Level 3 Plumbing course

[John333]

I've just completed the plumbing NVQ and Technical certificate level 2 at my local college which has taken me just under two years to complete. I've been offered a place on the level 3 course which starts next week which will take another two years to complete. With all the negative comments about the industry I've read on this board, I'm starting to think would it be worth doing the level 3 course. I'm in my 40s will I be wasting my time ?

 

[SilentMike]

only you can answer that really why did you do the level 2 course

 

[chris watkins]

What L3 have you been offered, John ?? Did you completed the NVQ without a plumbing job ?? What do you want to do, work for a company or yourself ? do you want your gas?
Either of the level 3 plumbing / heating would be very difficult without working in the trade to be able to apply & make sense of what you are learning.

 

[Simon F]

the tech cert is completed in college the NVQ is done in the work place with some aspects from the tech cert being transferable into it. Have you done the NVQ if so you will have work or contacts in the industry, and so will know the likely prospects for you of completing the level 3.
the reason I ask is it seems people often mention the NVQ when in reality they have only done the tech cert

 

[Dotty]

Only you can honestly answer that John, is your heart in it? Yeah the industry is touching saturation point, and at an all time low because of the recession. But the exact same thing happened with the IT industry 12-13 years ago and they've gotten over the hump. You just need to ask yourself if you're prepared to ride out the storm

 

[John333]

I've been working for a company part-time and managed to complete my NVQ. Would it be possible to complete my level 3 course without having a job ?

 

[SilentMike]

not all of it you need to build a workplace portfolio to get the nvq and if you plan on doing your gas you need to do the same with an engineer

 

[chris watkins]

I teach L3 & I would say not but thats why I asked which one, if it is the new 6189 then it is going to be very hard going without having the work to apply to the college & you will not be able to complete it without the on site assessments.

 

[John333]

I teach L3 & I would say not but thats why I asked which one, if it is the new 6189 then it is going to be very hard going without having the work to apply to the college & you will not be able to complete it without the on site assessments.

Is the level 3 6189 similar to the level 2 you first do the technical certificate at college once completed you do the NVQ with on site work assessments? if that's the case, I was thinking maybe starting the course and hopefully by the time I get to the NVQ I'll have found a job to be able to complete the work based assessments. I'm currently working part-time - not sure for how long. It's looking like I'll be finished in a couple of weeks as they seem to be struggling - I do mainly maintenance work, no gas. I've mentioned this to the tutor at college and he said I'd be ok to do the level 3 course but I wouldn't be able to do the gas part of the course. Are they work based site assessments while doing the technical certificate?

 

[chris watkins]

Hi John
The 6189 has both on-site & off-site assessments (college based) if you are unable to complete the on-site ones you can not get the qualification so it is a real risk.
The level 3 is a real step-up from the L2 tech cert as you would expect, it goes into a lot more detail (sometimes far to much & off track from work that most plumbers do) but on the whole it is a good course if the teacher knows there stuff. It is normally completed in around 2 years the first year at college is the core subjects :- Cold (lots of water regs), Hot (including un-vented) Heating (design, heatloss, pump sizing etc), Sanitation, (design AGD & RW Systems), Electric's (largest subject area 102 guided learning hours. PS - your know than most sparks if you can pass the exam LOL) & Organising Resources - simple one but exam is mental. Each one has an on-line exam & there is a project exam for C,H,Htg & sanitation. You then have to choose a route for the second year which is either gas or re-newables, to do the gas you have to be working, doing gas work under a GSR engineer & build up a log of many days, otherwise it's the re-newable such a solar HW etc.
If you can do it you come out with water reg's & un-vented tickets & if you can get the gas work experience you can come out with the same as the CCN1 & apply to GS to go on the register but it is a very big ask I think with out the work experience running along side the college stuff (not just the gas).
Put it this way, the course was designed for people who are working in the industry & to stop, so called training centres selling it to anyone who could pay.