jopybus

I qualified last month with train 4 trade skills and i had no problem finding work. The qualifications are city and guilds and as far as i know the only difference between the 6128 and the 6129 is that the 6128 does not include a lead assesment. Its also no nvq related so theres no level 3 attached at all. Instead of 2 years of on the job assesment i had a large assesment covering all aspects at the training centre from c and g assesors. I put my CV with c+g quallification numbers into a number of local heating and vent companies and all bar one got in touch with offers to start work the following week. The reason i used these guys was simple. Level 2 is not qualified and without a work placement its impossible to get the certification you need at level 3. Speaking to the City and guilds staff at the training centre i was told that train 4 trade skills will make a huge impact on the industry because of the 3d simulation software. The fact is even if i was lucky enough to find a placement i would not have been exposed to the general repair and problem solving aspects of the trade so even with level 3 i would need more experience to be totaly compitant.

The NVQ system had churned out a low standard of plumber, so much so that the pass mark for the end exams is 40% just so we can get new guys in the industry. Myself and most of the other students passed in the 90's partly to do with the standard of the training. I fell that most of the negative comments on this site are proberbly from people who know little about the qualification or people who were not offered the training and bare a grudge or prehaps competitors. I work with guys who qualified over 3 years ago and although they are quicker than me on the practicle aspects they seem to have less knollege about the trade than me! what does that tell you???