I have just about completed my NVQ2 in plumbing and heating. I'm likely to finish my last install for the portfolio tomorrow.
I am self-employed. Not being an apprentice, I managed this with a mixture of direct observation by the college of self-employed work, and some work-based recorder work from a plumber friend who decided to help me out when I needed certain tasks to be recorded in exchange for a bit of company at work.
As a 32 year old graduate, I am able to self study the theory side of the course easily enough, and the college knows it can give me a load of stuff to look at and I'll turn up, ask 100 questions, take an exam and get a high mark. So in that sense, I'm a fairly easy student they want to retain.
College tells me Level 3 is mostly theory.
College is in Wales which is currently some distance from me. However, the college has managed to convince the Welsh Government to fund my course. So it would cost me the train fare, but not the college itself. Knowing the college, I would be reasonably happy to study there again, as better the devil you know, and I do know the staff there quite well. College doesn't do gas - it does oil, but I'm not especially worried as not that interested in gas work myself and I think there will be a lot of work in renewables in the future.
My first concern is that my work schedule is not that busy at present. While this gives me the time to bugger about travelling every week or two, it does mean I'm worried about getting the sort of work that might be needed for level 3. While I have, say, converted a heating system to S plan, fitted new CWSC and DHW cylinder and a pumped shower (and half the bathroom) all in the same house, this was for people who knew me well and didn't mind waiting while I managed this single-handedly in their cluttered house. So most of my work is small jobs, ideal for a one-man-band.
My other concern is that to get what I needed from my level 2 course, I had to ask the right questions from college staff as it was otherwise quite basic and not really related to real-life plumbing, and I wonder if I have the experience at this stage to do the same at level 3, or whether I'd be just as well reading the textbooks for level 3 and waiting a year or two before doing the level 3 course.
Thank you for reading one of the longest posts ever on this forum, and I would appreciate any thoughts you might have. Cheers, R.
I am self-employed. Not being an apprentice, I managed this with a mixture of direct observation by the college of self-employed work, and some work-based recorder work from a plumber friend who decided to help me out when I needed certain tasks to be recorded in exchange for a bit of company at work.
As a 32 year old graduate, I am able to self study the theory side of the course easily enough, and the college knows it can give me a load of stuff to look at and I'll turn up, ask 100 questions, take an exam and get a high mark. So in that sense, I'm a fairly easy student they want to retain.
College tells me Level 3 is mostly theory.
College is in Wales which is currently some distance from me. However, the college has managed to convince the Welsh Government to fund my course. So it would cost me the train fare, but not the college itself. Knowing the college, I would be reasonably happy to study there again, as better the devil you know, and I do know the staff there quite well. College doesn't do gas - it does oil, but I'm not especially worried as not that interested in gas work myself and I think there will be a lot of work in renewables in the future.
My first concern is that my work schedule is not that busy at present. While this gives me the time to bugger about travelling every week or two, it does mean I'm worried about getting the sort of work that might be needed for level 3. While I have, say, converted a heating system to S plan, fitted new CWSC and DHW cylinder and a pumped shower (and half the bathroom) all in the same house, this was for people who knew me well and didn't mind waiting while I managed this single-handedly in their cluttered house. So most of my work is small jobs, ideal for a one-man-band.
My other concern is that to get what I needed from my level 2 course, I had to ask the right questions from college staff as it was otherwise quite basic and not really related to real-life plumbing, and I wonder if I have the experience at this stage to do the same at level 3, or whether I'd be just as well reading the textbooks for level 3 and waiting a year or two before doing the level 3 course.
Thank you for reading one of the longest posts ever on this forum, and I would appreciate any thoughts you might have. Cheers, R.
