Having worked in the industry forty years the CEO forced me to get papers. (In case anyone wonders, overseen by 2391) Many "trainers" I contacted talked utter nonsense. I found one who knew what the requirements are. Morris Services Bristol. From the get go he put me straight about what is needed. There are five proscribed routes in as electrician. These routes have been defined by IET and ESC in collaboration with NICEIC. There is no way around the fact that you have to have a level three C&G (or EAL route)with a specified amount of hours learning. Go look for it at ESC or talk with James Morris he will tell you exactly what you need (not sell) to enter the industry legally and competent. At my age the route is to become a qualified supervisor with a minimum requirement of at least two years experience gained working in the industry. The rest are pretty crap at conscientiously telling you all this, and they cheat at guided learning hours as defined by C&g. Personally in your position I would take it up with trading standards and don't stop till you get your money back. So I ended up going through 2397 and can now (I don't want to) get a gold card from JIB for instance, and no probs with joining NIC etc. But as I do mostly light commercial, still with a 2391 job done.
