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.

 

[Mike Johnson]

You do not need to check on the financial situation of a prospective student prior to then committing to the course, and why don't you have a contact telephone number?

 

[David Anthony]

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.

I also enjoy engaging with unsolicited calls of any kind. As soon as they take the bait I tell them to hold on and play music while get on with something else. Usually holds them for about 10 minutes or so.

 

[UNG]

With colleges offering City and Guilds level 2 and 3 courses (without NVQ) a lot of new "electricians" have no practical experience other than building little circuits in the college workshop, there is a need for NVQ's added by accredited training centres. Unfortunately this opens the door for all kinds dodgy scams.

This level 2 and 3 has no credibility as it seems it is applied to most courses to give them some status, all courses should be given some sort of career pathway progression so you start with the core courses and move onto the add on courses like the 2391 as you progress through your training. All the courses these training companies offer only seem to short circuit the proper training without informing them a short circuit is dangerous

The NVQ system is flawed, I know of someone who was turned down for a job because of no NVQ yet at the time she was a level 4 NVQ assessor

 

[DPG]

Kimmy1307 - did they definitely ask for your driving license details?

 

[David Anthony]

This level 2 and 3 has no credibility as it seems it is applied to most courses to give them some status, all courses should be given some sort of career pathway progression so you start with the core courses and move onto the add on courses like the 2391 as you progress through your training. All the courses these training companies offer only seem to short circuit the proper training without informing them a short circuit is dangerous

The NVQ system is flawed, I know of someone who was turned down for a job because of no NVQ yet at the time she was a level 4 NVQ assessor

I quite agree that the NVQ system is flawed, mostly by dodgy assessors. The one you spoke to misrepresented herself because there is no level 4 assessor qualification. Assessors are Level 3 after that an Level 4 Interal Quality Assurer, formerly called Internal Verifier who is responsible for ensuring that the assessment process is thoroughly performed.

 

[UNG]

I quite agree that the NVQ system is flawed, mostly by dodgy assessors. The one you spoke to misrepresented herself because there is no level 4 assessor qualification. Assessors are Level 3 after that an Level 4 Interal Quality Assurer, formerly called Internal Verifier who is responsible for ensuring that the assessment process is thoroughly performed.

TBH that was what I was told for me NVQ = not very qualified

 

[David Anthony]

You have not answered that question.

Every reputable college has a "Contact Us" link with full details. Marcus at Trades College should teach dancing instead, looking at how he skirts around simple straightforward questions

 

[SJD]

I'd guess there is no phone number given either because there would not be anyone dedicated to answering it (which wouldn't look good) or they simply don't want people ringing up who might have problems or complaints.

Requiring everyone to be phoned back means you can only talk to the organization if said organization actually want to speak to you.

 

[DPG]

I personally wouldn't sign up for a course with anyone who wasn't willing to give either a telephone number or an address. These are basics.

 

[nicebutdim]

Companies Act 2006 is the legislation that must be complied with by all businesses that operate a website and it makes specific reference about contact information that must be supplied in an easily accessible manner.

 

[nicebutdim]

Does that include the business address and telephone number, or just registration details?

I'm not going to make bold statements when I can not be certain of grey areas that might exist. Personally I tend to avoid conducting business with companies who aren't transparent about where they are located and how I might go about contacting them by phone. Contact forms are all very well, but my experience is that response times can vary from almost instantaneous to never and I don't care for such uncertainty.

I've previously refrained from commenting in this thread, but feel that it's worth adding that I'm someone who is currently in the process of trying to secure training in this industry and my comments above would apply equally to training providers as they do to any other business.

 

[David Anthony]

I'm not going to make bold statements when I can not be certain of grey areas that might exist. Personally I tend to avoid conducting business with companies who aren't transparent about where they are located and how I might go about contacting them by phone. Contact forms are all very well, but my experience is that response times can vary from almost instantaneous to never and I don't care for such uncertainty.

I've previously refrained from commenting in this thread, but feel that it's worth adding that I'm someone who is currently in the process of trying to secure training in this industry and my comments above would apply equally to training providers as they do to any other business.

I hope you find the training you need from a decent college at a fair price. There are some.

 

[nicebutdim]

I hope you find the training you need from a decent college at a fair price. There are some.

Holding out for a local college course in Spetmeber, but that hasn't worked out for two successive years. If this year makes a hattrick, I'll have to resort to a training provider in GB as I'm not getting any younger.

 

[David Anthony]

Holding out for a local college course in Spetmeber, but that hasn't worked out for two successive years. If this year makes a hattrick, I'll have to resort to a training provider in GB as I'm not getting any younger.

Don't worry about your age. I came to the UK twenty years ago. I went into a college in middle England and said I wanted to do the Regs. The lady said I need to speak to the trainer. He asked if I had 2330 parts 1 and 2.
I asked what that was and he told me so I said I didn't need that as I was an electrician. He said " You want to be an Electrician so you need etc."
I listed some of my varied experience and asked if he had done any of them. He said no so I told him he "wanted to be an electrician" and walked out.
Came to a London college asked about the Regs and she said £100 so I asked if I needed an interview and she said "no, just come on Tuesday evening "

Point I'm making is know what you want and don't let them up sell courses you don't need

 

[Mike Johnson]

XS training on here seem to get good review and have been around for some time, look in the right hand side bar, I don't know anything about them, just their presence and some previous comments.