TradesCollege.org electrical training

[Ealdor-Bana]

Hello i had an interview with a trade college for renewable energy and i have C&G qualifications in domestic electrical installation. (Tradescollage.org which is also tradescollage.co.uk )
I’m new to doing trade colleges and dont know if these places are scams as they all talk about NVQ qualifications instead of C&G which is strange as college offers these qualifications at a fraction of the cost.

my worry is the website has two sites. One .org & the other .co.uk. The Facebook page was only active this year and i cant find the company registration number on the site.
they claim i can have full funding but it will cost me £7k over 3 years? Seems steep for NVQ qualifications when my C&G electrical domestic was around £5k at a adult college.
oh, also a £60 register fee for joining the college.

thanks for anything help and advice.

 

[Sammysoza]

Probably trying to assess whether you can afford it or sweet talk the partner into persuading you to sign up. Either way, if it doesn't feel right look elsewhere. There are plenty of reputable course providers out there. Start with the local college and save some money.

Yes you're most probably right. They know that you've got to get the woman in the relationship on-board first! I've found a college very local to me that seems reputable. I'll get in touch with them to see what they offer.

 

[FatAlan]

What qualifications are you looking to achieve and to what aim?

 

[Sammysoza]

What qualifications are you looking to achieve and to what aim?

I'm looking to retrain as an electrician so the basics. I've done quite a lot electrical work under the supervision of my dad who's a retired electrician himself. I'm London based

 

[FatAlan]

Do you have any previous qualifications? What part of the profession are you looking to get back into, domestic, commercial, industrial?

 

[Sammysoza]

Do you have any previous qualifications? What part of the profession are you looking to get back into, domestic, commercial, industrial?

I have a degree in media production management, so a very different area. I've spent the last 20 years running technology events for clients like Microsoft, Samsung etc....

I was under the impression that you needed to do some basic domestic training before you can decide to specialise in something else (perhaps I'm wrong)

Basically I want to have the skills so that I can create work opportunities anywhere I decide to live in the UK. I'm not planning on living in London for forever....

As you might be able to tell I'm still at the very early stages of my research into the profession.

 

[Alan Beard]

Hi

I had a similar experience to the above. I like the way they describe the course but am also sceptical about the lack of reviews, companies house listing and written information. Would be very interested to hear from anyone that have used them.

 

[John mk]

http://

Hi there,

I had a webcam interview with someone that represents this college and I must say it was all very unorthodox. We spent 50 mins just talking about me and my personal situation and absolutely no information regarding the college or their courses was divulged.

We now have another 'interview' scheduled for next week in which he wants my partner to also be in on the call. I find this all very strange. They're supposedly offering training courses, so why do they need to speak to my partner??

Can anyone shed any light on this organisation? Are they even legit? My cynical mind is screaming out 'SCAM'

I would love to hear from others and their experience.

Thanks

Hi. Had a similar experience today, lots about me and little detail about course, and indeed a call arranged for later this week. Found myself rather dubious about it all hence the research on the net. When I asked about being emailed a prospectus and details of fees I was fobbed off with some twaddle about privacy law requiring face to face contact only (online given the covid situation). None of this rings the right bells.

 

[Alan Beard]

I have ended up looking at Trades School 4U and Access Training as they were the ones I found that were offering good online solutions during lockdown.


TS4U have a very good web site but I wasn't that impressed when I spoke to them, from my understanding they have smaller groups in their webinars but they don't record and provide access to the webinars. Also no availability until April.

Access training record all of their webinars, provide access to pre recorded webinars from day one. The webinars cover all of the theory and also show ways to practice the practical work at home.
They don't do a very good job of explaining what their course covers on the web site but when speaking to them I think it's more or less the same as TS4U. The person I spoke to at Access was very informative, straight forward and answered all of my questions.

I think TS4U were cheaper but not entirely sure I was comparing apples with apples. For me starting fairly quickly and getting flexibility through access to pre recorded training was very important; the material is available for 3 years from when you start the course and therefore a good reference after the training as well.

I have now started with Access and so far its been good. The instructors have a challenge with the wide variety of people attending the course from people that haven't changed a light fitting to some already working in the trade but in seem to manage this quite well.

For me I am quite an experienced DIY person with a technical background, finding the pace a bit slow but I think this would be the same for any course, the good news is that I am at home and can do a few other things at times.

TS4U have had some negative comments about access to the in house practical part of the course coming up to Christmas and now I assume everyone has had to shut this element down. Access have 130 people attending their webinars with new groups starting once a month, some of these will be watching again having stated in previous months. Therefore when things open up again I would not be surprised if they will also have some challenges, but they do seem quite well organised.

If you are going to do one of these online courses I would highly recommend you make sure that your home broadband system is going to give you a reasonable experience. There were a number of people complaining about poor quality and it was clearly an issue from their end. Not quite sure what to make of it but many of the people complaining were Sky customers, could just be that they have a large customer base or an issue with their service
It's best to have a wired connection to your router and run some tests using a video conference service like zoom.

 

[Deleted account]

Everything about this is screaming scam.

i have a hobbie of stringing them along for fun as long as possible. I give them false information and ask loads of aukward question.

it takes a long time for them to give up.

as long as they are attempting to scam me they are not scamming someone else.

I once kept a so called investment company hooked for 3 months. They said they could double my investment in just 2 weeks. I eventually got tired of them and told him I was a scam. He really wasn’t very happy.

 

[FatAlan]

I have ended up looking at Trades School 4U and Access Training as they were the ones I found that were offering good online solutions during lockdown.


TS4U have a very good web site but I wasn't that impressed when I spoke to them, from my understanding they have smaller groups in their webinars but they don't record and provide access to the webinars. Also no availability until April.

Access training record all of their webinars, provide access to pre recorded webinars from day one. The webinars cover all of the theory and also show ways to practice the practical work at home.
They don't do a very good job of explaining what their course covers on the web site but when speaking to them I think it's more or less the same as TS4U. The person I spoke to at Access was very informative, straight forward and answered all of my questions.

I think TS4U were cheaper but not entirely sure I was comparing apples with apples. For me starting fairly quickly and getting flexibility through access to pre recorded training was very important; the material is available for 3 years from when you start the course and therefore a good reference after the training as well.

I have now started with Access and so far its been good. The instructors have a challenge with the wide variety of people attending the course from people that haven't changed a light fitting to some already working in the trade but in seem to manage this quite well.

For me I am quite an experienced DIY person with a technical background, finding the pace a bit slow but I think this would be the same for any course, the good news is that I am at home and can do a few other things at times.

TS4U have had some negative comments about access to the in house practical part of the course coming up to Christmas and now I assume everyone has had to shut this element down. Access have 130 people attending their webinars with new groups starting once a month, some of these will be watching again having stated in previous months. Therefore when things open up again I would not be surprised if they will also have some challenges, but they do seem quite well organised.

If you are going to do one of these online courses I would highly recommend you make sure that your home broadband system is going to give you a reasonable experience. There were a number of people complaining about poor quality and it was clearly an issue from their end. Not quite sure what to make of it but many of the people complaining were Sky customers, could just be that they have a large customer base or an issue with their service
It's best to have a wired connection to your router and run some tests using a video conference service like zoom.

Keep us posted on your Access Training experience. I used them about 4 years ago and whilst they served a purpose their organisation and facilities were very poor. There was a real conflict going on between tutors and head office and it took an age to get the C&G certificates after passing the exams. If you search on here you'll probably find some of my earlier posts.

 

[PEFinn]

I have ended up looking at Trades School 4U and Access Training as they were the ones I found that were offering good online solutions during lockdown.


TS4U have a very good web site but I wasn't that impressed when I spoke to them, from my understanding they have smaller groups in their webinars but they don't record and provide access to the webinars. Also no availability until April.

Access training record all of their webinars, provide access to pre recorded webinars from day one. The webinars cover all of the theory and also show ways to practice the practical work at home.
They don't do a very good job of explaining what their course covers on the web site but when speaking to them I think it's more or less the same as TS4U. The person I spoke to at Access was very informative, straight forward and answered all of my questions.

I think TS4U were cheaper but not entirely sure I was comparing apples with apples. For me starting fairly quickly and getting flexibility through access to pre recorded training was very important; the material is available for 3 years from when you start the course and therefore a good reference after the training as well.

I have now started with Access and so far its been good. The instructors have a challenge with the wide variety of people attending the course from people that haven't changed a light fitting to some already working in the trade but in seem to manage this quite well.

For me I am quite an experienced DIY person with a technical background, finding the pace a bit slow but I think this would be the same for any course, the good news is that I am at home and can do a few other things at times.

TS4U have had some negative comments about access to the in house practical part of the course coming up to Christmas and now I assume everyone has had to shut this element down. Access have 130 people attending their webinars with new groups starting once a month, some of these will be watching again having stated in previous months. Therefore when things open up again I would not be surprised if they will also have some challenges, but they do seem quite well organised.

If you are going to do one of these online courses I would highly recommend you make sure that your home broadband system is going to give you a reasonable experience. There were a number of people complaining about poor quality and it was clearly an issue from their end. Not quite sure what to make of it but many of the people complaining were Sky customers, could just be that they have a large customer base or an issue with their service
It's best to have a wired connection to your router and run some tests using a video conference service like zoom.

I have ended up looking at Trades School 4U and Access Training as they were the ones I found that were offering good online solutions during lockdown.


TS4U have a very good web site but I wasn't that impressed when I spoke to them, from my understanding they have smaller groups in their webinars but they don't record and provide access to the webinars. Also no availability until April.

Access training record all of their webinars, provide access to pre recorded webinars from day one. The webinars cover all of the theory and also show ways to practice the practical work at home.
They don't do a very good job of explaining what their course covers on the web site but when speaking to them I think it's more or less the same as TS4U. The person I spoke to at Access was very informative, straight forward and answered all of my questions.

I think TS4U were cheaper but not entirely sure I was comparing apples with apples. For me starting fairly quickly and getting flexibility through access to pre recorded training was very important; the material is available for 3 years from when you start the course and therefore a good reference after the training as well.

I have now started with Access and so far its been good. The instructors have a challenge with the wide variety of people attending the course from people that haven't changed a light fitting to some already working in the trade but in seem to manage this quite well.

For me I am quite an experienced DIY person with a technical background, finding the pace a bit slow but I think this would be the same for any course, the good news is that I am at home and can do a few other things at times.

TS4U have had some negative comments about access to the in house practical part of the course coming up to Christmas and now I assume everyone has had to shut this element down. Access have 130 people attending their webinars with new groups starting once a month, some of these will be watching again having stated in previous months. Therefore when things open up again I would not be surprised if they will also have some challenges, but they do seem quite well organised.

If you are going to do one of these online courses I would highly recommend you make sure that your home broadband system is going to give you a reasonable experience. There were a number of people complaining about poor quality and it was clearly an issue from their end. Not quite sure what to make of it but many of the people complaining were Sky customers, could just be that they have a large customer base or an issue with their service
It's best to have a wired connection to your router and run some tests using a video conference service like zoom.

Let us know how it's going with Access...I've shortlisted them!

 

[PEFinn]

Hello,

I am also looking to retrain and have also had a video call with Tradescollege (tradescollege.org/tradescollege.co.uk) and they make it sound all so good. It's really strange that they have two websites and not a lot of online presence...
Has anyone actually done ANY course with them??
I also had a call with Access training, who have a lot more online presence, but Tradescollege sounded better to me as they say you can do the NVQ and renewables qualification with them. He also said they have actual sites you do the practical training at so you can add to your portfolio as you study because they are also a building company...?
Is it actually all BS ad a massive scam...it's a lot of money...
Can anyone recommend a reputable good training college in London?

 

[peoplearestrange]

My experience with Access Training has been... Mixed. The tutor in Welwyn Garden City that did part of the online training (due to covid) was excellent, a lovely chap that took his time for even slower and people who really were coming in fresh. Generally the online training was pretty good but it all felt very rushed. It seemed to skim over a lot of stuff in the 18th Edition, though that could be due to being on the "Essentials" course.

I partially completed the in person practical, but had to stop due to a covid scare. I found the demo boards and equipment to be incredibly poor. Pretty much all the threads in the contact screws were stripped to nothing so getting a decent contact was hard work. Most of the screwdrivers were broken or damaged making it even harder and from memory there were no snips, except for those who brought some. The testers were a split, some worked others needed batteries and we ended up having to wait and share them.

The tutor was fine, he was very much hands off though and was of the belief that you had to learn it first hand yourself, personally that works fine with me, I like working that way, but with some of the people who were much newer to all this they really struggled. We also had a bit of a disagreement about, uh politics, but honestly I probably shouldn't have continued on from what was a passing comment. So i'll take that one.

Overall the most concerning thing to me is I cannot find anywhere WHAT their qualifications are equivalent too, and im starting to wonder if they are at all and if its just marketing hype? They MENTION C&G only as a symbol on their website and I can't find where they say what each course is compared too. This honestly makes me nervous that potential employee's will accept their qualifications at all. Though I am waiting to hear back on this.

Though honestly, I am starting to feel like I might have wasted my money here :/

 

[FatAlan]

Basically these training providers are able to log you on to the genuine G&G exam portals. The exams you take are genuine. The issue I have is that I get the impression that City & Guilds do not appear to closely scrutinise training providers that offer courses for their exams. Certainly, with 2382, the wiring regs exam, all you need to do is buy a copy of the regs, do some free practice exam questions learn how to navigate it and then book the exam at a local college for a fraction of the cost. Access Training, in my experience, did have some, ok, tutors, who were time served sparks but with some of the basic maths theory elements they were very lacking and quite often confused students who were not confident in basic manipulation of equations but then I have that with some college tutors on the 2365 dustin evening classes.

 

[FatAlan]

Definitely pays to shop around and research what's available. There's a wealth of info on this site. The guy that was calling you is probably from a 3rd party sales team with the sole objective of getting you so cough up the dosh or sign up to a credit agreement.