Do I need to do my 17th Edition...?

[Electrician45]

Hi Guys and Girls,

A work colleague suggested i sign up here with the hope of getting a definite yes/no answer to the following question.

I began my electrical apprenticeship in september 2008, a couple months after the 17th edition came into force.

So since then i have worked to (on site and college) it. All exams, all qualifications and my AM2 were all the the 17th edition standard.

I have since left my employer and am currently subbing myself to a couple different local electricians but am looking to go back employed. As you would think most employers are all asking for 17th edition qualified sparks.

I spoke to an old college lecturer who said even though I did all of the above i would still have to do my 17th, 3 day course at £330.

So i booked the course, starting wednesday this week, and thought nothing else of it.

Today however i spoke to a lecturer from a different college who was on a site visit to an apprentice who was working with me today, he said i shouldn't need this and the college were just trying to get money out of me, he said the only thing i would possibly have to do is a 17th update to the recent amendment.

As you can imaging im rather confused now. I don't have a problem with doing the course if i need to, but if i really don't have to i'd rather blow that money on a new drill :icon6:

If anyone could shed any light on this situation i'd be really grateful.

Thank you,

Charlie.

 

[dim_bulb]

I trained to the 17th and when I joined niceic they said no I didn't need it.
Regarding the poll if you've trained to the 17 th I personally do think you need it, but if have trained to 16th or below then I would agree that it's a must

 

[ste77]

Same as the 2391. How longs it gonna be before us long time 2391 boys have to go back to college to update to a new testing quali?

my 2391 is refered to on the back of my grade card as 16th edition inspection and testing, so im guessing it cant be too far away

 

[Deleted member 26818]

I assume that you took it during the 16th edition.
If you had waited untillthe 17th came in, it would be 17th edition inspection and testing.

 

[Tesla1980]

The 17th is not a qualification it does not qualify you to do anything it's just a book referencing exercise I have it you dont need it to get on site but people like you to have it so you have in theory a better understanding of BS7671. Plus i think if you wanted to join a scam you would want it, there are alot of electricians who don't have it and do site work i have worked with many but then there are alot that do have it no harm in doing it. Just think if you where an employer would you want your lads do have an up to date understanding of the 17th edition guide. The 17th edition is just a working guide it's not the law people get carried away with the regs you can do an installation that is not to regs standard as long as it's safe and functions well.

 

[bigbaddave]

If you can find somewhere that will allow you just to sit the exam just do it, Its a open book exam and providing you know where to get the info from just go for it.. As above you will pay £45 ish for exam only

 

[SirKit Breaker]

If you already possess a 17th edition c&g certificate do you still need to do the amendment 1 bit?

NO you dont, and as long as the 17th remains the standard, you will never have to upgrade. Once there has been a very significant amount of changes, the 18th will be born, and then we will all have to pay again, except me, cos i deliver the course, and get my exams FOC at work, its the old practice what you preach scenario.

Cheers.............Howard

 

[MDJ]

If you already possess a 17th edition c&g certificate do you still need to do the amendment 1 bit?

Of course not, amendments happen all the time, we don't go back to tech every time a new one comes out, another silly post by KAS1 :lipsrsealed2:

 

[markc123]

Of course not, amendments happen all the time, we don't go back to tech every time a new one comes out, another silly post by KAS1 :lipsrsealed2:

Not yet lol...untill the men in suits realise they could make more money by lugging us all back to college for £45 amendment exam's

 

[timbobelfast]

I remember being told by the ECS that if you currently have 16th and you have taken a course with 17th content like the 2391 or NVQ 3 then you would be exempt from sitting the 17th course.
So that meant that I had sat the 17th update for no reason!!!

 

[grantr37]

Mate just sit the exam, its £45 and a piece of pi$$. College are robbing you at £330 when you're clearly gonna pass the worlds easiest exam.

Cancel it if possible and sit the exam on its own.

Most Colleges will not let you do the multi choice test without doing the 3 days first and paying out, they will just not let you register....this goes the same for all courses now , years ago you could pick any course you wanted and just do the project or the test....not any more....

They are partly doing it because the schemes and the certificate issuing bodies want their full fees etc and not just the exam fees, and partly because they can get into problems i.e reputation etc if they just let people do exams and somebody thinks they are not doing enough actual teaching...


The certificate issuing bodies check up on Colleges to make sure they are doing things exactly as they want them, and if not then they can strike off the College and stop them from providing the courses...

 

[grantr37]

forgot to add, the certificate issuing bodies and providers will only let the Colleges enter so many people for each exam date, and they only have a certain number of "seats" available.....the College would not want to let people just sit the exam and use up spaces when they might only have availability for maybe 20 people twice a month.....what if they were to have the full 20 places filled up by people wanting to do the 3 days, and they had 55 people waiting to get onto it next, and 30 people wanting to just do the exam.....that would lead to problems as well....

 

[grantr37]

on a sidenote, when I was at College they kept photocopies of coursework for when outside assessors came in to check the Colleges marking and teaching methods....they also asked some of the students with better projects etc if they could keep a hold of them as examples....
I remember on a few occasions, I think it was 3 times, there was somebody from outside the College sitting in the teaching workshop watching and listening, and a couple of times I got asked about the college and to show them some examples of things, which was quite embarrassing when I was 17 and 18 years old in a room with 30 other people, most of them strangers.....the students tended to hang about in groups of 6 or 8 and all the groups tended to not speak /mix much in the College building....with the end result that you could be in a lecture with 35 people and only know 12 of them....and not know anything much at all about the rest...lots of mature/overseas students etc as well...