UK

ETC Awards Limited · RQF Level 2

ETCAL Level 2 NVQ Certificate in Laboratory and Associated Technical Activities

You don’t just earn this. You learn to use it, one-to-one, on your own real work.

  • LevelRQF Level 2
  • Total credits31
  • Guided learning214 hours
  • Units in this qualification16

Awarded by ETC Awards Limited · on the Ofqual register

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What you’ll learn

What each unit actually teaches you to do

The qualification is for individuals undertaking laboratory and associated technical activities. It allows learners to develop skills in preparing resources, carrying out tests, and maintaining equipment. It is relevant to the manufacturing technologies sector.

These are the units ETC Awards 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, and every one you earn is yours to keep.

Carry out routine maintenance, cleaning and checking of scientific or technical equipmentReal unit · ETC Awards Limited
This unit provides learners with the skills to perform routine maintenance, cleaning, and checking of scientific or technical equipment. You'll carry out scheduled cleaning and maintenance, inspect equipment for damage, report faults, and understand the purpose of these tasks.

What you'll be able to do

  • Carry out routine maintenance, cleaning and checking of scientific or technical equipment.
  • Carry out routine maintenance, cleaning and checking of scientific or technical equipment.
Carry out sampling operations for scientific or technical testsReal unit · ETC Awards Limited
It teaches you to carry out sampling operations for scientific or technical tests. You'll collect samples following specified plans, use appropriate equipment and techniques, label samples accurately, transport them correctly, and understand the purpose of sampling.

What you'll be able to do

  • Carry out sampling operations for scientific or technical tests.
  • Carry out sampling operations for scientific or technical tests.
Carry out simple scientific or technical tests using automated equipmentReal unit · ETC Awards Limited
You'll be able to carry out simple scientific or technical tests using automated equipment. The unit covers setting up equipment, inputting sample data accurately, monitoring tests and responding to errors, and recording results while understanding the principles of operation.

What you'll be able to do

  • Carry out simple scientific or technical tests using automated equipment.
  • Carry out simple scientific or technical tests using automated equipment.
Carry out simple scientific or technical tests using manual equipmentReal unit · ETC Awards Limited
It teaches you to carry out simple scientific or technical tests using manual equipment. You'll prepare equipment, follow procedures, record results accurately, and identify deviations, while understanding the purpose and methods of such tests.

What you'll be able to do

  • Carry out simple scientific or technical tests using manual equipment.
  • Carry out simple scientific or technical tests using manual equipment.
Clean and tidy the workplace after scientific or technical learning activitiesReal unit · ETC Awards Limited
You'll gain the ability to clean and tidy the workplace after scientific or technical learning activities. The unit covers correct cleaning procedures, safe waste disposal, restoring equipment to storage, and recognising potential hazards associated with post-activity cleaning.

What you'll be able to do

  • Clean and tidy the workplace after scientific or technical learning activities.
  • Clean and tidy the workplace after scientific or technical learning activities.
Demonstrate scientific or technical methods, techniques and skills to others in the workplaceReal unit · ETC Awards Limited
You'll gain the skills to demonstrate scientific or technical methods, techniques, and skills to others in the workplace. The unit covers preparation of demonstration areas, clear communication of instructions, appropriate demonstration methods, and responding accurately to questions.

What you'll be able to do

  • Demonstrate scientific or technical methods, techniques and skills effectively to others in the workplace.
  • Demonstrate scientific or technical methods, techniques and skills consistently to others in the workplace.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of how to demonstrate scientific or technical methods, techniques and skills effectively to others in the workplace.
  • Explain the importance of demonstrating scientific or technical methods, techniques and skills effectively to others in the workplace.
Follow health and safety procedures for scientific or technical activitiesReal unit · ETC Awards Limited
You'll understand and apply health and safety procedures relevant to scientific or technical activities. This includes identifying procedures, safely handling materials, using personal protective equipment correctly, and reporting hazards or incidents in line with organisational protocols.

What you'll be able to do

  • Follow health and safety procedures for scientific or technical activities.
  • Follow health and safety procedures for scientific or technical activities.
Following aseptic procedures in the laboratory environmentReal unit · ETC Awards Limited
It teaches you to follow aseptic procedures within a labouratory environment. You'll prepare the environment, apply sterilisation techniques, handle materials aseptically, maintain sterility throughout procedures, and safely dispose of contaminated materials.

What you'll be able to do

  • Follow aseptic procedures correctly in the laboratory environment.
  • Follow aseptic procedures consistently in the laboratory environment.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of how to follow aseptic procedures correctly in the laboratory environment.
  • Explain the importance of following aseptic procedures correctly in the laboratory environment.
Maintain effective and efficient working relationships for scientific or technical activitiesReal unit · ETC Awards Limited
You'll learn to maintain effective and efficient working relationships in scientific or technical environments. The unit covers effective communication, contributing to a positive working environment, conflict resolution, and sharing information and knowledge with colleagues.

What you'll be able to do

  • Maintain effective and efficient working relationships for scientific or technical activities.
  • Maintain effective and efficient working relationships for scientific or technical activities.
Maintain stocks of resources, equipment and consumables for scientific or technical useReal unit · ETC Awards Limited
This unit equips learners with skills to maintain stocks of resources, equipment, and consumables for scientific or technical use. You'll monitor stock levels, replenish supplies according to procedures, store items safely, and dispose of expired or damaged materials appropriately.

What you'll be able to do

  • Maintain stocks of resources, equipment and consumables for scientific or technical use.
  • Maintain stocks of resources, equipment and consumables for scientific or technical use (continued).
  • Maintain stocks of resources, equipment and consumables for scientific or technical use.
  • Maintain stocks of resources, equipment and consumables for scientific or technical use (continued).
Prepare compounds and solutions for scientific or technical useReal unit · ETC Awards Limited
This unit equips learners with the skills to prepare compounds and solutions for scientific or technical use. You'll learn to prepare specified concentrations using appropriate equipment and techniques, label accurately, and follow standard operating procedures consistently.

What you'll be able to do

  • Prepare compounds and solutions accurately for scientific or technical use.
  • Prepare compounds and solutions consistently for scientific or technical use.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of how to prepare compounds and solutions accurately for scientific or technical use.
  • Explain the importance of preparing compounds and solutions accurately for scientific or technical use.
Prepare new scientific or technical methods, resources and equipment for learning activitiesReal unit · ETC Awards Limited
This unit covers the research, evaluation, and preparation of new scientific or technical methods, resources, and equipment for learning activities. You'll develop skills in assessing suitability, ensuring safety and cost-effectiveness, and documenting the preparation process accurately.

What you'll be able to do

  • Prepare new scientific or technical methods, resources and equipment for learning activities.
  • Prepare new scientific or technical methods, resources and equipment for learning activities.
Prepare resources and equipment for scientific or technical learning activitiesReal unit · ETC Awards Limited
You'll develop the ability to prepare resources and equipment for scientific or technical learning activities. The unit covers selecting appropriate items, checking safety and functionality, setting up according to instructions, and ensuring a safe and organised work area.

What you'll be able to do

  • Prepare resources and equipment for scientific or technical learning activities.
  • Prepare resources and equipment for scientific or technical learning activities.
Prepare scientific or technical samples for testing activitiesReal unit · ETC Awards Limited
You'll learn to prepare scientific or technical samples for testing activities. This includes collecting samples according to protocols, preparing and labelling samples correctly, storing them to maintain integrity, and understanding the importance of proper sample preparation.

What you'll be able to do

  • Prepare scientific or technical samples for testing activities.
  • Prepare scientific or technical samples for testing activities.
Provide scientific or technical support for learning activitiesReal unit · ETC Awards Limited
You'll develop the ability to provide scientific or technical support for learning activities. This includes identifying learning needs, supplying appropriate resources, explaining concepts clearly, answering questions accurately, and offering consistent support throughout activities.

What you'll be able to do

  • Provide scientific or technical support effectively for learning activities.
  • Provide scientific or technical support consistently for learning activities.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of how to provide scientific or technical support effectively for learning activities.
  • Explain the importance of providing scientific or technical support effectively for learning activities.
Use information recordings systems for scientific or technical activitiesReal unit · ETC Awards Limited
This unit develops learners' ability to select and use information recording systems for scientific or technical activities. You'll gain skills in accurate data input, effective storage and retrieval, timely record maintenance, and adherence to organisational requirements.

What you'll be able to do

  • Use information recording systems effectively when undertaking scientific or technical activities.
  • Use information recording systems consistently and accurately when undertaking scientific or technical activities.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of how to use information recording systems effectively when undertaking scientific or technical activities.
  • Explain the importance of using information recording systems effectively when undertaking scientific or technical activities.

The honest bit

You’ve started things before

Most courses were built for a room full of people who aren’t you. A cohort moves on whether or not your week allowed it, and by the third week the thing you’re behind on becomes the reason you stop opening it.

There’s no cohort here, and no timetable to fall behind. Before anything starts, Zavmo asks when you’re sharpest and how long you can realistically sit down for, then builds the sessions around those answers. A bad fortnight changes your pace. It doesn’t put you behind.

And you only pay once you start learning. Searching and planning are free, and you can cancel any time — so the cost of finding out is an afternoon, not a year.

Your passport

Every credit is a stamp you keep

Level 2 credits are regulated. 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’ve earned and what’s next.

Carry out routine maintenance, cleaning and checking of scientific or technical equipmentCarry out sampling operations for scientific or technical testsCarry out simple scientific or technical tests using automated equipmentCarry out simple scientific or technical tests using manual equipmentClean and tidy the workplace after scientific or technical learning activitiesDemonstrate scientific or technical methods, techniques and skills to others in the workplaceFollow health and safety procedures for scientific or technical activitiesFollowing aseptic procedures in the laboratory environment

Each stamp is a real unit registered against this qualification.

Who’d teach you this

The Evidence Evaluator

Assessor

Helps you show what you can actually do, gathering the evidence that proves it as you learn.

Meet all twelve tutors

Where this connects

Where these credits take you

A qualification is never a dead end here. See the jobs its credits open, the national occupational standards its units map to, and the future skills they quietly build.

See Your Progress GrowIllustration
ETCAL Level 2 NVQ Certificate in Laboratory and Associated Technical Activities
  • 02_Maintain effective and efficient biomanufacturing working relationships
  • 03_Follow aseptic procedures in a biomanufacturing environment
  • 06_Measure, weigh and prepare compounds and solutions for biomanufacturing use
  • 12_Maintaining cell lines for laboratory activities using cryogenic storage
  • 15_Assisting with the Preparation of Solutions for Laboratory Use
  • Assess and communicate scientific or technical information to authorised personnel
  • Assist with the Routine Maintenance, Cleaning, Disinfecting and Calibration of Biomanufacturing Equipment
  • Assisting with the maintenance of stocks of reagents and consumables for laboratory use
This is your Mind Palace on learn.zavmo.ai. Every skill above comes from this role's own record, not an example borrowed from another job. A node lights up when you evidence it, and what you build stays yours between jobs. That is the part a course cannot do.
Future FluencyAll ten future skillsSee how every unit is contextualised by the tenExplore →

Skills it covers

What the job actually needs. These are the standards the units are built against, in the words employers and awarding bodies already use for the work itself.

02_Maintain effective and efficient biomanufacturing working relationships03_Follow aseptic procedures in a biomanufacturing environment06_Measure, weigh and prepare compounds and solutions for biomanufacturing use12_Maintaining cell lines for laboratory activities using cryogenic storage15_Assisting with the Preparation of Solutions for Laboratory UseAssess and communicate scientific or technical information to authorised personnelAssist with the Routine Maintenance, Cleaning, Disinfecting and Calibration of Biomanufacturing EquipmentAssisting with the maintenance of stocks of reagents and consumables for laboratory useAssisting with the routine maintenance, cleaning, disinfecting and calibration of laboratory equipmentAssure quality processes and procedures for scientific or technical activitiesCarry out complex scientific or technical sampling operationsCarry out routine maintenance, cleaning and checking of scientific or technical equipmentCarry out sampling operations in life sciences and related industriesCarry out testing using manual or automated equipment in life sciences and related industriesCarrying out routine maintenance, cleaning and checking of NDT (Non Destructive Testing) technical equipmentClean and tidy the workplace after scientific or technical learning activitiesConduct scientific or technical sampling and testing operationsDemonstrate techniques and skills in life sciences and related industries+26 more

How you’ll actually learn this

One-to-one, on your own real work

A qualification is usually something done to you: sit the class, sit the exam, hope it sticks. Here it’s the opposite. You learn it one-to-one with a companion, on your own real work, and you keep going until you can use it, not just recall it.

One-to-one, on your real workNo lectures, no past-papers. Every unit is practised on the actual tasks your job throws at you, a tutor beside you, not a video in front of you.
Taught to the top, not the testMost courses stop at remembering. Your companion keeps climbing: analysing, judging, creating. That’s the part a machine can’t do for you.
Credits you keep, a map that continuesEvery unit is regulated and yours for good. The day you finish, Zavmo already knows the next role your new credits open.
Carry out routine maintenance, cleaning and checking of scientific or technical equipmentLevel 2

Applied to your own work

This unit provides learners with the skills to perform routine maintenance, cleaning, and checking of scientific or technical equipment. Learners will carry out scheduled cleaning and maintenance, inspect equipment for damage, report faults, and understand the purpose of these tasks.

How the thinking builds
  1. Remember
  2. Understand
  3. Apply
  4. Analyse
  5. Evaluate
  6. Create
An illustration of a Zavmo lesson, built from this role’s own route. The unit, its objective and every criterion above are the awarding body’s own words, not an example.
Your PlanIllustration

Built for ETCAL Level 2 NVQ Certificate in Laboratory and Associated Technical Activities

16 units in this credential, in the order it lists them, awarded by ETC Awards Limited.

  1. Carry out routine maintenance, cleaning and checking of scientific or technical equipment
  2. Carry out sampling operations for scientific or technical tests
  3. Carry out simple scientific or technical tests using automated equipment
  4. Carry out simple scientific or technical tests using manual equipment
  5. Clean and tidy the workplace after scientific or technical learning activities
  6. Demonstrate scientific or technical methods, techniques and skills to others in the workplace

and 10 more in the full unit list below.

These are the real units of this credential, in its own order. Nothing here is marked done, because this plan has not been started by anyone yet. Yours would fill in as you go.

One to one, not one to many

No two people run this the same way

A course is written once and handed to everyone. This is assembled around you, and keeps changing as it learns you. Five things it reads, and what each one changes.

  1. Your actual work Every unit is taught against a live piece of your own work, not a worked example from a textbook.
  2. What you already know The first conversation finds your starting point, so you skip what you can already do and spend the time on what you cannot.
  3. The conditions you learn under Not a learning-styles quiz. The evidence does not support those. The dimensions the research does back, read once and used to shape the plan.
  4. How far you got last time It picks up mid-thought. The tutor knows what you said, what you struggled with, and what it asked you to try.
  5. Which tutor suits the moment Twelve of them, each for a different kind of thinking. The one who walks you through a first idea is not the one who stress-tests it.

See how you learn, free. Eight questions, no sign-up. A directional taster; the diagnostic inside Zavmo goes deeper and keeps adapting.

Why it sticks

Most courses stop at remembering

There’s a well-known ladder of how deeply you learn something, called Bloom’s Taxonomy. Most courses get you up the first two rungs: you remember some facts, you pass a test, you forget it. Real skill lives at the top. Judging, deciding, creating. And this isn’t a generic ladder: every rung has a named Zavmo tutor who walks you up it.

  1. 6CreateThe Creative Catalyst
  2. 5EvaluateThe Evidence Evaluator
  3. 4AnalyseThe Analyst
  4. 3ApplyThe Coach
  5. 2UnderstandThe Connector
  6. 1RememberThe Builder

Where most courses leave you Where Zavmo takes you

Why this matters: AI can already remember and understand for you. What it can’t do is take your real problem and judge the right call. So the only learning worth paying for is the learning that takes you to the top. That’s exactly what a tutor doing it with you, on your real work, is for.

The value

Why the companion is worth £70 a month

You’re not paying for the units. They’re regulated, and the same wherever you earn them. You’re paying for the one thing that decides whether you actually get there: a companion that makes them stick, on your real work.

That is one-to-one on this qualification, every day, on the work you already do, for £70 a month. Your first module is free, so you can see the teaching before you pay for any of it. Billed monthly, cancel any time and billing stops.

Earned on your own work, taught to the top.

Everything you just read, learned one-to-one on the job you already do. Your first module is free, so you can see the teaching before you pay for any of it.

Build my plan, free

No 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.