Training to become a plumber. Any advice helpful

[jakeholland123]

Hi everyone

I am looking at training to become a plumber and have found a course that looks and sounds really good. The course is the City and Guilds level 2 NVQ 6189-11 Plumbing and Heating and the company is New Career Skills.
You can take 18 months to complete the course, studying at home in your own time and then take 5 x week long practical lessons after you feel you have studied the theory also you complete TMA’s (tutor marked assignments) along the way.

I have been reading as much as possible about NCS and the course and have found some negative posts in forums, but most are positive and helpful.
I checked everything with City and Guilds and I am informed the 6189 is the highest level of qualification they give out for plumbing the only problem I have is that the 6189 has only just been validated as of the 1st April 2011 and so I cannot find any useful information on this course. As the course would cost around £6000 now, I am adamant to part with my money unless I know I am getting the best possible outcome.

The link to the course guide is New Career Skills Plumbing Information Pack

page 5 gives a summary of the qualifications and training provided.
From what I can gather once I have gained the BPEC water regulations, BPEC Domestic hot water storage system Certificates and the
C + G 6189 I can work as a plumber (self employed or employed), but a lot of people are saying that with only 5 weeks practical under my belt I wont have enough experience and confidence to go self employed.
The course also says it offers the NVQ and some help to get into the industry but I need to be in work to gain this, how easy will it be for me to find enough work and build up a decent portfolio to gain the NVQ once I have finished the course.
Any information on courses, New Career Skills, and the new qualification would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers

Jake

 

[johnmcginty]

Alright mate welcome, you will not get the 6089, only the tech cert, it will take another year and maybe another grand for the assessors to come out( if you trained and they're still in business) , you will most have to spend somewhere in the region of £20,000 to get up and running . No one will touch you with a barge pole for a job , even if you work for free. even after start up you probably have a 1 in 50 chance of still being in business in two years time. I don't mean to sound harsh but the realities are grim, and i'm just being honest. Qualifications are nothing if you are not going to go to college and do 4 years. It is changing too but someone else will have to give you the info on that as I have no clue. I know because I did one of these courses a few years ago now allbeit but still they're probably the same. Out of all that were on the course only around 3 of us are plumbing out of 32 clever mature students! If you can bag an apprenticeship and learn the long route and live on low wages you will be best off in the long run. hope this helps pm me if you would like a chat.

 

[secret squirrel]

Alright mate welcome, you will not get the 6089, only the tech cert, it will take another year and maybe another grand for the assessors to come out( if you trained and they're still in business) , you will most have to spend somewhere in the region of £20,000 to get up and running . No one will touch you with a barge pole for a job , even if you work for free. even after start up you probably have a 1 in 50 chance of still being in business in two years time. I don't mean to sound harsh but the realities are grim, and i'm just being honest. Qualifications are nothing if you are not going to go to college and do 4 years. It is changing too but someone else will have to give you the info on that as I have no clue. I know because I did one of these courses a few years ago now allbeit but still they're probably the same. Out of all that were on the course only around 3 of us are plumbing out of 32 clever mature students! If you can bag an apprenticeship and learn the long route and live on low wages you will be best off in the long run. hope this helps pm me if you would like a chat.

So true,

I agree with everything you've said John!

 

[fagsanbooz]

the 6189 is the new diploma nvq which can only be fully achieved by being 'on-site' so you can be examined doing certain jobs at work.you can't get it by just going to a training centre, no matter what they say! yes a lot of it is done at college but 5 weeks!!!!! and learning it all at home!!!!!!!did you hear me go all high pitched then? come on, think about it, it's a joke! anyway it's your money.

 

[cjuk]

Yea you need to be careful jake matey, your spend all that money and they will only teach you the really basic stuff for plumbing what any diyer could do. Alot of the jobs what ud prob get called out for you wouldn't ave had training for on the workshops, if you got a mate what does plumbing then ok do it then work with him for afew years but if your thinking of doing this course then going on your own then forget it,your be screwed when you get out there. Afew to many plumbers out there anyway cus of these courses mate,unless you got plenty of loyal customers your be struggling,maybe consider your career choice. Good luck anyway if you do it.

 

[jakeholland123]

No I think you misunderstand, I think its my fault I wrote it wrong, the course is based over 18 months, I spend 100 hours of my own time revising and taking online exams (TMA’s) and sending them to the tutors, which are then marked, and when the tutors and I am happy that I know enough I book a 1 week session in the test centre, and spend a week doing practical work which is then assessed and signed off. This happens for 5 test/modules.


So 100 hours revision and TMA’s, 1 week practical, 100 hours revision and TMA’s, 1 week practical, 100 hours revision and TMA’s, 1 week practical, 200 hours revision and TMA’s, 1 week practical, 200 hours revision and TMA’s, 1 week practical - Qualifications.

Its explained in the course guide I gave a link for here it is
New Career Skills Plumbing Information Pack.



The problem is not with the legitimacy of the course I have checked with BPEC, WIAPS, and City and Guilds who all say New Careers Skills are a legit company, and the qualification is the highest i can attain. Its just this new qualification I am having trouble with the 6189 as it has only been around for 2 weeks and is a mash of the previous qualifications.


Once I have that and my water regulations cert and my domestic hot water and storage certifications how hard will it be for me to find work, are you seriously telling me that when I have all these I wont find anyone who wants me to work for them even for free even though we have a massive shortage of plumbers in the south.
Please tell me how I can get into plumbing I don’t mind spending 4 years at college. Or even an apprenticeship but the government has no funding left for people my age. And i am banging my head against a brick wall

 

[johnmcginty]

Domestic hot water cert? so there going to show you how to install and fault find every system ever made . more like ok there's a cylinder and an cw tank hook them up put a gate valve on it and theres your cert.Yes that is what I am saying even if you get all that it is still incredibly unlikely, yes some have been lucky but few and far between and not of recent years. Like I said mate any tom dick and harry can go on an unvented course after getting a 6089 then pay £200 for a days training and exam, and even pass it but to actually start fixing them in the real world ?.....absoluteley no chance I know loads of guys who passed the exam and are still clueless about unvented, it really does need changing. I mean like it has been said before to get the onsite assesments ( probably 5) you will need to book that work in a customers house pay for the assessor at £200 a pop and do all the written work including many many examples of other work done on site and photos etc. They really really really do make it sound easier that it is. You will then be self employed ( probably your only option of building a portfolio) trying you're goddamn hardest to scrape a living for 3+ years all and your income will go on running your business so you probably wont be able to afford the £1000 + for the assesments? pm me or phone the number on my website if you like just click on my signature at the bottom of my page and i will tell you my experience.

THERE IS NO PLUMBING SHORTAGE! NEVER HAS BEEN!
I mean just phone one up now and see how hard it is to get one?
There is a gold shortage though so if anyone has any gold send it to me in the post i will pay £100 a kilo

 

[fuzzy]

hello Jake,

I'd love to tell you your right but im afraid your way off. no sure what youve been told but theres alot of inacurracies in your post

no shortage of plumbers
there is funding at colleges, regardless of age(check it out)
6189 is the new and therefore prefered option, its up to date and includes modern plumbing
bpec courses are 1 day courses, easy for plumbers to pass and not really asked for often (£130 ish each)
6189 requiresyou to work onsite with an expeirenced plumber - very very hard to get

sorry for this, not easy dashing someones hopes but if you go into it do it knowing the facts

check out the plumbing courses threads

fuzz

 

[fuzzy]

make use of the threads on here and read as many as you can

write a cv with the quals on and post to 100 plumbers, see how many replies you get, you could always have replies sent to a different name or email adress, it ill give you an insight

how many posts on here say, need work for nvq, work for free, would there be that many if there is all this work out there?

dont believe what the sales people say about work. they will have you believe that there is lots of work and we are trying to stop competition! well if you dont believe us write to 100 plumbers and make your own decision, before you pay out 6k MINIMUM! check out hidden costs. is the 6k just for the level 2? then youll need the level 3, then youll need your acs, factor that in. most people pay over 10k for all the quals needed,

good luck with your decision mate

 

[themyth3]

What gets me is that they charge £6k for the course when you're only spending 5 weeks in a centre. The rest of the time you're teaching yourself, at home! There is no way that you can substitute in-centre training by doing it from your bedroom or living room.

I know a guy who spent £4.5k doing an electrical course with New Career Skills. He spent 4 weeks in the centre and when he qualified, companies just said there's no chance that they'd employ him with what he's got. He ended up setting up self employed and the training he had was so bad and was making such a mess of the work he was doing that he was having to pay electricians to come and rectify his work!

Distance learning might work for a very small % of people but it's a complete waste of time and money if you ask me.

 

[PlumbBobBob]

there is certainly no shortage of plumbers as you have been told. and you have probably been told you will be on 40k a year as well.

 

[GQuigley67]

go the apprenticeship route, the highest qual you can have is a NVQ3 which requires an apprenticeship. Offer to employers that you'll pay the college fees, but will still struggle mate theres no way in hell there is a shortage there are around 10 guys at least going for each vacancy!!

 

[johnmcginty]

I get around 10 cv's a week some from gas safe nvq3 guys , also go down the job centre , some gas safe jobs are going for £18,000pa

 

[fagsanbooz]

'learn at home', yes another way of giving the customer what they want but is not suitable for the trade. Sorry, it's just not good enough, dont care what they say, dont care if they are legit, it might not be a con but i'ts not okay for the industry! As people have posted, ask 100 experienced plumbers and see if you get much different. Learning this trade is done mostly in the workplace/site, the formal learning you do at college etc is done in a structured way being guided by other plumbers. I know it's chicken and egg but best to get some experience first.

 

[truemanufan]

I only just started my nvq2 on Monday after 1 1/2 years studying my 6129 level 2 and I am currently doing my level 3 now and you need lots of experience! I am lucky to be able to work on a Monday voluntary for a local heating company and I work my arse off for no pay and do anything they say just to get experience and knowledge to one day be a good abs honest plumber and heating engineer! I agree Jake if u want to learn from home fair enough its what I have done and what suits me but it requires alot of hard work and concentrating and believe me the time in test centres is very very minimal! Don't believe it when they say " u can be qualified in 5 months" things like that be because it's all crap!!!! Hope all goes well though mate!

 

[WHPES]

They perpetuate the idea that there is a shortage of plumbers. Sure there was during the boom years before the recession but that was only because of the building boom. Since then building work has slowed right down and with the recession much has actually stopped altogether. With the number of new entries the labour market in many of the trades is over saturated and established plumbers are finding it difficult to fill the days with jobs. I certainly couldn't consider taking on an apprentice as there's barely enough work to sustain me and most of it's oil anyway as opposed to wet systems.