Train 4 Trade Skills

[nimitz]

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!

 

[johnmess]

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.

 

[LukeB]

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

 

[Benfoord]

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?

 

[Benfoord]

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.

 

[Benfoord]

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

 

[johnmess]

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"

 

[emo_luke]

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!

 

[wyng56]

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 =

 

[PlumbBob]

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!