Hello mate,
I could and will offer my experience of New Career skills. I myself was pondering over the different options in March 2006 and found NCS plastered over the web stating that they offered the opportunity for senior career changers to step into the industry and ultimately laid the claim that you will either come out of it and set up for yourself or would be very employable to prospective plumbing firms. The truth of the matter is with all of these courses (I am lead to believe) that they are foundation only; hence you will probably need to follow the course up with an NVQ2/3 and will definately need to bulk up your practicle experiences before you could become competent and confident. The NCS course is what is regarded as a blended learning course and consists of 4 weeks intense practicle (which you book 1 week at a time once you are at that particular stage of your course) and the rest is theory underpinning which you do yourself from home using the supplied books and work modules. You also have TMA's (Tutor marked assesments that you complete and send to your tutor to re-enforce your understanding of the theory. The course is Western Region Open College Network accredited and is called the '61539' Domestic plumbing installation program.
As I have seen mentioned on the forums about other courses like the OLCI etc, the course does not cover quite as much as you would sometimes hope for but you have to remind yourself that these courses are 'fast track courses' and the work you are doing is designed to be done over a longer term from college or as an apprenteship etc so certain areas are only touched on.
In the main I found the course pretty good and the tutors certainly seemed pretty knowlegable and willing to teach. The £4500 for me I feel was worth it as no other option would have allowed me to carry on working my normal day job whilst I learnt and the colleges had huge demand and big waiting lists so were out of the question.
In conclusion I would say if your in that position as I was it is worth it and NCS certainly seem to be able to deliver the goods but one thing I learned was that although they have case studies of people coming straight out of the course and being immediately succesfull in finding employement or working for themselves, you will find in reality that finding that first job is not as easy and if working for yourself is your goal, you would need to build on your skill set and will still have bundles to learn whilst out on the job.
Anyway, I am in that very position now, im just waiting for my portfolio to be moderated and then its trying to find a job and get a foot in the door.
All the best in your endevours and I hope this info has been usefull to you (I know how confusing the options can be!)
Regards
Darren.
Hello mate,
I could and will offer my experience of New Career skills. I myself was pondering over the different options in March 2006 and found NCS plastered over the web stating that they offered the opportunity for senior career changers to step into the industry and ultimately laid the claim that you will either come out of it and set up for yourself or would be very employable to prospective plumbing firms. The truth of the matter is with all of these courses (I am lead to believe) that they are foundation only; hence you will probably need to follow the course up with an NVQ2/3 and will definately need to bulk up your practicle experiences before you could become competent and confident. The NCS course is what is regarded as a blended learning course and consists of 4 weeks intense practicle (which you book 1 week at a time once you are at that particular stage of your course) and the rest is theory underpinning which you do yourself from home using the supplied books and work modules. You also have TMA's (Tutor marked assesments that you complete and send to your tutor to re-enforce your understanding of the theory. The course is Western Region Open College Network accredited and is called the '61539' Domestic plumbing installation program.
As I have seen mentioned on the forums about other courses like the OLCI etc, the course does not cover quite as much as you would sometimes hope for but you have to remind yourself that these courses are 'fast track courses' and the work you are doing is designed to be done over a longer term from college or as an apprenteship etc so certain areas are only touched on.
In the main I found the course pretty good and the tutors certainly seemed pretty knowlegable and willing to teach. The £4500 for me I feel was worth it as no other option would have allowed me to carry on working my normal day job whilst I learnt and the colleges had huge demand and big waiting lists so were out of the question.
In conclusion I would say if your in that position as I was it is worth it and NCS certainly seem to be able to deliver the goods but one thing I learned was that although they have case studies of people coming straight out of the course and being immediately succesfull in finding employement or working for themselves, you will find in reality that finding that first job is not as easy and if working for yourself is your goal, you would need to build on your skill set and will still have bundles to learn whilst out on the job.
Anyway, I am in that very position now, im just waiting for my portfolio to be moderated and then its trying to find a job and get a foot in the door.
All the best in your endevours and I hope this info has been usefull to you (I know how confusing the options can be!)
Regards
Darren.