Why 2391?

[Craigie]

I would be grateful for thoughts on the benefits of holding the C&G 2391 qualification.

 

[acat]

A lot of companies require you to have it even if your job is only changing light bulbs. On the self employed side it proves you are competent to do PIRs although not required it helps should someone question if you are competent.


On the other side of the coin it means nothing really unless you have the experience to back it up just passing the exam in the real world means nothing.


Chris

 

[iceman]

its pretty much impossible to pass 2391 without experience anyway hence why the pass rate is so low nationwide, its recommended that once gaining 2330 level 3 and 17th you get atleast two years experience before even thinking about sitting the 2391 exam but i guess this is what makes it worth having because any old tom dick and harry cant just turn up and pass it, only real electricians can gain this qualification!

 

[Johno]

I would say that you need it to call yourself a fully qualified electrician. Though I am sure ther are many competent sparks out there who are about to shout at me, but if you want to call yourself fully qualified I would say it is a must.

 

[Phil]

the college where we did our`s the tutor said he had a kitchen fitter that passed his and even a guy from the wholesalers that had never done a days work as a spark in his career. suppose it goes to show if you have a good memory and can work the calcs anything is possible. the question is what good is the qualification without the experience to back it up.

 

[lloyd1980]

Hi mate I hold the 2391
unless required to you dont need it,

to test anything COMPETANCY is the key word in the regs

as long as you deem yourself competant and you know what your doing then there is NO NEED for the 2391 to tell you ,

you can do it, its your call

obviously be responsible and dont set your test meter to resistance when testing mains voltage and you should be fine

if it goes bang your not COMPETANT and will need to do the 2391

 

[Gravid]

Doing the 2391 really benefited me. Bloody hard but well worth it, learned a hell of a lot, stuff that sparks I've worked with and previous teachers just brushed over.

 

[Risteard]

I would say that you need it to call yourself a fully qualified electrician.

The JIB would appear to disagree.

 

[WayneL]

Hi mate I hold the 2391
unless required to you dont need it,

to test anything COMPETANCY is the key word in the regs

as long as you deem yourself competant and you know what your doing then there is NO NEED for the 2391 to tell you ,

you can do it, its your call

obviously be responsible and dont set your test meter to resistance when testing mains voltage and you should be fine

if it goes bang your not COMPETANT and will need to do the 2391

The problem with this is a lot of sparks think they are competent and think they know how to 'inspect and test' - but who says they're doing it right?

The 2391 qualification shows that you do know what you are doing and can 'inspect and test' properly

Of about 13 sparks who took the course with me, (some with 25+ years experience), there isn't one of them who could honestly say he didn't learn something on that course.

So, in my opinion, well worth taking

 

[Steve D]

its pretty much impossible to pass 2391 without experience anyway hence why the pass rate is so low nationwide, its recommended that once gaining 2330 level 3 and 17th you get atleast two years experience before even thinking about sitting the 2391 exam but i guess this is what makes it worth having because any old tom dick and harry cant just turn up and pass it, only real electricians can gain this qualification!

I beg to differ to a certain extent.

4 years ago I decided to enter the trade. I went to college of an evening whilst I still carried on my dayjob.
I did my 3 years of 2330, then 17th ed and then 2391 straight afterwards (sat the exam in feb this year) and passed it.

I'm not saying I'm completely inexperienced - I've done various jobs on evenings and weekends over the years - but it does go to show that you don't necessarily need to be a time served spark in order to pass the 2391, as long as you're a good learner and you know what you're doing.

 

[pennywise]

Personally think it's easier doing the 2391 without site experience, as you are learning by the book the procedures and how to work through the questions in a very logical way there are no other choices or explanations apart from the perfect examples, having the site experience sometimes clouds issues as you think back to work you've done and then apply it to the question which may not be what they want, a simple question starts to get more complicated when you start reading into it further and further when it's not necessary. Just my personal opinion. If you have an opportunity to do it,do it. Having the qual just gives you more chance of getting through the first round of cuts in a job hunt, get your foot in the door.