Trade Limited - "Manchester"

[megages]

I am currently on the Trade Qualified course. Anyone in Manchester or its surrounding areas will have seen an advert in the newspaper stating 'Train to be an electrican/plumber' and it usually redirects to these guys.

I won't bore you with fluff, I'll just get to the details. Also for your information, there is a post about these guys already but it is in a different forum/thread which is why I created this one, here.

The course provides you with:
City&Guilds 2391-10 - Inspection Testing and Certification
City&Guilds 2382
City&Guilds 2377 (The course booklet does not state if this is 11 or 12)
1st Aid Appointed Person
CSCS (You need this to get into building sites here in england)

Cost Approx~ £5000
The course actually costs more than this if, like me, you need to commute there, book a hotel, and provide food for yourself, then you can expect to pay around 6-7k. If your working, they will set up a career development loan, and if your not they will finance you (loan).

1st impressions
They do not keep contact in contact with you, so you need to be a person into chasing, because you'll be chasing them often.
You also pay a deposit there and then on the spot, which you get a reciept for (it feels dodgy handing over £900 to some guy in a car but meh).

I'm going to the centre in the next few months and over the course, i'll keep you all informed on my feelings and review of the place.
Also I know 5k sounds like a lot, because it is! But they do give you a tool box, filled with tools after your 1st visit, and one look at the contents of the box reveals there is at least £200-£300 worth of tools inside! I don't drive however so heaving that thing on and off the train is going to be hard work , and also, they are a buisness, so you will be paying more than if you went to college/night school, because they want to make a profit. You trade it off with the standard of learning to find a medium of value/quality.

The reason I posted this now, rather than when i've "done" the course, is so people can get a real opinion (and hopefully some pictures when I get there) rather than a recollection that is biased and based only on memory.

ANYONE who has, or is currently studying with Trade Qualified, is welcomed to share there experiences as well.

 

[hawk666]

5 grand no wonder they give you £200 worth of tools lol, couldn't you do these courses as separates at your local college save about 3 grand

 

[megages]

"couldn't you do these courses as separates at your local college" -Hawk666
I probably could, but the issue for people like me is when you work 10am till 6pm, it's very hard finding a college that starts early enough in the afternoon for you to do 1 or 2 hours of studying before going home. Let's say it's 30min driving distance away, and starts at 6.30, under perfect conditions, I could get there, do 2hrs, and get home in 3hrs time so I'm doing a 10 till 9 day. Life is far from perfect, and if my current trend is anything to go by, the overtime itself would ruin any chances of the course seeing the light of day! It's more a course for people with little spare time, or lots of spare time. If I could go to night college, I would! believe me, self tutoring is fustrating! Given what I've read on these forums, I could probably do what i'm doing now, at college or whereever, for 2k.
Ironically, I'll be made redundent next week, pity I already paid out for this course, goverment are letting people re-train for free!
Maybe I can beg the bank to go easy on me.