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Train 4 Trade Skills

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hi chaps new to the forum,joined t4t back in summer 2007 started with foundation city and guilds 6022-6032 and intermediate 6128 now upgraded to 6129. had the salesman sell it to me i bought it thought great off i go,then i started to read all the negative fall out about t4t and its not worth this and not worth that! fair enough everybodys deserves there opinion! well i thought stuff it iam in for the long haul,the books arrived so i started to soak up the knowledge and theory worked my way through the modules submitted tmas got good results,then decided to have a crack at the scenario 3d load of bollocks the cd froze up,but to be fair t4t did recognise there were problems so they swiftly despatched a replacement,but never did complete them,anyway the two weeks practical came up last year 2008 6022 6032 sanitary installation and water regs well what can i say excellent training facilities,accomodation is NOT provided but details are provided for local guest houses recomended by other students! the staff at the centre are all time served waterboard type blokes really friendly and you can have a good laugh with them but they deff know there trade not a stich up as some may think but very surprising considering what i was expecting it was well run proffesional set up! anyway passed that course certs were dispatched in the post along with BPEC water regs card, carried out the intermediate now completed theory just waiting to go on the two weeks pratical now,! a very good course ok its not going to get you a job but it gives you plenty of confidence to carry out plumbing work and puts you in good stead to run your own buisness and to those guys out there doing the course dont worry its very rewarding and you meet some bloody good blokes on the course and think glad i did it now!
 
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nimitz thanks for the info will help plan money needed for accomidation.

LM Ceramics you are absolutly right being time served or fast track is no garuntee you will get good or bad workmanship. It seems to me that more and more people don't take pride in there work.

When I had my central heating installed the guys wanted to run all the pipes including the gas pipe allong the skirting board and up the edge of my stairs !

I told him if he was not prepaird to do the job right (i.e put the pipe work under the floor) he could take his gear and , he was not pleased but he did do the job correctly.

Again I think this kind of thing comes down to pride. I for one would hate to have any customer call me back because I did not do the job correctly first time. Mistakes happen for sure but some of the trades men I have come across only want to complete the job asap and get paid.

I too an not worried about the competition as where ever I have woked I have gained a reputation for working hard and doing good work and I will carry that into any plumbing that I do. Word of mouth is a great way to gain work or to kill your buisness so these guys that are crap will in the end fail wether they are time served or not.
 
Hi Paul, I was interested to read your question about your Train4TradeSkills course. My son Luke was thinking of joining this course and I would be very interested in hearing more about your experiences of the course todate and also reading the poor reviews you have seen ... where did you see these reviews ? Cheers Peter
 
I'm halfway through the Train 4 trade skills course. I have learnt things but none of it seems very practical in terms of hands on learning. It seems that they charge you a few thousand, give you a couple of out of date theory books and an awful 3d scenario computer based learning program. Haven't gone to the 2 week practical part of the course yet but My advice is buy some theory books yourself and enter the exams. I try and get some experience where I can. I've installed a Toilet, outside tap, new waste for a basin and various bits and bobs but I get confused with all the City and guilds qualifications that you can get. I really want to be a self employed plumber but I am realising that this course will not be enough. I personally think its ok but NOT worth a few grand!!!! Has anyone got any advice for me? I'm 24, I work as a laborer for a country estate. They've officially taken me on as a trainee plumber but haven't really given me much training. I think they can see aswell that this course is not giving me enough knowledge to be able to go into plumbing anyone got any advice on which route to take?
 
Hi, to anyone interested in the Train4trade skills. I'm halfway through the course. Someone basically comes and sells you a dream. Sign on the dotted line and after this course ou'll be qualified to set up with a little van and be a plumber. They scare you by saying ' Lots of people end up in dead end jobs, now you don't want to be like that do you?' So I signed up. I got given a big theory book. Teaches you the basics. You fill in the assessment at the end of each module and then post it online. They send back your results using an automated marking service. If you think a rubbish theory book full of mistakes and spelling errors is worth a couple of grand then go for it!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm halfway though the course now as I've already said and I'm abit confused as to what my qualifications will count for at the end of the course and whether it will stand for anything in the eyes of an employer or a customer. Really feel cheated!!! But then again thats what most companies do. Pull the wool over your eyes then run off with your money.
 
Sorry but he's right. You can't expect to jump straight into being a plumber after this fast track course. I'm also 24 am half way through train4trade skills course and I'm a trainee plumber on a country estate the more plumbing I do in the reall world the more I realise this plumbing course counts for nothing much. My advice get employment with a plumbing company and stick it out for a good couple of years or more. Then re-assess whether you think you can go self-employed or not. If your determined and you cover all your bases theres no reason you can't be a success though.

Hope it works out for ya
 
Benfoord,

I am doing the t4ts and I fund the sales man the same but before he came to my door I knew for a fact he was full of ****, I decided to take on t4ts not because of the salesman but because I wanted a start into the plumbing industry.

There are so many courses so at the end of the day you got to take what you think will work for you.

Not only that I have agreed to the payment I will make sure I get my monies worth. There are mistakes but these are corrected on the site or you can call you tutor and he will help.

NVQ is a UK wide reconginsed qualification so there will be compaines out there that are happy you have it. The practical experiance is hard to come by when looking for a company to work with but thats a catch 22 thats been around for an age "can't get work if no experiance. can't get experiance if no job"
 
Re: Train 4 trade skills, help i may have made a big mistake.

Well it was from word ofmouth by someone doing the course that I contacted them! I'm currently a kitchen fitter and do my on plumbing etc but just would have liked a few bits of paper work to go with it :) I'll have to rethink how I go about this but cheers guys!
 
hey folks
just wondering if anyone has any feedback on the 3D software that T4Ts give you on their course, i know nimitz didn't sound to fussed by it, but i thought it looked good on the DVD. Can someone give me an idea if it's any good as due to join a course & want to know if this will sway it for me.
Much apprec plumb dudes =:)
 
Re: train4 trade skills new starter

Hi all!

I am a bit shocked to discover no accomodation is provided when you visit a training centre... you would think there would be when you pay that much for the course!
On their website the video speciffically states "the training centre will make the accomodation booking for you, so you don't even have to worry about those logistical details!" Naive of me, maybe, but I thought that would mean it was included in the cost of your course.
From T4TS's website they say " A new centre is soon to be opened in Luton to complement the existing facilities in Southampton Guildford and Leeds."
I'm in the midlands and that's a long way to travel :( Also how long will you be away for- anyone know?
You may have guessed I haven't signed up for it yet and can't wait for the rep to come (see what price they quote me as so many different ones are quoted on this site)!
Out of curiosity can everyone who has signed up tell me how much they have paid as we may be in for a bit of a surprise.
Cheers all!
 
Hi everyone - just out of interest can anyone on the trade 4 trade skills course tell me how long they had to wait for the call after requesting information?? put a request in for some information 2 weeks ago and heard nothing back - phoned them again and some lady told me that there was nothing more they could do! all i want is information about the cost and what qualification you actually get after you finish... anyone got any ideas??
 
They took a few weeks to get back to me - out of the blue phone call.
For £5570, you get what they call distance learning. Studying and all the books/dvd to do at home, submit your TMA`s and then book for when you feel your ready to do the practical of that TMA.

7hrs study per week = NVQ level 2 in 2yrs or
14hrs study per week = NVQ level 2 in 1yr is what I was told, as long as you pass etc.

For the £5570, you will get NVQ level 2 & 3, solar heating, part p and something else from what I can remember.

Rumpel4skin said:
They took a few weeks to get back to me - out of the blue phone call.
For £5570, you get what they call distance learning. Studying and all the books/dvd to do at home, submit your TMA`s and then book for when you feel your ready to do the practical of that TMA.

7hrs study per week = NVQ level 2 in 2yrs or
14hrs study per week = NVQ level 2 in 1yr is what I was told, as long as you pass etc.

For the £5570, you will get NVQ level 2 & 3, solar heating, part p and something else from what I can remember.

hi i was told you would be away for two weeks monday to friday
Click to expand...
That is the final 2 weeks to get your full qualification. You spend it in a house and have to do everything - central heating install, solar panels, boiler, bathroom etc
Click to expand...
 
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Rumpel4skin said:
They took a few weeks to get back to me - out of the blue phone call.
For £5570, you get what they call distance learning. Studying and all the books/dvd to do at home, submit your TMA`s and then book for when you feel your ready to do the practical of that TMA.

7hrs study per week = NVQ level 2 in 2yrs or
14hrs study per week = NVQ level 2 in 1yr is what I was told, as long as you pass etc.

For the £5570, you will get NVQ level 2 & 3, solar heating, part p and something else from what I can remember.


hi, did you do the course in the end?? cheers.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...
 
It was recently someone came round.
Some thing`s just didn`t add up right, like the interest free loan.

I was very dubious when they said a place had become available and I had to let them know within a few days. The practical sessons run all the time on a bookable scheme.

Also, some of the modules in level 2, that I think are un-necessary. ie: web site, business banking, book keeping, defining sales, topics for expansion to name a few.

Don`t get me wrong, it`d look great on paper after getting qualified, but it`s not relevant for me.
 
Hi all
Thanks for the advice especially Johnmess - very wise. I've looked into the train4trades & was a bit concerned to finde that they are run by the scheidegger group who are apparently being investigated by watchdog. Dunno much more but have asked about & found enough out to put me off.
Cheers all
wyng
 
train 4 trade skills, whats the problem???

i signed up for the "full scope" train for trade skills course last saturday. i read all the comments on this site and was extremely weary about committing myself to the course. members on this site were saying things like "they pluck prices out of the air" and " i dont think these qualifications mean anything". i paid £4900 for the city and guilds 6129 technical certificate training, also city and guilds 6129 level 3, nvq 2 training and assesments and nvq 3 training and assesments, i also get electrical training (part p) and water regulations certificate and a few other certificates included in this price. along with all this i get 12 weeks practicle training in a city and guils approved centre. i have a tutor on the other end of the phone, and virtual reality training on the pc. the guy came round and had a folder with prices in it, he said it would be £5770 on finance or £4900 paid up front, it was a no-brainer for me as i had the money to pay. i dont see how this is a fast track way to becoming a plumber,you revise in your own time, it saves you waiting around for your one day of college a week, its the exact same qualifications as you get in colleges, the difference being you get adults on these courses who are 100% committed to learning as they pay thousands for it and at the end of it you get a plumber who is pretty much ready to go out and work. ill end with this, to companies that say they wont employ people who have been on these courses i am asking you why not?? surely its better than taking on an apprentice giving your money away for them doing nothing!! im sure it would be better to take someone on thats done these courses as they already have a lot of practical and thoretical knowledge that would benifit your company.. its going to take me 24-36 months to be nvq3 qualified, i am 23 years old at the moment so will be around 25 when fully qualified.
 
Re: train 4 trade skills, whats the problem???

rah! rah!
check out these in cost from high to low.

1, reactafast about £8,000+ = intensive with offers franchise etc

2, t4ts varies between £4,500 to £5,950 plumbing learning for 'dummies' = from
scratch ie no tool skills.

3, plumbing career academy, about £2,250 = theory training to nvq3 6128 gas route, pay as you need it workshop training inc weekends, plus support. good for diy'er.

all diferent, find someone who has actually done it and follow the same course as them for referal then you cant go to wrong.
 
Re: train 4 trade skills, whats the problem???

hi there bcharalambous, I think the problem is that it seems alot of these people doing these fast track courses think that they can learn all there is to know about plumbing and these fast track plumbers think they can go land a job on full rate, alot of plumbers won't give people who have only done a course a chance because of there unrealistic expectations. Everyone in the game knows it takes years on the tools to be of a good standard, so the idea of these people thinking they know it all gets peoples backs up. I think that if you sent out cv's to plumbing firms and say your on a course but are willing to work as a plumbers mate to help kick start your plumbing carear you should stand a good chance of employment, over time you will progress from mate to improver to plumber, evan if you pass a course in twelve weeks you will still not be of standard to be classed as a plumber, you say it will take you a couple of years before you get qualified so it would be ideal to get related employment to run alongside it
 
Re: train 4 trade skills, whats the problem???

:eek:
Gordon West said:
Hi,

Kinda new to all this Forum stuff. Like a lot of you I would like to try something new and being pretty handy and practical I think that I would enjoy plumbing and be able to make a living at it. The big question , what course and who with ?

What decided you to go with T4TS as opposed to another outfit for example OLCI that I have tracked down ?

Is it financial, better course material or they are convenient for the training workshop or non of the above ?

Can you or anyone give me any pointers, OLCI have a workshop assessment centre on my doorstep but I do not think the course material looks as comprehensive as the T4TS. Then again that might just be presentation.

i went with t4ts for many reasons, the training centre for the practical is a 15 min drive away, the price was very good, it did not seem fast track like the others. the method of learning for the c and g 6129 seems a lot more thorough. i did not like the way the other companies took £5000 off you, take you on a 10 week training course and send you on your way. i would no way feel confident enough to go out and work after a 10 week course, therefore it would be a complete waste of money. by looking through the modules i have already i can see how much there is to learn. at the end of the day these companies are only open to make money, otherwise they would not bother, you have to respect that, its like any other buisiness's. like every other buisiness they offer a product or service in return for your money, you only hand your money over if you want that product or service. if you want to do plumbing i would advise you to go for it, whatever company you go with, these people would not be in buisiness if what they were offering was not as they advertise, trading standards would be on thier case like flies on dog sh**.

plumbster said:
hi there bcharalambous, I think the problem is that it seems alot of these people doing these fast track courses think that they can learn all there is to know about plumbing and these fast track plumbers think they can go land a job on full rate, alot of plumbers won't give people who have only done a course a chance because of there unrealistic expectations. Everyone in the game knows it takes years on the tools to be of a good standard, so the idea of these people thinking they know it all gets peoples backs up. I think that if you sent out cv's to plumbing firms and say your on a course but are willing to work as a plumbers mate to help kick start your plumbing carear you should stand a good chance of employment, over time you will progress from mate to improver to plumber, evan if you pass a course in twelve weeks you will still not be of standard to be classed as a plumber, you say it will take you a couple of years before you get qualified so it would be ideal to get related employment to run alongside it
Click to expand...
thanks for the advice plumbster,and i understand what you are saying. you would have to be a mug if you thought you would earn top dollar after doing a 10-12 week course. i just want the qualifications under my belt first, as much experience as possible and then i would be happy being employed or self employed earning between £18000 and £30000 after being time served (4-10 years). im realistic!!!!!
Click to expand...
 
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plumermicky said:
Yeah you get some really crap ones like the fast track course's.
Click to expand...

I spoke to a T4T rep this morning and he made the course sound fantastic until he wanted me to sign the enrolement forms today and when I said I wanted to think about it he gave me the hardsell 'well there's extremely limited space on the course', 'we strictly vett applicants and if I don't think you'll finish the course I won't put you on it', 'I would do the course myself but I'm not good with my hands'.

Put me right off. I think T4T is very much a fast track course (but the best of a bad bunch), 9mths for NVQ Lv 2 (which is normally 2 years at college) and two years for the whole course..

I'm going to let him down unfortunately, he'll have to earn commission off someone else..
 
PlumbBob said:
Hi all!

I am a bit shocked to discover no accomodation is provided when you visit a training centre... you would think there would be when you pay that much for the course!
On their website the video speciffically states "the training centre will make the accomodation booking for you, so you don't even have to worry about those logistical details!" Naive of me, maybe, but I thought that would mean it was included in the cost of your course.
From T4TS's website they say " A new centre is soon to be opened in Luton to complement the existing facilities in Southampton Guildford and Leeds."
I'm in the midlands and that's a long way to travel :( Also how long will you be away for- anyone know?
You may have guessed I haven't signed up for it yet and can't wait for the rep to come (see what price they quote me as so many different ones are quoted on this site)!
Out of curiosity can everyone who has signed up tell me how much they have paid as we may be in for a bit of a surprise.
Cheers all!
Click to expand...

The rep has come and apparently they now give vouchers for your accomodation (£30 per night) so you can stay where ever you like.
The price differences people are quoting is because you can choose to do level two on its own (around £4000) or up to Level 3 (£5575 I think).
They do train in NVQ and will help you get a place if you need it with a company (to do the NVQ bit that is- not guaranteed a perm job).
She seemed fair and honest enough. Got the usual sales pitch when I said needed to think about it (she said she is not in the area after tomorrow and that it may be a few more months before I can get on the course if I don't let them know by then).
To be fair I would have signed up but can't afford it right now. Having looked into this really hard T4TS would be the one I would go with out of all of them- maybe in the future.
Good luck anyone who is on the course!
 
I am currently half way through my course with Train 4 Trade skills having recently completed my first two weeks practical training and i have to say i am very disapointed. Allow me to apologise for the length of this thread but trust me its worth a read if your already qualified, thinking of doing one of these courses or fingers crossed you work for City and Guilds.

Firstly allow me to address the main point that is coming from who i assume are experianced plumbers who learnt the old fashioned way. Your quite right you cant learn to be a plumber in what is a very short time, but if like me you know nothing of the trade and you need to change career as you have a family to feed and your current career (Financial Services) is in steep decline then someone telling you in your own home that completion of this course will make you a qualified plumber earning X amount your more than happy to believe them. In fact the high cost of these courses gives the sale pitch more gravity.

I have now realised through research and talking to people (yes i know i should have done this before signing up) that firstly the qualification i will get C & G 6128 is pretty much useless as according to the Governments careers website this qualification doenst build towards the NVQ. Which is a minor point because as far as i was concerned i was going to become a fully qualified plumber. So i'm in the process of trying to get my money back having been missold.

Can i also add what a joke the training is for example during the exams if you didnt know an answer dont worry one of the helpful instructors would pop up and tell you the answer. The scary thing about this is that many of the people on our course spoke little or very broken English and without having the answers told to them wouldnt have had a chance. Imagine that one of these people come to do work on your house. At one stage we confronted one of the trainers and said that we hadnt touched a shower ie installation, maintence, repair etc and we were told 'you fitted a tap, you can fit a shower'. Now i dont know much but i think a power shower or thermostatic shower are a little different from a tap. On our final day we had to finish up our paper work which involved ticking off a sheet saying we'd done all sorts of things we hadn't even talked about. I have a portfolio now, a complete tissue of lies yes i've done some of it but most of it we've not touched. I could go on and dont get me on to health and saftey or the complete lack of it we were never issued with any PPE no talk of fire exits despite a load of amatures using blow torches in flamable surroundings.

I feel sorry for those that have been sold the hope this course offers i feel sorry for decent qualifed plumbers whose qualifications are being erroded by a bunch of incompetants being released into the trade with the same qualifcations as you. i am going to fight trade for trade skills until i get what i want and hope more do the same. I have contacted trading standards who will look into it and was thinking i can imagine this making a good piece on watch dog.
 
Monstermash

Two questions

One. what center did you go to?

and

Two. Was you on the foundation course with T4TS? becasue if you was, you won't get a 6129 after conpletion. The foundation course they do, dose state that the 6129 is not in with the course, its more on the basic side of plumbing
 
i think most people here are missing the point..........
you have to start some where, so makes your choice that suits you, stick with it and dont expect to get results for free.
then after getting your quals, choose your path into the industry and you will find what suits your ability. be it installing new boilers at rolls royce or changing a tap washer at your local retirement home as a maintenance guy.
being a plumber is knowing how to plumb 3 types of items, h/c water, waste, fuel, not take columbus into space.
 
Tottaly agree with REDSAW34. You do have to start some where, Even though you won't get that much respect in the Industry because people like me chose a course like this, instead of going to college, or even doing a apprenticeship. I did apply to a college in my area at frist, But they turnt me away becasue i did'ent sit my GCSE. So i did alot of research and found that T4TS was the best for me. I can understand why these course get most plumber back's up. Because the people on them! They all got the wrong attitude, thinking they can earn 30K a year when they pass, I do find it unbelievable how people can actuary think like that, with not that much experience.
 
Code: 
'well there's extremely limited space on the course', 'we strictly vett applicants and if I don't think you'll finish the course I won't put you on it'
I had exactly the same.
 
train 4 trade skills scenario 4

hi,
has any one done the scenario 4 of the t4t dvd. yet?.
 
Re: train 4 trade skills scenario 4

what type of dvd is this.where is its place in relation to training.
 
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