Discuss TradeSkills4U Feedback in the Electrician Courses : Electrical Quals area at ElectriciansForums.net
but if you felt that these courses were purely about passing exams, then something has gone wrong
my students, are expected to learn what they need to know to work safely and competenetly 'outside', the exam is secondary to that
of course, they may get more experienced, but that it is a different thing to not starting to learn till after you have finished the course
Sorry, I should have been more specific. I learnt the most in the foundation course where basic circuits and safety were covered. There was a significant section on testing too which was fantastic. This was essentially an optional course and I chose this one as I knew my testing knowledge was non existent.
The Part P course was an informative exam cram. You could absorb it and remember it or simply repeat it parrot style. You got from it what you put in. Again it was good to do the testing bit under tougher assessed conditions.
The regs course really was a cram. I remember a lot of what was said but I do that as part of my day job and not everyone is good at that anyway. I learnt my way round the regs manual which was the best outcome. I guess in a way the pressure at the time was on the exams but we all learnt quite a lot on route whether we realised it or not. The talk between the students in the Part P and regs courses was really exam based. There is no doubt we could have learnt more and become more proficient given more time but time is really limited.
I was happy the courses did their bit, some others on the course I did may not have quite the same opinion. So, did it prepare me for the outside world? Well, yes but I have to say that my previous experience here helped a lot.
As for my comment 'not starting to learn till after you have finished the course'. I did not expect anyone to take that quite literally To cite an example of what I meant (I hope) - many years ago I took an ACU motorbike course prior to starting to ride on the road. I passed the course with flying colours but didn't really start to learn how to survive on the road until after the course. It wasn't that the course didn't teach me exactly what it set out to, it was just that there was so much more that is gained from experience including the swerve balls fired at us by others.
Enough of my babbling
Hi guys
(Snip)
Received 1 of 2 certificates today hooray!!!!!
Justin
Help!!!!!
Bit of a long shot but Can anyone that sat there 1st & 2nd week electrician practicals on the 20th August & 3rd September at the ATL training centre in Featherstone through Train 4 Trade Skills get in touch with me. Its about the information one of our tutors gave us on a 4gb memory stick, had a slight accident with mine and the material on that stick is a big lifeline to the course.
Many Thanks
James DalbyMorning James,
This is a TradeSkills4U feedback thread so i doubt anyone in here will be able to help you with this. Despite the obvious cross over with names we are two very different companies - have a google
Hope you find someone to help you with your USB stick though - it's frustrating when they don't work unless your 'slight accident' means you left it in your jeans pocket and put it in the wash!
Either way best of luck James
Take Care
I am looking on doing the level 2 + 3 diploma 2365 course it is 16 weeks. I have spoken to trade skills 4 u and they have said that I’d need to do the NVQ part which obviously comes after the level 2 + 3 but they said the NVQ part has to be done working in the industry. Would it be a struggle getting a job with only having the level 2 + 3 diploma but then completing the NVQ when I have a job? Do I need to be fully qualified first? I am 23 years old.Please leave feedback if you've been on this course!
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS THREAD IS FOR FEEDBACK RELATING TO THE COMPANY CALLED TRADE SKILLS 4U and NOT THE COMPANY CALLED TRAIN 4 TRADE SKILLS.
What they said.There's loads of different threads regarding Tradeskills4U, but I thought I'd throw my two pennies worth on here.
Having worked as an installation engineer for about 20 years I wanted to formalise my experience into real qualifications and concentrate on sparky work. I did a lot of research on which qualifications i needed to satisfy the likes of NICEIC etc and shopped about for a course.
Now, there are plenty of people out there who believe that they can do one of these quick courses and start wiring and fault finding. Obviously this isn't the case, but there's nothing preventing anybody, by law, from doing non-notifiable work. I'm pretty certain, from the things i've seen over the years, that there are people operating exactly like that, often doing notifiable work, and just not knowing the law let alone how do safe work. I don't know how on earth anyone expects to be able to control that goings-on, Jo Public has been kept well and truly in the dark about Part P, Notifiable etc, so they don't know what to look for. Maybe the new ESR will have some publicity like the Corgi/GasSafe scheme? But regardless of all that, anyone who attends a course and passes a recognised exam is safer than Mr Avago.
There's no substitute for experience, but the courses at Tradeskills4U are run by experienced and knowledgeable tutors with a wealth of experience in the trade, and nobody ever suggested, whilst i was there, that you could walk out of there and go it alone from day one. Sparky's with NVQ's and apprenticeships under their belt have every reason to feel that these courses offer the inexperienced the opportunity to give sparky's a bad name and undercut them. I was looking around the room myself and thinking "god help us!" about a few of the candidates after some of the questions they asked. But here's the thing, that candidate now knows the answer. They didn't have to come on this course, and until the law is changed or tightened up at least, these courses are probably saving lives. These courses also taught some of the candidates a very important lesson: They have a lot to learn!
Tradeskills4U is a professional outfit, and I was very impressed with the quality and knowledge of the tutors there. The short courses don't offer the practical skills needed to get on with it, and they can't really give much in the way of historic standards and practices that you need in the real world but, they taught me a thing or two and after 20years as an engineer, that came as a surprise.
I think a lot of firms who take on apprentices would prefer a 34 year old to a 21 year old who might be skiving off a bit with hangover and whatnot. 34 is young.Hello all, first post, joined the forum today.
My name is Lee, I am 34 years old and hopefully about to embark on a career change.
Having spent the last 10 years of my life in white collar office type roles I have taken the plunge to invest in my future by starting to train for a career in Domestic Installation. In January I will be starting their Advanced Domestic Electrician Course (23 days): C&G 4141-01 Electrical Installation Domestic Dwelling > C&G 2393 Part P & Regs > C&G 2392-10 Inspection & Testing > C&G 2382 Wiring Regs > Advanced Top Up.
Whilst I am under no illusion I will be able to walk out of that classroom in February and rewire a house, my long term goal is to work for myself.
In the meantime I am wondering if at my age it is wise to look for an apprenticeship type position with a local sparky for a couple of years rather than trying to undertake non notifiable domestic work whilst I build my confidence.
Is there a stigma attached to older apprentices? or is there an abundance of school leavers leaving no room?
Thanks Dan, I really appreciate the reply.I think a lot of firms who take on apprentices would prefer a 34 year old to a 21 year old who might be skiving off a bit with hangover and whatnot. 34 is young.
Might be hard right now to find apprenticeships but see what you can find out in your area matey.
Can always put a request in the looking for work forum. And also monitor the work up for grabs forum (you can click to subscribe to new threads posted in there to get notified of work going).
Reply to TradeSkills4U Feedback in the Electrician Courses : Electrical Quals area at ElectriciansForums.net