Best way back into plumbing

[Legg360]

So ive been in contact with my local FE college I did my 6129 with and they have said best thing todo is the Plumbing and Heating City & Guilds NVQ Diploma Level 2 (I think that's the course from what they been saying) I can use my classroom parts from my 6129 and work part time (evening/weekends/holidays from my current job) to build a portfolio and complete the full NVQ. As its 5 years to the month, they didn't say anything about the expiry date of the course... hope this helps anyone else in the future.

 

[Deleted member 25704]

The following is heavy going, but important for op to consider before shelling out on qualifications:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/190632/bis-13-577-the-future-of-apprenticeships-in-england-next-steps-from-the-richard-review.pdf

For those already experienced andcompetent in their roles, Apprenticeships will not be the right approach,unless they are advancing to a substantially higher skilled role. Where peoplehave existing skills they want recognised, we believe that they should stillhave the opportunity to test themselves against new competency standards via othernon-Apprenticeship routes (page 8).


End point assessmentfor apprentices and those who have existing experience:

Apprenticeships today, as aresult of the qualifications they contain, often focus heavily on continuousassessment. This can be at the expense of new teaching and learning. Indeed,some Apprentices tell us that their Apprenticeship experience has beendominated by assessment alone. Re-focusing on assessment at the end will allowtrainers to spend more time teaching, not testing.

Synoptic, end point assessment meansthat an Apprentice will need to be able to demonstrate the full range ofskills, competency and knowledge required to meet the standard, puttingdifferent strands of learning together and applying these in differentcontexts. The nature of the final assessment will vary for each occupation,reflecting the nature of the work involved. As Doug Richard suggests, thismight itself comprise a series of tests and practical tasks undertaken overseveral days or weeks. Of key importance is that future employers trust theprocess as a meaningful and reliable test of an Apprentice’s ability to do thejob fully, including in new and different contexts.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) isan assessment method that considers whether a learner can demonstrate thatthey can meet the requirements for a unit or qualification throughknowledge, understanding or skills they already have and so do not need to developthrough a course of learning.


https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa...63/funding_rules_2013_14_version3_nov2013.pdf

The notes below describe some of the colleges’ funding rules:

8. You must not claim funding for anypart of any learner’s learning aim or programme that duplicates provisionthey have received from any other source. This could be from, forexample, a different funding stream we provide, another government department(for example, the Department for Work and Pensions), the EducationFunding Agency (EFA) or the learner’s employer.

9. You must make sure that there is noduplication in the learner’s programme. If this does happen because of anoverlap in the content of the learning aim, you must reduce the funding you areclaiming to reflect the degree of overlap or, in the case of provision fundedby a Loan, reduce the fee to the learner.

10. You must make sure that a learner does not repeat learning that they have already carried out to achieve a qualification, unless they need to do so within an Apprenticeship framework.
11. For any learning aim outside of anApprenticeship framework, if a learner achieves more than 50% of assessmentthrough Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), you must discount by 50% thefunding for the percentage of the qualification assessed as being deliveredthrough RPL or, in the case of provision funded by a Loan,reduce the fee to the learner. However, if the learner has achieved 50% or lessof assessment for the learning aim through RPL, you do not need to reduce thefunding for the percentage of assessment achieved through RPL or, in the caseof provision funded by a Loan, reduce the fee to the learner.

12. If RPL is used for a qualificationwithin an Apprenticeship framework, funding for the qualification must bediscounted by the percentage which is assessed through RPL. In the case of aLoan, the fee charged to the learner must be reduced by the same percentage.

13. If previously certificatedachievement is used to exempt the learner for some or all of the assessment ofa qualification (see note 3), the amount of funding for the qualification mustbe discounted by the percentage achieved through previously certificatedachievement. In the case of a
learner funded through a Loan, the feecharged to the learner must be reduced by the same percentage.

14. You must not claim funding forprovision, or require a learner to take out a Loan where no learning takesplace (this would be where only an assessment is needed or a learner resits alearning aim assessment or examination).