I personally think it's best if you can get a job in the industry first (as a mate or labourer) before starting college. It gives you time to learn the basic aspects of the job from the best folk to teach you (the older hands).
Be prepared for a long learning period with LOTS of ups and downs (i started in the industry in 2005, finished my 2330 last year, it was 4 and a half year night course, funded by me and me alone, and i'm still not qualified yet... Problems maintaining work at the moment mean i can't afford to be spending on the NVQ course to build my portfolio... though i do get a lot of work compared to most folk, i've started having to manage periods of several weeks between jobs by taking anything going)
It's a volatile industry at the best of times, i started for a company where i learned a hell of a lot from folk who wouldn't accept anything slightly off (IMO that put me in a better position than starting college first) but after a couple of years they went bust... I got in with a couple of agencies (didn't want to, but love the job and wanted to keep learning) and eventually got another full time job with another firm... 6 months later and BUMP again... Agencies since but the same few firms keep asking for me back WHEN they get work in.
To me, it's been worth the sacrifice of 4 and a half years of long work weeks with low pay IF i can eventually get qualified, but the criteria for becoming a spark can change, meaning you have to almost start from scratch. Be prepared for things popping up that seem to get in your way, and endless training for different aspects of the job (i'm mainly talking commercial/industrial).
All this assumes you know nothing (as i did), there's a lot more to becoming a qualified spark than wiring and testing. Oh and brush up on algebra and maths in general, will help a lot with fuse / cable / power factor calculations etc
