SENSE – Schools Excelling through National Skills Education - is a set of welding standards and guidelines meant to assist schools in training welders. The program guidelines were originally published in 1995 and 1996 through grants received from the U.S. Department of Education. Based on a survey of the welding industry, the SENSE guidelines define three levels of knowledge and skills required in the welding workplace. Individuals trained with the SENSE guidelines are the Entry Welder, Advanced Welder and Expert Welder.

VIEW THE HISTORY OF SENSE

The one-time fees for SENSE are listed on the SENSE registration form.

• Level I - $500
  
  
• Levels I and II - $600
  
  
• Levels I, II, and III - $1500

The process to register for SENSE is simple. First, download the SENSE Registration form and Educational Institute Membership forms. Next, complete the forms with all pertinent information and sign the forms where needed. Lastly, return the forms to AWS Education Services along with payment for the desired SENSE level. More details on SENSE may be found in the downloadable SENSE presentations.

Download SENSE Presentations (You will be taken to the SENSE homepage)

When deciding which level of SENSE to implement, please consider your school’s resources and equipment, your student’s capabilities and needs, and the needs of your local industry.

• Level I – Entry Welder has been designed to begin at the secondary level (high school) and above.
  
  
• Level II – Advanced Welder is best implemented at the post-secondary level (community college, career technical, etc.) because of resource and technical requirements.
  
  
• Level III – Expert Welder should also be implemented at the post-secondary level (college and industry).

You should develop a program based on the guidelines. Consider local industry expectations and use the guidelines to develop lesson plans based on the Recommended Instructional Activities found in section 3 of EG2.0:2008 (Level I), EG3.0-96 (Level II) or EG4.0-96 (Level III).

Alternatively, instructional materials conforming to the SENSE guidelines may be purchased from third party vendors.

SENSE is a set of welding guidelines meant to assist schools in training welders. The AWS Education Institution Membership (EIM) is a separate membership program operated by the AWS Membership Department. Institutional requirements may be found on this page. The benefits of the EIM are listed on our EIM membership page.   Go there