OLCI...any advise plz

[Vassy]

Hi, I have been working in the telecomms industry for the past 5 yrs as a contractor and am looking to widen my horizons so to speak. I was wondering if anyone has heard of OCLI construction training? They are offering me a course that gives me, at the end:
C&G level 2 (2330),
C&G level 3 (2330),
17th edition IEE wiring regulations C&G 2382-10,
Inspection & testing C&G 2391,
Applicable building regs (part P),
level 3 Certificate for in service inspections and testing of electrical equiptment- portable appliance testing (C&G 2377)
EAL level 2 certificate for domestic electrical installers.

They offer this as a study at home course where visit training centres for practical work when can. The course costs £5500. What i want to know is will i be fully qualified to work as an electrician, either on pay roll or self employed and are the qualifications the right ones. I've heard about people doing this kind of course and employers not recognising the qualification. £5500 is a lot to spend if going to be a waste.

Any help is welcome.
Thanks

 

[equalizer]

Hello all
Ive been a mate for 3 years now and about an hour ago signed up to the OLCI course. Have I made a big mistake? Read through a few forums on the subject of OLCI and there isnt many positive views about the Course on any of them. Please can someone give me good news before my wife kills me for spunking 6 grand.
Jock

Hi jockie,

If you have only just done it then as long as it is within 14 days you can cancel it is the 14 day cooling off period, just phone them up on tuesday and cancel. I hope that it is within the 14 days if so you are lucky.
I had vouchers to use £300 in total which they won't give me the money, they keep lying to me when I phone them up they ignore my emails or if I leave messages on the subject. I am waiting a book that goes with my level 3 course and have had questions in the coursework asking what does the book regulation .... say on this subject write your answer here, I can't because I didn't get the book.

Let me know if your lucky or not.

The students I trained with said they were going to do other courses with a different company not olci, I was stupid I kept going with them because I was desparate to get both levels done in quick time didn't have time to look for a different company.

 

[Mac]

Hello all
Ive been a mate for 3 years now and about an hour ago signed up to the OLCI course. Have I made a big mistake? Read through a few forums on the subject of OLCI and there isnt many positive views about the Course on any of them. Please can someone give me good news before my wife kills me for spunking 6 grand.
Jock

£6000 is a lot of money to spend at the moment on training to be an electrician,especially the way work is in the UK for sparks.If you've been a mate for 3 years,you should have quite a bit of knowledge about sparking already. Can't your employer send you to college and they should be able to get money from the government to put you through the courses.May take a bit longer but in the long run you'd probably save yourself £3500.Hope this helps

 

[equalizer]

Hi Chris and niggy.I wrang to see about prices and qualifications gained with the skills Centre and they just made an oppointment for a rep to come and see me at home. On the day of the appointment the rep wrang me to say he is running late and is that ok. I said yes but explained all i was after to day is qualifications gained and price of courses. He then seemed to loose interest and said the prices are £5250 for basic electrian training and £6950 for the full one that allows you to plan wireing routes for new builds and reworks ???. Didnt bother coming for the appointment as wasnt signing up today and could claw back some time to put him on track for rest of day.

Wasnt impressed by his attitude once learnt that i just wanted info to compare with OLCI. Let me know how you found the skills Centre towards you plz and how the course is going chris, looking to sign up next week for one....just not sure which one yet.

Don't go with olci they have a take your money n get on with it attitude
not good at getting problems sorted, if you push them they will ignore you.
alot of money for extremely poor customer service!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Halo again. To answer your question, my son found a site a bit like watchdog where they investigate your problems with goods and services and someone had approached them about OCLI. he was training as a plumber and found that the course he was expecting to do was cancelled due to their being too few attendees. He pushed them for his money back and eventually, with help, he got a refund. So, it is not a huge criticism of them and I have seen mixed comments elsewhere although generally not bad. It is a lot of money though and I feel their approach is a little bit pushy and 'salesman' like which makes me nervous. Rather than a straight answer it tends to be a bit ' everything will be fine, dont worry about it'. I asked how often they run course at the nearest centre and was told they would send out a scheduel when I signed up - why not just tell me now so I know. I am in a hurry to get this training and do not want to find I cannot do the next step because there is no classroom time availble or whatever. Anyway I am going to do a bit more research this afternoon and will keep you informed. Cheers, Nig

Do you know what the site is called? I got MAJOR problems with them, and need help!

kind regards
equalizer

hi

ive been a qualified auto electrician for 16 years so wanted to take up a different element of electrics.

i need to keep earning while training as many do but finding it extreamly hard to find right training course.

if anyone could reccommend a reliable , trustworthy company that can supplie a course please help..

cheers

brilliant forum

In NO circumstances olci, no way!!

Nice to your face getting the money then when you got problems and you ask to use the "bate" vouchers then you get ignored. I have left telephone messages about course dates and material and they don't phone back this was before I asked for the voucher money £300. If you don,t use a day say on nvq they won,t give that back either £332.12. and I am spending £9386 doing two courses. Scam.

 

[Mac]

Why don't you take a look at the clarksonevans website.They train all their sparks in-house and offer some decent courses at reasonable prices.A lot cheaper than OCLI

 

[jockieo]

£6000 is a lot of money to spend at the moment on training to be an electrician,especially the way work is in the UK for sparks.If you've been a mate for 3 years,you should have quite a bit of knowledge about sparking already. Can't your employer send you to college and they should be able to get money from the government to put you through the courses.May take a bit longer but in the long run you'd probably save yourself £3500.Hope this helps

Cheers for getting back to me,I have learnt a lot the last 3 years and really dont want to waste the experience gained. Unfortunately the company Ive been working for, like a lot of people have gone very quiet and I have found it hard to get any work with other companies. I have also been self employed for the last 3 years and a few incidents with the firm(not getting paid, trouble with claiming expenses and lengthy periods without work) i was working for have never encouraged me to enrol in college. I have recently had to get another job, I took the job as it gives me a lot of free time to easilly study at home and visit centres. Im hoping to keep my hand in by doing a few days with some of the fellas I have worked with over the last few years. Again cheers for getting back to me.
Jock

 

[gedo1979]

My Advise, Do Not Do The OLCI Route anyone, i mean anyone who does will have some sort of quibble whether it be salesmen lies, poor material or shocking customer services OLCI are pants.
You cannot do practical sessions when you want as they state and most of the time you are signed up for an NVQ level 3 in Electrical Installation only to be told 6 months later it is only the city & guilds 2330.
bad experience me and 3 others so far going to court with them and from different parts of the country.
anyone can contact me at [email protected] with experiences of a good or bad nature i'm sure there are plenty of past students who would advise against signing up with this company.
see Blagger.com - The place to leave feedback and comments about companies you have used for OLCI results before signing up for your lovely 0% finance and blattent lies.

Ged

 

[ang4567]

hello s een your post i ve just signed up with olci you said that you are always signed up to nvq 3 then told you that is only 2330 what do you mean . i am doing mine in newcastle cheers

 

[gedo1979]

hi
I mean the city & Guilds 2330 is not the NVQ level 3 in electrical maintenance/installation as advised by OLCI advisors.
the 2330 is a standard which makes you a partially qualified electrician and the NVQ3 makes you qualified i signed up for the qualified version but ended up with the 2330.

regards

ged

 

[jboy1888]

Gedo1979 is spot on the only way to gain NVQ/SVQ Level 3 qualified electrician status in Scotland anyhow is to go through the modern apprenticeship or adult apprenticeship schemes ran by SECTT im not sure who is responsible for it in other parts of the UK. The apprenticeship is based on C&G 2330 level 2 & 3 with a couple of others but to become qualified there is an element of on site work where you assessed in order to complete NVQ/SVQ Level 3. You can go on these courses ran by training centres to become "Competent" but you then have to join the likes of NICEIC etc in order to show you this.

 

[Beccy]

Gedo1979 is spot on the only way to gain NVQ/SVQ Level 3 qualified electrician status in Scotland anyhow is to go through the modern apprenticeship or adult apprenticeship schemes ran by SECTT im not sure who is responsible for it in other parts of the UK. The apprenticeship is based on C&G 2330 level 2 & 3 with a couple of others but to become qualified there is an element of on site work where you assessed in order to complete NVQ/SVQ Level 3. You can go on these courses ran by training centres to become "Competent" but you then have to join the likes of NICEIC etc in order to show you this.

Hi,

Yes its all a big con OLCI cannot train you to be a qualified Electrician.

They can only train you as far as a College can and at several hundreds of pounds less.

Would you pay £6000 for a quick 9 month course or £400 for the same?

And you would still not be qualified????

Bec

 

[jockieo]

This thread really makes for depressing reading, I am now enrolled on the OLCI course and have received my study material and too be honest I havent looked at it, I bought Lindleys book and have just used that, I have not attended any practical sessions yet, I think that will be the real acid test. I think people who are interested in the course have to really understand what the qualifications you obtain mean and of course realise that you aint getting the NVQ 3 through this course alone.

 

[johnymac]

I have come from Australia to do the C&G 2330 and was going to do it soon as with OLCI. When I got here I found this forum and saw all the bad reviews about OLCI so had a look around for other providers. I think it was tradeskills that I enquired about. They phoned me up one morning asking totally irrelevent questions and could not tell me how much the coarse costs and wanted to send a sales man around. I told them to get stuffed, at least OLCI could tell me how much they wanted.
Well things are not going as planned as I could only afford the coarse if I sold my car and cashed in my superannuation. Four months since getting here and I have only just sold my car and are still waiting for my super. I am hoping it will come through this month.
Anyway the situation I am in is that I am in Oldham and as far as I know the only provider close by is OLCI and I need to get quallified soon as. I just hope I am making the the right decision as $12000 is a lot of money.

 

[geeman]

Hi All

Mines probably a very familar story so I apologise if it's been asked 1000 times before.

I've been looking at re-training to a career in electrics, maybe as a Domestic Installer, wiring up houses etc. Ideally one day i'd like to be my own boss and have the freedom to move around the country (maybe even abroad who knows). I have no real experience in this type of work so I'll be starting from the first step on the ladder.

I was looking at the OLCI courses which lead me to this forum, however having read the feedback it's put me right off that company all together.

So, I wondered what advice you can give me and what types of courses I ounght to be looking at.

I'm currently working in IT (office job...) full time which I'll need to continue through the courses (mortgage to pay etc) and I live in the Manchester area.

As I said I've no real experience so I apologise for the total lack of knowledge in this area...

any advice you can offer would be great

 

[esgebe]

Hi, i'd stay in IT if i were you more money there i reckon, get into networking, that's what i intend to do eventually. As far as OLCI goes i could go on and on about those cowboys, i'm considering dragging them through the small claims court by the hair preferrably! I personally would have preferred the college route at the start, instead i have to try and finish my 2330 Level 3 by joining a localish college offering this course. I'm still waiting for information and feedback after several months of waiting so i can lodge an appeal from OLCI, nightmare! Good luck with locating an alternative course provider. Sorry i can't suggest anyone at present.

 

[esgebe]

Halo again. To answer your question, my son found a site a bit like watchdog where they investigate your problems with goods and services and someone had approached them about OCLI. he was training as a plumber and found that the course he was expecting to do was cancelled due to their being too few attendees. He pushed them for his money back and eventually, with help, he got a refund. So, it is not a huge criticism of them and I have seen mixed comments elsewhere although generally not bad. It is a lot of money though and I feel their approach is a little bit pushy and 'salesman' like which makes me nervous. Rather than a straight answer it tends to be a bit ' everything will be fine, dont worry about it'. I asked how often they run course at the nearest centre and was told they would send out a scheduel when I signed up - why not just tell me now so I know. I am in a hurry to get this training and do not want to find I cannot do the next step because there is no classroom time availble or whatever. Anyway I am going to do a bit more research this afternoon and will keep you informed. Cheers, Nig

Hi, judging by everyone being a bit hesitant here about going the OLCI route, I personally would advise not to give them the chance to squander any of your hard earned money. I have already posted originally on this forum regarding poor service from this shower, and that term is used more lightly than I would like! My original posting provoked a response from them, they obviously like watching the forums! If you enjoy waiting endlessly for buses you'll know what I mean. I agree with GED's comments entirely, keep well away. As for qualifications anyone wanting to be a full qualified sparky would need to do 2330 L2&3, 2356 L3 NVQ (which you need to be in a job or other environment to be assessed for, this is takes 2 years on average). Then you need to go through the AM2 procedure, which is similar equivilant to the old CORGI registration process (I belive approx £900, but you would be working by this time so no probs here). You can do the NVQ part seperate through a local tech college and get them to arrange assessment of your ongoing work. Then its to testing and regs that you need to get the 2382, 2391/92 Certs. Or You could go via the AEL route which is not a fully qualified electrician, but allows you to work in domestic situations doing basic electrical work, suits general builders and the likes, I think this covers Part P, but I might be wrong here, quote me if I am wrong on this, I'm going the NVQ route hopefully so not really genned up on the AEL route. Hope that throws a bit of light on the subject, must get on with my career plans If OLCI permits! esgebe