Plumbing courses or NVQ

Former Member

i have decided to embark on a career change from office work to Pluming
i just want to know what is better going to college and doing a course
or an NVQ where you get more work experience as in school everything will be
in class

Former Member

Most apprentiship/course things around here you have 4 days on site and one day at college, i think thats the way that most places work, cause you get all your certificates/take your exams while earning a real wage and getting real experience.

Where abouts do you live? Have you looked into local colleges and courses, you could even go into connexions and talk to them.
Most courses start in september though, so you might wnat to ring around and find prospective employers/colleges before that.

Former Member

i live in east london i have read people just do these two week courses
for 500 quid and then become plumbers which i can't belive you can be that good at it after two weeks.

the thing with with me is if i do a college course i am sure everthing is in class where as a nvq you get more experience mayby it is the same thing. i am going to have to find out if a college qualification is the same as the Nvq at a certain level

i am 21 so connextions are for 16-19 i think

Former Member

You're right there is such a thing as experience - my dad has been doing plumbing and electrical work for maybe 30 years or so and a lot of his work is fixing other people's mistakes.

However if you're good at it there's work in places like Australia where you could earn a really decent wage and live a great life there.

Former Member

nah i am not looking to move according to my career advisor with the amount of people coming into london every their is enough work at home. i am not sure if i should go with a training provider or find my own placement that is local to me
training providers they can send you far

Former Member

Today, the most demand jobs are technical works. Thus, taking a vocational or technical course has a lot of opportunities.

Former Member

Soeak to your local colleges and see what they offer for plumbing courses, as well as training providers. See how lomng the courses last, how many people in a class, cost, job prospects afterwards etc. before you make your mind up.

NVQ's are very hands on and give you a lot of on the job experience.