ProffesorPlumb

Please leave your feedback here if you did your course here

bishbosh77

Hi
I have just finished the VIY course at the old price.... First five weeks in classroom with a guy who was a gas fitter/trainer who is realy up himself and all the info he tells you is as it should be but he has no real world experiance as a plumber just a gas fitter. The next five weeks in workshop are verygood and hard work (you for some reason get clowns on the course who don't want to learn) and all the tutors in workshops are top class and will teach everybody who wants to learn.As advice goes buy your own tools after course has finished so you know what is needed, ask loads of questions as the time soon goes and the main thing DO NOT EXPECT WORK WHEN YOU FINISH, its tough out there.
If i could have sugested one thing to make the course better it would be to get thw owner George to teach the first five weeks of the course as he was a real world plumber with loads of realy useful info that would work in the class room and be transfered to the real world, as george is a no B*****t kind of guy and tells it like it is (old school).
The only thing what ever course you do untill you have done it you don't realise how much more there is to learn.
I hope this helps all the budding toilet jockeys out there...

joebaxi

i,m currently halfway through this courseand have just completed my first week in workshops after the five week classroom stuff.I must admit its nowt like i was expecting it to be.All the rules and regs you have to learn for the qualifications are a little tiresome and i reckon you could probably go up to a plumber who qualified 30 years ago and he probably wouldnt have a clue what you were on about,but i want the qualification so needs must.I think Joe the classroom tutor has his hands tied as far as what he can teach you,his job is to get you through the exams so teaching tricks of the trade or shortcuts are out of the window.The workshops however are a different matter and much more laid back.The assessors are brilliant and only too willing to help....secretly though i think they like making you look an idiot when you call them over to a problem you.re having and they put it right in 2 seconds before walking off looking smug....but thats just my opinion.The way the workshops are laid out are as as real as i suppose they could make them,ie floorboards and joists in the bathroom bays etc.Most of the guys on my course are planning to go self employed which i suppose is the way to go to get on in this trade.Most employers wont want the hassle of taking on trainees,especially the more mature ones as there will be pay issues.I myself plan to concentrate in one area ie bathroom fitting however i will advertise myself as a domestic plumber and take on the little jobs nobody wants.I think anyone going on these courses and expecting to make serious money straight away are slightly deluded,all that will come with experience and hard work.

ProffesorPlumb

Excellent post there joe, and a good outlook to getting started

taurus77

I was considering training with VIY this coming summer (2008) but am seriously re-considering after reading bishbosh77 and joebaxi's posts that the first 5-weeks of the 10-week course are classroom based. I was dubious before about being able to pick up plumbing skills in just 10-weeks, and now that I know that it is actually just 5-weeks I am left wondering if somebody could actually pick up competent plumbing skills in such a short space of time?

Its all vey well leaving the centre at the end of 10-weeks qualified, but the qualification is useless on its own unless it is re-enforced with good quality training (and impartial too - if I've done a bad job i want to be told that). Is anybody able to verify the quality of VIY's 5-week training? Afterall, I wouldn't want to spend best part of £7000 to find that at the end of the course I could give a lecture of Water Regulations but not be able to plumb a bathroom and such like.

oldplumbers

Hi Taurus77,I was thinking of doing a course myself but have backed off due too housing market and feedback on various forums.I have spoken to a guy at Chaseplumbing.co.uk who says that to do domestic plumbing you only need a two week course,get an NOCN certificate for it and do a 1 day course for your WRAS ticket and away you go-all for about a grand!!!!
Now not might be a good time to start a trades course as various comments suggest that with a sudden slump in the housing market a lot of trades people are now having to do domestic work inorder to make ends meet.
oldplumbers.

taurus77

Hi oldplumbers. Thanks for the feedback.

Is there ever a right time to learn a new trade?

I have never believed the hype about the shortgage of plumbers in the UK and having reasearched my potential new career I do believe those people like me coming into the industry have left it a little too late (by about 5 years I reckon). So why am I bothering you ask? Well, I long for warmer climates and believe getting a trade such as plumbing will allow me to emigrate to such countries such as Australia or New Zealand where, I could probably (or rather hopefully) prosper better than I would in the UK. However, I would need more than just the NOCN certificate to be able to realise this ambition.

I hear that such courses as the NOCN certificate and the fast-track qualifications are to blame for ****ing off time-served plumbers and as such are frowned upon.

ProffesorPlumb

Hi guys - interesting feedback there about training.

It doesn't matter where you do your training, as long as its accredited and your getting value for money.

The NOCN certificate cross matches to the NVQ criteria. It just doesn't say City & Guilds

As long as you get the right training, covering all the necessary theory and practical, with an ACCREDITED training certificate, it doesn't matter what awarding body you go for.

It's experience that makes you quicker and more confident after your training. It's the same for any kind of training you do, in any occupation.

It's like the old driving test story. Everybody is a nervous driver after passing their test. They get better over time

So I suppose it all boils down to what you want to spend?

Somebody from another thread made an interesting comment about 'old plumbers' not taking on apprentices. If 'new recruits' didn't take the bull by the horns and go for it themselves, who is going to replace the 'old school' plumbers that get ****ed off so easily?

There is nothing wrong with ambition, combined with the desire to succeed and motivation

oldplumbers

Hi Professor plumb,
Don't get me wrong,I'm not knocking the guy for his ambition etc,its just that he could spend a lot of money and get very little in return!
With regards to OZ/N.Z-I think taurus 77 would need 4/5 years experience after qualifying in order to apply for a trade position down-under.I suggest he checks a couple of immagration site for additional info,.
Regards,
oldplumbers.

joebaxi

hi tauruss77....regarding your post that you were thinking of going with viy training but do not think 10 weeks was sufficient time especially as only 5 weeks of this is workshop based.i feel it is my duty to big up viy as i,m currently still doing this course and am enjoying it immensely with a great bunch of blokes,assessors and students alike.it,s something i,ve been pawing over for a few years now and whilst researching all the different courses viy was always up at the top of my list.it is i agree a lot of money to spend and a big risk to take especialy at my age nearly 40 but after 20 years in a factory and a handful of other jobs i didnt care for i thought what the heck so took the plunge.the course is everything they tell you it is on their web pages.if you go on their tour on a thursday george the owner explains everything the course offers and sugar coats nothing.one course i nearly went on a few months back was a grand cheaper than viy but i smelled a huge rat when some spiv in suit came to my house and proceeded to act like my best mate and was telling me i was the sort of person they wanted on their course then made a big deal of phoning his boss and begging him to try and squeeze me in on the next corse.it turned out the certificates they were offering werent worth the paper they were written on and the practical experience they offered amounted to summat like 5 days workshop and 6 months home learning.dont get me wrong i,m under no illusion that you can learn plumbing in ten weeks and was also a little surprised that it was a straight 5 weeks classroom then 5 weeks workshop.the classroom bit is to get you through the 12 exams you need to pass for the 6129 certificate and you could be forgiven for thinking that you are being thrown a lot of information you dont need to know as regards plumbing and the time could be better spent doing hands on work but the teaching is first class and joe the tutor is only too happy to repeat anything you dont understand over and over again until it finally sinks into your old and dicrepit brain.things like health and safety and working relationships are a bit of a chore but city and guilds demand that you must learn these things to gain the qualifications.the exams are multiple choice and require 80% to pass but 75% gives yolu a chance to immediately have another crack at the questions you got wrong.less than 75% means you must resit the exam further on in the course.as regards the workshops there is really only so much they can show you.the first half day there we were given a blow torch,as much copper pipe as we wanted and an endless supply of elbows and tees and after a quick demo told to practice soldering joints...its as simple as that.2 hours of practice and so far after 3 weeks of different projects nobody to my knowledge has had a leaky soldered joint.then after a quick demo on spring bending and machine bending you,re thrown straight into plumbing in a full bathroom suite.sounds a bit daunting but the assessors run round like blue assed flies helping you out but to be honest the knowledge is already there from the classroom work it,s just a case of getting your hands to do what you,re brain is telling them to.the bathroom takes about 2 days but if they asked me to do it again tomorrow i,d have it done by dinner time.you,re confidence grows and you find yourself chomping at the bit to get vstarting on the next project and learn something different.theres a couple of days precise copper work where bends have to be accurate to correct angles and length but thats just to please city and guilds and its just basic maths and learning the bending machines capabilities.out in the real world the bending machine will probably never leave the van.i have 2 weeks to go on mny practical and i can honestly say i know a million times more about plumbing now than i ever did and would be confident in taking on any job i,ve learnt so far.ok i,m gonna take twice as long and will probably refer back to my books now and again for the next 6 months or so and i,l probably turn down a few major jobs till i have enough experience but like my old dad used to say "if you dont make the odd f*** up,you never learn".yeah go for viy mate if you decide to do plumbing,there,s no bull and they do exactly what it says on the tin