exist.
- Identify hazards and assess risks in the print related working environment, taking appropriate action to mitigate them.
- Promote safe working practices within the print related working environment.
- Promote safe working practices amongst colleagues in the print related working environment.
- Adopt a safe method of work in all activities within the print related working environment.
- Ensure there is no unauthorised or unsafe access to the working areas within the print related working environment.
- Monitor colleagues to ensure they comply with health and safety requirements within the print related working environment.
- Know what to do in the event of accidents or emergencies within the print related working environment.
- Understand the problems that can occur with promoting and maintaining Health and Safety within the print related working environment and the potential solutions.
Set and Run Die Stamping Printing Machinery Real unit · GQA Qualifications Limited
What you'll be able to do
- Prepare die stamping machinery for production
- Run die stamping machinery effectively
- Describe how to set die stamping printing machinery
- Explain how to operate die stamping printing machinery
Set and Run Guillotines Real unit · GQA Qualifications Limited
What you'll be able to do
- Set and programme guillotines according to job specifications.
- Run guillotines efficiently and safely.
- Monitor the quality of guillotine cutting to ensure accuracy and consistency.
- Monitor the quality of guillotine cutting to identify and address any issues.
Set and Run ancillary printing machine equipment Real unit · GQA Qualifications Limited
What you'll be able to do
- Set up ancillary printing machine equipment in preparation for use
- Operate the ancillary equipment effectively and safely
- Describe the procedures for setting and running ancillary printing machine equipment
Set and Run in-line folding equipment Real unit · GQA Qualifications Limited
What you'll be able to do
- Set and operate in-line folding equipment
- Describe how to set in-line folding equipment
- Explain how to operate in-line folding equipment
Set and Run numbering, bar-coding or inline data printing equipment Real unit · GQA Qualifications Limited
What you'll be able to do
- Set up numbering, bar-coding or non-impact printing equipment in accordance with manufacturer's instructions and company procedures.
- Operate and monitor the quality of numbering, bar-coding or non-impact printing during production runs, identifying and rectifying any issues.
- Set and monitor numbering, bar-coding or inline data printing equipment, including understanding the relevant health and safety requirements.
Set and Run over-printing machinery Real unit · GQA Qualifications Limited
What you'll be able to do
- Set up an over-printing machine in preparation for production runs
- Run over-printing machinery effectively to meet production targets
- Explain the procedures for setting and operating over-printing machinery
Set and run in line automated stitch and trim equipment for newspaper and periodical production Real unit · GQA Qualifications Limited
What you'll be able to do
- Set stitching-trimming machinery in accordance with manufacturer's instructions and workplace procedures.
- Run stitching-trimming machinery to produce newspapers and periodicals to the required quality standards.
- Set and run stitching-trimming machines safely and efficiently, adhering to health and safety regulations.
Set and run in-line converting or enhancing equipment Real unit · GQA Qualifications Limited
What you'll be able to do
- Set in-line converting or enhancing equipment according to job specifications and manufacturer's guidelines.
- Run in-line converting or enhancing equipment, monitoring performance and making adjustments as necessary.
- Set and run in-line converting or enhancing equipment, understanding the different processes and their applications.
Set and run slitting and re-reeling equipment - adhesive label production Real unit · GQA Qualifications Limited
What you'll be able to do
- Set slitting and re-reeling equipment according to job specifications and machine capabilities.
- Run slitting and re-reeling equipment to produce adhesive labels to the required dimensions and quality.
- Set and run slitting and re-reeling equipment safely and efficiently in adhesive label production, adhering to relevant health and safety guidelines.
Set and use ink drying equipment Real unit · GQA Qualifications Limited
What you'll be able to do
- Set up ink drying equipment for optimal performance
- Maintain the quality of output from ink drying equipment to meet required standards
- Describe how to use ink drying equipment safely and effectively
Understanding the Print Industry Real unit · GQA Qualifications Limited
What you'll be able to do
- Know the range of printing processes used within the print industry, including their characteristics and applications.
- Understand the factors that influence the choice of printing process, such as cost, quality, and substrate.
- Know the types of equipment used within the print industry, including their functions and capabilities.
- Recognise and understand the need for confidentiality within the print industry, including data protection and intellectual property rights.
The national standards these units are built against
What the job actually needs, in the words employers and awarding bodies already use for the work itself.
- Standard
Build your organisation's understanding of its market and customers
- Standard
Comply with company environmental procedures
- Standard
Control Digital Colour Printing Machines
- Standard
Control Folding Machinery
- Standard
Control In-line Folding Equipment
- Standard
Control Multiple-Station Screen Printing Machines
- Standard
Control Narrow-Web Printing Machinery
- Standard
Control Numbering, Bar-coding or Inline Data Printing Equipment
- Standard
Control Output and Quality from Gravure Units on a Multi-Unit Press
- Standard
Control Wide-Web Printing Machinery
- Standard
Control automated inserting processes for newspaper and periodicals print finishing
- Standard
Control automated stitch and trim processes for newspaper and periodicals print finishing
- Standard
Control auxiliary equipment
- Standard
Control foil blocking machinery
- Standard
Control in-line Insetting-Stitching-Trimming Machines
- Standard
Control in-line folding equipment
- Standard
Control ink drying equipment
- Standard
Control inline automated mail processing machinery
Showing 18 of 94 standards these units map to.
The credits, and who awards them
Level 3 credits are regulated, and they are awarded by GQA Qualifications Limited rather than by Zavmo. They don’t vanish when a subscription ends or a website closes. They travel to any employer, and Zavmo keeps the map of what you have covered and what is next.
What you would be collecting
Contribute to Improving the Effectiveness of the Print OrganisationMaintain Print Equipment in Working OrderMake lithographic printing platesMake photopolymer plates for flexographic printingManage Foil Blocking MachineryManage printing machinesOutput Digital Image Carriers for PrintPlan work to meet production requirements
Each one is a real unit registered against this qualification.
How you’d practise it
You don’t watch this. You do it.
You are not assessed on remembering this. You are assessed on applying it, analysing it, evaluating it and producing something. So that is what the practice is: projects, role play and your own live cases, with a tutor in the room.
The Navigator · your what-if tutor Illustration - Bring your own plan Create
For “Plan work to meet production requirements” you bring the plan you are actually working on, not a case study. Zavmo pulls on the assumptions in it until the weak one shows.
- Map a live decision Analyse
“Set and Run numbering, bar-coding or inline data printing equipment” runs on a decision you are facing now. Zavmo maps it with you and shows what the second-order effect looks like before you find out the slow way.
- Lead it Apply
“Manage Foil Blocking Machinery” is practised on the team you actually have. You talk through the call you are about to make, and Zavmo makes you say it the way you would say it to them.
What you leave holding
The standards this credential builds, in the shape the product keeps them
Nothing here is marked learned. There is no learner on a public page, so the map shows what the qualification covers rather than what anybody has done.
- Build your organisation's understanding of its market and customers
- Comply with company environmental procedures
- Control Digital Colour Printing Machines
- Control Folding Machinery
- Control In-line Folding Equipment
- Control Multiple-Station Screen Printing Machines
- Control Narrow-Web Printing Machinery
- Control Numbering, Bar-coding or Inline Data Printing Equipment
How you would learn this
One to one, on the work you already do
A tutor sets the task against your own job and marks the reasoning, at your pace. There is no cohort to fall behind.
A lesson from Contribute to Improving the Effectiveness of the Print Organisation, one of this qualification's own units.
Applied to your own work
Learners will understand how to contribute to improving the effectiveness of a print organisation. The unit covers interpreting work schedules, managing resources efficiently, minimising material wastage, and the importance of communication within the organisation.
- 1 Remember
- 2 Understand
- 3 Apply
- 4 Analyse
- 5 Evaluate
- 6 Create
It is £70 a month, billed monthly. Your free first module is Future Fluency, and you can cancel any time. Teaching towards this qualification begins when you subscribe.
Built for GQA Level 3 NVQ Diploma In Machine Printing
23 units in this credential, in the order it lists them, awarded by GQA Qualifications Limited.
- Contribute to Improving the Effectiveness of the Print Organisation
- Maintain Print Equipment in Working Order
- Make lithographic printing plates
- Make photopolymer plates for flexographic printing
- Manage Foil Blocking Machinery
- Manage printing machines
and 17 more in the full unit list below.
Free tools
Want a read on where you stand?
Three free tools, no account needed. Each one ends with a role, a level and a way in.
Learned on your own work, taught one-to-one.
Everything you just read, learned one-to-one on the job you already do. Your free first module is Future Fluency, so you can see how the teaching works before you pay for anything.
Build my plan, freeNo card. See how this qualification maps onto your role and meet the tutors who’d teach it, free. The learning begins when you subscribe. It’s £70 a month, billed monthly. Cancel any time and billing stops.
The title, level, credits, guided learning hours and unit learning outcomes on this page are taken from the Ofqual Register of Regulated Qualifications. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Where this data comes from.