I know it's probably a bit late now, but I've just completed a one week eal vrq part p at Access, I already had my 17th edition, and I found the training to be limited. It gave a bit of testing practice and a bit of wiring that took about an hour, if that. The rest of it was going through stuff that I had already learned in my 17th edition wiring regs. If you know how to test and do some basic wiring then you could in theory pass the eal vrq with a one day course, instead of a week. However this does not give a good basis for entry into the domestic electrical industry.
I've had 7year on the tools doing limited scope electrical work under ELECSA. 5 out of the 8 people in my group had no electrical experience other than what they had learnt in the previous basic introduction to electrics. I wouldn't want any of those 5people coming in to do practical electrics on my house once they've passed their 17th edition, they simply don't have enough experience!
my advice, don't go with Access, check out the training centre first and try and get as practical course as possible, and get some experience on the tools before/after getting training and joining a scheme.
