Hi Graham1, I am new to this forum and after reading a couple of threads similar to yours i felt i had to join.
NCS for me is a huge scam. I decided to join NCS because i couldn't join my local college at the time i wanted (had to wait 13 months). A lady from NCS came out to see me and said i could join at any time and that it would work around me and be completed within 6 months, which at the time sounded very appealing. This was a lie. At present i am fuming for a number of reasons (if you would like to know more please do message me to find out), but one in particular made me question to credibility of the company. I turned up for my week 3 assessment (fitting bathroom) and found out i couldn't start until Wednesday afternoon as there wasn't enough booths for the students. I didn't mind at first until it got to Thursday (under assessment by now) and me and three other students discovered there was no more 15mm copper or any lengths of waste pipe. We questioned a tutor saying what happens if there's no copper by the time the assessment is finished and he responded by saying 'how can we fail you? You'll pass don't worry'. Although we were re-assured that we weren't going to fail we all grew in temper knowing that we weren't learning or getting a fraction of what we paid for.
Think what you like from that but to me this company is a waste of time. For £6500 for just a level 2 qualification isn't right and with the benefit of hindsight I would run a mile if this crowd came to my door again. But then again companies such as these prey on naivety (doesn't help i'm 22 with very little life experience). It pains me to read some people on here saying they have wife and kids and want to better themselves and this is right way to go but with the opinions of others on here too, stay clear of these companies and stick to the colleges.
I hope this helps
