Step 1
Train
Step-by-step instruction written by subject matter experts who have run the machines. Interactive exercises, video, and workbooks — built around real parts rather than slides.
Certification
Train. Prove. Certify.
A machinist proves out a program before it cuts metal. We assess a student the same way — against stated objectives, on real work, before anyone calls them qualified.
What a student leaves with
- A Total Machinist certificate, earned on performance
- A Skills Learning Objective report listing what they can actually do
- Practical projects completed, machined and inspected
- Preparation for third-party certification, where a program requires it
Three steps, and none of them are optional
The same sequence runs through all thirty-two courses. It is why a certificate from us means something to the person doing the hiring.
Step 2
Prove
Comprehensive testing against every stated objective, and hands-on practical projects taken from print to finished, inspected part. Knowing a process and being able to hold a tolerance are different things. We assess both.
Step 3
Certify
Certificates are earned at an 80% average, not awarded for attendance. Content aligns to the skill standards the industry already works to.
Why employers trust the paperwork
Most online certificates prove someone sat through a course and answered questions about it. That is not the same as being useful on a floor.
Every course states its learning objectives up front — identify basic OSHA requirements, demonstrate proper use of compressed air, recognise the dangers of reaching into a running machine — and assesses against each one. The Skills Learning Objective report a student leaves with is a line-by-line record of those objectives, not a grade.
Alongside it sits the practical work. Students run projects end to end: read the print, write the program, choose tooling and work holding, set the machine, cut the part, and inspect what comes off. The certificate covers both halves — what a student knows, and what they have actually produced.
That is the document a hiring manager can use. It answers the question they are really asking, which is not “did they pass” but “what can they do on Monday”.
Preparing for a third-party certification
Where a program certifies through an outside body, Total Machinist includes practice testing across measurement, materials and safety; job planning, benchwork and layout; milling and turning, both operations and programming; drill press, manual machining and precision grinding.
Also available
Certification beyond the Total Machinist pathway, for programs that need it.
Verisurf Metrology Certification
Inspection and reverse engineering, with interactive online learning, testing and instructor-led options alongside workbooks and support.
Mapped to your standards
Programs map our objectives against their own curriculum and accreditation requirements. Ask for the Skills Learning Objectives Overview and we will send it.
Decades of doing it this way
See whether it fits your program
Half an hour with someone who knows the content, and the Skills Learning Objectives Overview to map against your curriculum. No obligation either way.