Newbie course nvqlvl2 or city and guilds??

[Magic]

Hi everyone, I'm looking in to start of domestic electrician course, i have rang up few places including college and came across courses with cuity and guilds and separetly nvq lvl 2 . Wich one is the one to go for? Im in full employement (self employed hgv) and need to be at work to cope with motgage bills etc. Been offered today nvq lvl2 with practical part included on site for 5500£ dont know but looks to me like a rip off... Am i wrong? It will take around 10 mnths to complete. Rang ap other company for full 4 weeks course and it was 2400£ for city and guilds .. Wich one to go for..?whats the difference between them ? Any help would be appriciated.

 

[casperLennon]

How are you going to become an electrician when you have a full time job you won’t give up?

 

[TJ Anderson]

If you think £2400 for 4 weeks training is better value than £5500 for 10 Months, then maybe a Maths course would be better first??

 

[TJ Anderson]

NVQ2?? What can you do with that?

 

[FatAlan]

Do a lot more research before parting with any money. There’s a lot of information on this site in previous threads on the subject. Can you get yourself on a 2365 at a local college for a couple of evenings a week? Who’s asking £5.5k?

 

[Matt]

I thinkj I might be able to weight in on this one as I have lately been through a course at a private company and a college course.

If you really think about requalifiying then do not hesitate and sign up for a C&G 2365 lvl 2 and then continue straight towards a lvl 3.

The reason? These courses will give you the most comprehensive preparation for starting of in the industry. It is a clear path and if you put in the work you are guaranteed to get solid foundations in electrical science, installation and maintenance. Once both levels are done you continue to creat a protfolio (also know as an NVQ) and eventualy take a final exam (AM2) before applying for an ECS Gold Card, which is equal to being recognised as a approved electrician.
It can be a long way but it can be shorter if supported by a lot of practical expereince.

The question remains - do it privately or with a college?
Unfortunately, there is no guarantee of quality in any of those.
If you are new to this then it almost purely depends on the tutor who is going to run your course and only second, on your dedication (how much time are you willing to get stuck in the books).

People say that you are the only one that can make things happen but if you will not find a good teacher then you will be at the mercy of your work colegues on-site, once the course is done, which means you are pretty much in the ----.
You need a solid teacher who spent his time 'on the tools' rather than in the classroom. Someone who can answer your questions from a practical point of view.
So how can you know if your tutor is any good? Visit some websites with peoples opinions (Google works fine) and dothe rsearch. Call a given institution and ask about their staff.

I have attended both a private organisation and a college.
I like the private one as it allowed to go through a C&G course in relatively short time. The classes were designe 50/50 theory practice, 8h each day. I found that a great way to study and it gave me a good background to start from. Yet, in order to have the comfort of attending this course, I took out a loan and didn't work for a whole month spending my time in class and in my room, revising the materials.
I then later moved on to a less expensive course in a college and was very dissapointed with the whole thing. The course lasted 7 months. Classes were held in the evenings 3 times a week. There was very little time for practical tasks and we spent most of the time on theory. Till the end of the course we had pratice sessions once a week for 6h. We needed to suplement with buying stuff at Screwfix and creating our own 'boards' to practice home.

The first course was a so called 'Part-P registered/approved' the second was a C&G 2365 lvl2.
From a perspective - I wish I chose the C&G course witht he private provider i the first place. I think it would be a better use of my money and time.

If you really want to do it then there is no other way then to jump in at the deep end and then grind through it.
I think it might be very difficult and eventually frustrating for you to try and get this qualification and keep your job, pay the bills. If you want to do it purely fro money then I would say don't do it. But if you really want a career change and feel drawn towards it then you need to go all in.