City and Guilds Leve 2 (6129) Plumbing Studies - Past Papers

[fuzzy]

your doing the vrq 6129 tec cert, not the full qual but 75% of the nvq mate. its a step in the right direction. youl then have to get work as a plumber to get the nvq. then after decemeber you cannot enrol on either course because they cease to exist. youl have to get a job as a plumber and do the diploma

 

[plumbing1981]

Do you have the actual past exams or the ones on smartscreen?

If you have the past exams could you possibly email them to me? I'll give you a drink for sending them...cheers

i got it on a disc, pm me your address and i'll post it out to you

KJ

 

[desrob]

firstly college do stop courses mid term,fact,secondly with two degrees and wanting to become a plumber going down the 6129 route explains a lot about you,reading between the lines you really need to start listening to your wife and not turn everything into your way of thinking.colleges,sadly are 100% a business,the 6129 i believe was manipulated by college administrators etc to put bums on seats and increase there profit margins,this of course was based on pass rates and i have seen some strange goings on to increase a colleges pass rate,making a mockery,if not laughable enough of the 6129.

 

[fuzzy]

it wasnt colleges who manipulated the 6129, how can they? they can only run courses that the sector skills councils design, its not the fault of a college is it desrob? if a college runs a course that people want how is it wrong?


you may have a point with private training providers who sell the 6129 as a full qual when it isnt.
because too many have done the 6129 without going on to get the 6089 they are now dropping the 6129 and altering the 6089 to include all aspect, meaning you have to be employed and therefore atempting to stop private training providers

 

[desrob]

colleges are not interested in students progression,they saturated the plumbing department with any one they could,eg.young female wanting to do hair and beauty was told her chosen course was full,but there;s the 6129 in plumbing give that a try,young students pleasing parents,putting in time,moving from course to course,the college powers that be did manipulate the 6129 and in the process the ones that did want to learn and progress did suffer,ask any college any where,the 6129 was a blessing that kept other dept running ok fuzzy.and private training providers will move on and offer some thing different at least ther honest about what they do,if your foolish enough to go along with that,then you get what you deserve.

 

[fuzzy]

sorry desrob but i disagree, collegese havnt created the issues with the 6129. they cannot force somebody to do it can they, if they talk someone from hair and beauty onto the programme and they dont like it they would have left. You have to turn up and enrol for a course and then complete it to suceed. Nobody could force somebody to do it, it is the candidates choice and therefore you cannot in any way blame the colleges for running what people want. Blaming the colleges is simply a cop out looking for excuses.

The issues around the 6129 are a little more complex. Is it the press, is it private trainers mis selling the course, is it the fact it was created in the first place since we never had a tec cert before now only craft cert, adavnced craft cert and then nvq2 then 3.

 

[desrob]

we will agree to disagree,but ask college lecturers,especially those in the construction dept.

 

[kay-jay]

hi fuzzy
just out of interest how different was the craft cert to the tec cert?

KJ

 

[fuzzy]

desrob, i have and i am 100% right
kay jay, the old craft certs were completly different. the trade has moved on and so has education. the old quals required a one off practical and theory exam at the end of it, buit different from our currect system

 

[kay-jay]

i know that there has been lots of discussion regarding the tec cert, but in your opinion does it represent an improvement from the craft cert? or only if the nvq is also attained?

and do you think the new 6189 dip will be an improvement?

also when you say the trade has moved on and so has the education, do you feel that the education has changed to suit the trade changes or does it reflect the perceptions about alleged trade skills shortages and the candidates that c and g have tried to attract.

i'd be interested to hear your opinions about this...

KJ

 

[desrob]

desrob, i have and i am 100% right
kay jay, the old craft certs were completly different. the trade has moved on and so has education. the old quals required a one off practical and theory exam at the end of it, buit different from our currect system

your so wrong,fuzzy,i have come to the conclusion your just a wind up merchant,or people are just saying what you want to hear,or your a bit ignorant,what ever it is your wrong

 

[fuzzy]

your so wrong,fuzzy,i have come to the conclusion your just a wind up merchant,or people are just saying what you want to hear,or your a bit ignorant,what ever it is your wrong

Dont get personal desrob, why would any of this be a wind up.

To think that colleges have been the ones who have forced people to take a course they didnt want so they can make money is absurd. It certainly isnt the fault of the colleges. Summitskills designed the 6129 not colleges, do you know how qualifications are designed? Its the employers who have the input over a 5 year stratergy with the sector skills council, what on earth does a college have to do about that? Once the qualification is designed who says it is funded or not? The goverment or the educational wing anyway, once again, not the colleges, who are the ones who apply for courses, yes youve gessed it, candidates, not the colleges. Where in this whole scenario is it colleges who make the decision other than to offer a course than somebody else designed, somebody else said is funded and somebody else asked to do?

 

[smudger]

Definitely recommend the disc. recently did my 6129 and the disc was brilliant. About half the questions in the exams were on the discs. It cost about £15, but worth every penny.

 

[smudger]

I read all of your comments with interest. I worked in the building industry (started as a labourer/trainee with a general builder, then worked as plasterer/tiler for about 6 years) but had a career change and went back to uni and worked in business for about 15 years. Personal/family considerations caused me to look to start my own business and I want to get involved in renewables. The first step in this was to gain a plumbing qualification. I approached pretty much every plumber within a 20 mile radius and got no interest at all (even unpaid). My only option was a TC course, it was either this or give up (which is not in my nature). The 6129 TC course was a joke really, the standard required to pass was pathetic. But to get my NVQ I have no choice but to go out and work and get it assessed. The problem, as I see it, is that the course is too easy. However, does that mean I am going to undercut or do a crap job? No, I know my standards, all my work is properly tested, extremely tidy and guaranteed. So to suggest that I am a bad plumber because they made the course too easy is ridiculous. I am a lot better than some of the plumbers that have worked on the job before me. The quality of work is more about the attitude of the tradesman. I charge a reasonable price based on my costs, expected profit and industry norms. I may be cheaper than some because I am not greedy and I have a low cost base. It actually means that I don't make a lot at the moment because it takes me longer to get the required quality. I take extreme pride in my work, and trying to build a business means that I need the testimonials and word of mouth. So please don't condemn all late comers to the industry just because we had to do a crap course

 

[Garryaca@yahoo.]

I read all of your comments with interest. I worked in the building industry (started as a labourer/trainee with a general builder, then worked as plasterer/tiler for about 6 years) but had a career change and went back to uni and worked in business for about 15 years. Personal/family considerations caused me to look to start my own business and I want to get involved in renewables. The first step in this was to gain a plumbing qualification. I approached pretty much every plumber within a 20 mile radius and got no interest at all (even unpaid). My only option was a TC course, it was either this or give up (which is not in my nature). The 6129 TC course was a joke really, the standard required to pass was pathetic. But to get my NVQ I have no choice but to go out and work and get it assessed. The problem, as I see it, is that the course is too easy. However, does that mean I am going to undercut or do a crap job? No, I know my standards, all my work is properly tested, extremely tidy and guaranteed. So to suggest that I am a bad plumber because they made the course too easy is ridiculous. I am a lot better than some of the plumbers that have worked on the job before me. The quality of work is more about the attitude of the tradesman. I charge a reasonable price based on my costs, expected profit and industry norms. I may be cheaper than some because I am not greedy and I have a low cost base. It actually means that I don't make a lot at the moment because it takes me longer to get the required quality. I take extreme pride in my work, and trying to build a business means that I need the testimonials and word of mouth. So please don't condemn all late comers to the industry just because we had to do a crap course

Well said I'm in more or less the same position. After 20 odd years of frying my eyes in front of a screen doing something of no tangiable worth it was time for a change. The TC was the only way forward to the NVQ. Having said that the course was too easy, there where still people on it that failed a couple or three of the 'writen' tests. A year doing the Tc was fine I learnt a lot of things that where on the sylabus and from a good tutor who is also an assesor and a working plumber, a lot of things that were not on the sylabus. The hard work now will be to convert it all into the NVQ. But it's like anything, you get out of it what you are prepare to put in.

 

[smudger]

Absolutely agree with what you say. I think a year working for a plumber and doing TC is a much better way of getting competant (starting to anyway), and it is down to what you put in. The problem is with people who aren't prepared to put in the extra effort and will then go out and do a half-arsed job (bodge if needed) and undercut the established plumbers.

 

[fuzzy]

The 6129 isnt easy, it may not be respected but that isnt the fault of the colleges or the students. its more to do with it being able to be achieved without any work evidence or experience. Companies have taken on employees with only a tech cert, then when they are slow and ask alot of questions they make the asumption that they know nothing and therefore the 6129 is worthless. It isnt its a very good course but it is what it is, the college side only. You do need to have work exprience to get better, thats why the nvq is more respected becuase a prospective employee is likely to be better if he or she has a nvq rather than just a 6129. That doesnt mean there are no exceptions but they dont prove the rule

 

[smudger]

Can't disagree with that Fuzzy. I can only go by what I saw at the centre I was at (and by my 10 years experience running vocational qualifications). I'm all for improving standards within the industry, I think part of the problem is when profit making companies get involved in selling/delivery and the way the "approved contractor" schemes have been set up. For my part I wanted to work for a plumber for a while to gain actual work knowledge, but even offering to work at a training rate and offering to commit for a couple of years so they could make some money from me (I'm an experienced multi-trade) no-one was interested because of a) my age b) they thought I would leave and set up in comp. So I've no choice but to go out there with what I've got. Luckily, there are people around like some of you guys on here (not all) who are supportive and will help me overcome problems I can't work out. Cheers buddy.

 

[desrob]

you still at it fuzz, what a guy.

 

[khanbk]

HELP, all these goings on about 6129, how does a 29 year old get on to be a plumber then, too old to be an apprentice, cant go on the benefit to get course free at a local college with only a £30 fee as im working to make ends meet, college is 2 year stretch, only options are training companies, any feed back on RF training, plumbing academy, b.t.s.c ect ect any advice would be much appreciated

 

[khanbk]

hello every one just joined quick question HELP, all these goings on about C & G 6129, and how 6128 is more relevant and how the NVQ work based stuff is being scrapped to become how does a 29 year old get on to be a plumber then, too old to be an apprentice, cant go on the benefit to get course free at a local college with only a £30 fee as im working to make ends meet, college is 2 year stretch, only options are training companies, any feed back on RF training, plumbing academy, b.t.s.c ect ect any advice would be much appreciated

 

[khanbk]

Now that the NVQ being scrapped what now!!! Anyone know about the QCF business

 

[fuzzy]

dont get too hung up about the qcf, nothing for students to worry about, new quals would have come in even if it had stayed with the nqf mate.

the diploma will replace the nvq, the 6129 will not be replaced, easy as that

 

[fuzzy]

you still at it fuzz, what a guy.

lmao..............

 

[khanbk]

cheers mate, shall i start 6129 now or wait until December 2010 till the QCF kicks in, plus would you say 6128 or 6129 as roofers generally do lead people are telling me do the 6128 as you learn more about heating whisc h is better when dong gas safe and generally leading up to a heating engineer ect