Olci

[BLee]

Hi guys im new to plumbing and this forums, well basically ive recently enrolled with OLCI plumbing doing my 6129.
After reading what people say about OLCI tonight im starting to get really worried about what this company will do to me. Ive heard that some people didnt recieve their certificates after completeing a course with OLCI can anyone confirm this? and if so can we do anything legally to prevent this? Since everything is already signed for can i still pull out and not pay the whole 6k since ive only joined for a month and havent yet been to a pratical lesson yet.

If not im gonna push them like mad and try and make sure i get the most out of my 6k.

Since i am new and jsut learning the theory i havent been to a pratical lesson yet but i will be going ot the one in Manchester and Mersyside can anyone give me some feedback on these 2 locations eg what the tutors are like etc.
I also hear that OLCI make it impossible for you to fail since tehy help you with exams etc and i dont want that after paying 6k. Even though passing is great i want to come out knowing as much as i can about this trade and the theory that OLCI seems to contradicts it self alot can anyone suggest any decent books to help you theory?

Bascially can anyone who has been through or are training with OLCI give me any advice on how to deal with them when their customer service becomes really bad.
Thanks for reading guys and help is much appreciated.

 

[obseen16]

Hi mate, i finished my level 2 with olci last year. i had no trouble getting my certificate off them. the one major problem with olci is that bloody call centre of theirs, the people on the other end of the phone dont seem to know very much about course procedures, i remember calling to register with city and guilds so i could do my exams and i was told i didnt need to have anything to do with city and guilds. i called again straight after and another advisor gave me a totally different (and correct) answer. the rumor about them making it impossible to fail is rubbish, i had to re-sit 2 of my theory exams and 2 people who took the gola exam with me failed that to, and while i was there i heard of a few people who failed the practical assessment. unless their standards have dropped since i was there.

 

[plumbster]

Olci seem really dodgy, especially their pricing structure I have spoke to people who have paid 4k for their course some 5k but your the first I've heard who's paid 6k , I think you want to check that out mate

 

[kingm1988]

I signed up with OLCI just last week. £5600 is what im paying for the course in London.

I agree with 'obseen16' about the call centre staff. They are just a bunch of sales people you have been employed to get as many people to sign on to the course so that they can get their precious commission! The guy that 'interviewed' me knew f*** all about the plumbing iself which made me extremely uneasy when he was trying his damned hardest to 'sell' me the course.

Anywho, i sincerely hope i get my moneys worth out of it. To 'BLee', i bought the Heinemann Plumbing and NVQ Tech Level 2 book from amazon.co.uk (a recommendation from somebody on here i believe), which cost £22. From glancing through it i have to say it seems pretty good, has plenty of illustrations which is ideal.

Also would 'obseen16' care to share any good or bad feelings about OLCI? Would be really appreciated. Cheers

 

[obseen16]

Also would 'obseen16' care to share any good or bad feelings about OLCI? Would be really appreciated. Cheers

Good Feelings about OLCI: the trainers were helpful and gave lots of tips, one of them even gave us his personal mobile number to call him on if we ever got stuck on a job so he could talk us through it if he could (witnessed someone call him once about a pump)

if you wanted to slack off and learn sweet fa you could go have a *** n a brew and no one would try and get you back (but if you dont wanna waste your ££££ dont do this)

when i first started the courses and assessments were just about always available to book on within a month with no waiting list.

the workshop layouts were pretty good,

there was usually 1 teacher to about 10 people or less so you got the personal touch.

the nicest burger van over the road for dinner times.

urm cant think of many more good things at the mo but im sure there were a few.

The bad things:
Call centre staff were trained by monkeys and had brains smaller than chimps.

towards the end of my course the assessments had waiting lists (the longest i had to wait was about 3 months) which was a pain in the bum. BUT having said that they did only have 2 training centres at the time (manchester & london).

the teachers would show you what to do on the workshops then dissapear for abit. but if you got stuck you had to hunt them down for about 20 mins.

people started stealing the equippment so i ended up just bringing my own tools as a few times there was approx 2 pipe cutters, 3 screwdrivers & 1 blow torch between 6 people lol.

the training bays although they were set out well they didnt really represent the real world, no joists, stud walls, laminated floors, loft spaces etc. but i spose most training centres are like that.

i had to find my own plumbers to take me on even tho they said they would look for work for me, i never even got an interview (id still be waiting now i think)

they started using long life milk instead of the proper stuff for brew gear (yuck).

overall id say they are good for teaching you the basics like how to solder bend put things together properly, scratch your arse whilst screwing clips at the same time (just kidding). but the real world is made of more than chipboard walls and concrete floors.

id reccomend getting work with a plumber to gain experience if you can as i found that the plumbers i worked with taught me alot of other things about plumbing.

 

[kingm1988]

so are you still working with other plumbers? or have you decided to brave the trade and go self employed? money good? (if you dont mind me asking)

 

[BLee]

Thanks for the post obeen mate really helped me, and king hope your course goes well mate with OLCI

 

[obseen16]

so are you still working with other plumbers? or have you decided to brave the trade and go self employed? money good? (if you dont mind me asking)

well the bloke i used to work with full time decided to move into industrial gas mains and meters full time, when i worked with him he did both. i was given a choice, go self employed or work in gas mains full time, so i went on my own, all the domestic work he gets through gets passed to me to do, money is pretty poo at the moment as he takes a slice of the pie as a finders fee type thing, but once i start getting a bigger customer base of my own then the pie gets shared between me and mr tax man lol.

however i have met alot of people in the trade and other trades and all the plumbers who have seen my work have said they would get me in from time to time to help out on their jobs, true to their word one of the corgi fellas called me up for a nice 3 day cash job helping him do a system swap. he was happy and my pockets were happy to, and there is a new combi system plus new rads coming up in the next few weeks so thats another 3-5 days work lol. the customer base is growing muahahaha. now for this recession to end lol.

 

[mikef68]

Hi Blee. I did the 8 week in Manchester and I got all my certificates without problems. Didn’t hear that anyone else on the course had troubles. Impossible to fail – wish that was true! A few of us had a couple of goes at some of the exams! Not really sure about the pricing stuff that Plumbsters talking about, I thougt all the guys I was with paid about the same.

 

[hiney777]

Hi Blee
Just about to take my 5th and last assessment on lead with OLCI. I've had no trouble with the trainers or booking courses. I done most of my workshops in devon (even though I live over 100 miles away, found a nice B&B not far from the seaside) and twice I was the only one there. The courses are what you make of them, if you want to do the minimum then you can, but I found the trainers are more than willing to have there brains picked, youre paying them so use them.
The courses can be failed so dont take it for granted, if you fail a theory exam it will cost you £11.50 for a resit and a 7 day wait, I failed 2.
I would recommend the Devon centre and some of the students have taken their wives with them in the summer, we study and they sunbathe

 

[snogs]

hi guys,doing the tec 2 at BTSC, they make you take their exam on top of C and G's, and charge you £20 per exam, if you fail, its another £20. loads fail because its harder. do OLCI do this?

 

[BLee]

Hi guys got my 1st assessment for C & G level 2 next month, been revising using olci notes but i feel this just isnt enough can anyone recommend any books? Also what are the theory exams like are they multiple choice or written and where can i get some practice questions from.

Thanks

 

[helpsy]

Hi BLee,
I would try the JTL bookslumbing NVQ and Technical Certificate Level 2 (ISBN 0-435-40194-7)
and
Plumbing Revision Guide (ISBN 978-0-435402-14-3)
Both available through Amazon
These are a more compact version that give you adequate knowledge to pass the exams.
The Questions are multiple choice, with 4 answers available per question.Usually you can discount one of the answers straight away because it usually doesn't relate to the question being asked,after more thought you can eliminate another leaving you 2 answers that are quite possibly both right in some way ,but it's which one you think takes greater presidence.I think if you genuinely put the time in you won't have a problem.But yes I know of a few people who have failed and some are already working full time plumbing!!
Good Luck

 

[BLee]

thanks for the help mate will be looking at those books.