Plumbing courses?

[Ddevian]

Hello, need advice for plumbing courses. I contacted one of the college and a guy came to my house to talk everything over for plumbing NVQ lvl 2 i would need to pay £5k for the courses where i would study at home do the tests and then attend the collage for practice bit i can work and attend whenever i can and take as long as i need to to finish the course. Since it's supported by the government i can pay instalments from £30 a week, i have some exp as i've worked with a friend i could change a toilet, bath or a basin but i'm not too confident working alone and need more understanding in plumbing i know i like this job so i was wondering whether i should take these courses? Could anyone please advise me please? Thanks in advance

 

[newcastle phill]

That wasnt a college.
Goto a proper college. Save 50%

 

[Deleted member 25704]

Do a search online for mainstream Further Education colleges. These are arguably your best bet, but this is not always the case because there are some excellent independent training providers.

And a big gamble this is, so do your research in regard to supply and demand - do post-code searches for plumbers and gas fitters that live within a mile of your house. This will also come in handy for applying for jobs or getting a feel for competition.

 

[rocketmanbkk]

How old are you? College in evenings is best rather that short course & home study is crap. Takes time to understand

 

[Ddevian]

Well i couldn't go to collage as i'm working so i could only attend the weekends for practice

 

[rocketmanbkk]

Evening course

Forget £5k for home study imo

 

[chris watkins]

Hello, need advice for plumbing courses. I contacted one of the college and a guy came to my house to talk everything over for plumbing NVQ lvl 2 i would need to pay £5k for the courses where i would study at home do the tests and then attend the collage for practice bit i can work and attend whenever i can and take as long as i need to to finish the course. Since it's supported by the government i can pay instalments from £30 a week, i have some exp as i've worked with a friend i could change a toilet, bath or a basin but i'm not too confident working alone and need more understanding in plumbing i know i like this job so i was wondering whether i should take these courses? Could anyone please advise me please? Thanks in advance

Hi
These course from training centres where you complete the theory side separate & some time apart from the practical side both in a classroom but mainly the on-site, are in my opinion a very poor & ineffectual way to try to learn this trade.

Stop & think about it for a while, this trade require a great deal of knowledge & skills these are both acquired & then remembered by actual work on site. Then are homed working along side experienced trades persons for a good while. What do you think the chances are of you remembering all this new knowledge / practical skills for months or years without putting it into practice?
Then trying to find someone who will let you work along side them both teaching you & allowing you to complete the work evidence required for the NVQ, chances are it isn't going to happen & you will have wasted £5k as so many have done before you.

I have seen nothing from the Government that suggests they support schemes like this, they are finding it hard enough finding any money to fund all though Apprenticeships they have promised.
These people are just taking it off you slowly (167 weeks worth) or until you get fed up & stop.

BTW thats just the Level 2, employers want the level 3 thats the same on top again.

Just cos something fits around your current work / life commitments doesn't make it right or worth while.

 

[Ddevian]

Hi
These course from training centres where you complete the theory side separate & some time apart from the practical side both in a classroom but mainly the on-site, are in my opinion a very poor & ineffectual way to try to learn this trade.

Stop & think about it for a while, this trade require a great deal of knowledge & skills these are both acquired & then remembered by actual work on site. Then are homed working along side experienced trades persons for a good while. What do you think the chances are of you remembering all this new knowledge / practical skills for months or years without putting it into practice?
Then trying to find someone who will let you work along side them both teaching you & allowing you to complete the work evidence required for the NVQ, chances are it isn't going to happen & you will have wasted £5k as so many have done before you.

I have seen nothing from the Government that suggests they support schemes like this, they are finding it hard enough finding any money to fund all though Apprenticeships they have promised.
These people are just taking it off you slowly (167 weeks worth) or until you get fed up & stop.

BTW thats just the Level 2, employers want the level 3 thats the same on top again.

Just cos something fits around your current work / life commitments doesn't make it right or worth while.

Thanks for your time to answer my question

 

[Ddevian]

I found on ebay a book : "The City&Guilds textbook : Lvl 3 Nvq Diploma in Plumbing And Heating 6189" would this kind of literature help me learn something usefull or its just a waste of time as those colleges?

 

[rocketmanbkk]

You need to start at L2 diploma

As said speak to you local college of fe

 

[Unregistered]

so what should i ask them when i call them? what literature i should buy to learn something?

 

[rocketmanbkk]

Call who? You need to log back in to further discuss

 

[Millsy 82]

Do a search of this site as the same question comes up all the time.

There are plenty of training companies willing to take your money and charge extortionate amounts for there services, which if you were guaranteed a job at the end.

If you do the course you need to know exactly what you get, a lot of companies don't give you an NVQ as you need to do work on site to pass it. Do they give you that or do they only give you workshop based practical which as far as I know is not enough.

Do you want a job at the end of it? You will have no experience of working out in the field and may not have the qualifications you need, this will put you at the bottom of the list for employers and there are a lot of plumbers out there looking for work so you will be taking on experienced qualified plumbers, apprentices who are relatively cheap to employ whilst they are training and then there is the likes of yourself who has no experience or NVQ so you are just like an apprentice.

You could go self employed but with no experience it is not advisable as the learning curve will be extremely steep and very lonely when you come across a problem you can't work out. You will also be against a lot of competition! My local yellow pages came out the other day and there was 5-6 pages of plumbers in there and that doesn't include the builders etc that will do "plumbing" for themselves.

There are plenty of people around that have done these courses and some will get jobs but a lot don't get them.

It is a great job to get into and I still enjoy it (sometimes) but leave the short courses alone and as a minimum do night school, it will take longer but will stand you in slightly better position than a short course.

 

[Ddevian]

Well the guy said that after all the practic is done i would be doing jobs at their site to get NVQ lvl 2... Or is it better to just buy NVQ lvl 2 for around £500 and just try to get easy job like doing a bathroom plumbing and improve from there?

 

[rocketmanbkk]

I think you need to have a rethink me old mate.

It ain't as easy as you think.