Train 4 Trade Skills

[plumermicky]

Agree. Im doing the same course at the mo im on module 8. But the tools you get at the end 5% off what you need in you tool kit. Im working at the mo and with the money im earning, most of it is going on tools. Also you need a van. so im saveing.

Good luck on the course anyway

 

[sonray ltd]

a van is a must people don't want to see you arrive in some old hatchback.
even when your sitting in traffic your out to advertise your company.
i run renault trafics and they are still to small for carrying plumbing, drainage tools. let alone parts etc.
you can get away with carrying alot of spares, but i sub contract to call centres at night and you have to carry 80% of general spares.

as for advertising can be £500 + just for a basic ad in the yellow pages let alone business cards, stationary etc.

john as you say dealing with customers and being able to communicate with them helps alot, keeping them informed on how the jobs going or not going all helps.

if you've done a course yes i would work with them if they where prepaired to listern & learn and not a know it all.
if they wanna learn, reliable, respect customers property, ask when your not sure on something etc.

 

[johnmess]

Thanks very much for answering sonray its really good to get feedback from people who are already plumbers and it gives a good boost to keep going.

 

[ian lees1978]

Hello all,
Ive just started the train 4 trade skills course. Yes the bloke came round and yes its a lot of money and yes they do sell it to you. Ive worked in sales for the past ten years repping so guess i knew the sales speel etc the thing that made me go with it is for one that i cant afford to stop working I hated college hated it with a passion i dont want to sit in college with however many more youngsters half of which will drop out and muck around. Dont get me wrong i dont expect to know everything about plumbing But i can say this. To all you guys out there who have finished the course and looking to start up on there own or find work keep going. Advertise advertise advertise!!!! brochures through doors. Both residential and commercial. Ive finished as a sales rep last week i sold photocopiers to coperate accounts the company cars gone with the phone and laptop etc. Great timing i know im working in a call centre now half the pay just taking calls getting by but hey the one thing i know is people buy people Thats my current trade! as well as good work remember if your a peoples person and three other guys put a quote in yeah they will look at price but also if they like YOU. Reading comments from plumbers who have been at it 32 years fair play to you. However We know it will be hard work. I know theres more to it than theory Ive worked with my dad whos a self emnployed OLD school landscape gardener, travelled Australia and worked as a brickies labourer in 39 degree heat try that. I could even lay bricks when id finished without learning the theory from the books !!! And yes im aware its not like a computer course. Remeber guys there are other countries crying out for skills. Well the point im getting at is fair enough make your point. But for gods sake encourage the people looking to come through. Remembver you were there once!! Take on board the advise guys but go with your gut feeling. My mate who used to work with me in sales is now fully qualified corgi Gas installer, self employed and doing well. Anything is possible if YOU want to do it and YOU keep at it. If it were that easy everyone would be a plumber. Chin up all you people on the course and keep focussed on what you want and GO get it. Im sorry if this seems forward to you guys out there giving good advice and encouragement. Just my opinion and the whole matter.

 

[johnmess]

Ian,

Welcome to the t4ts, I started it myself I have completed the first 2 tma's both with passes. I too work in a call centre and totally agree with what your saying. Doing these courses is a start into plumbing and I am so looking forward to it. I have no doubt it will be hard work and it will not all go to plan all the time but what ever does.

I think we need a lot more encouragement on these pages but also I think we need more feedback both good and bad about t4ts.

Good to have you on board and I hope all goes well on your course.

John

 

[plumermicky]

I dont really care what other people have to say, iv been doing the T4TS course for mounths now. And i do know its gonna be my stepping stone into the plumbing world, So i dont care about all the nagative comments about plumbing course's these days. Yeah you get some really crap ones like the fast track course's. But i do have alot off faith in T4TS and i aint just saying that becasue im on the course im just saying there is alot off stuff to take in, This course is diffently not a walk in the park!!!

I'd just like to hear from someone who has passed with T4TS!

Good luck anyway johnmess and ian less1978

 

[johnmess]

Thanks PlumberMicky

Have you been to any of the practial parts of the course yet no one seems to know what the accomadation is like.

 

[wyng56]

Re: train4 trade skills new starter

Hi everyone
Am new to this & have been looking into courses for ages, have narrowed it down to either train4trades or met-uk, the feedback sounds pretty good for train 4 trades but has anyone got any feedback for met-uk at all? would be interested to know. Thanks & happy new year
wyng56

 

[wyng56]

Hey everyone
I'm really interested in doing a plumbing course, i've been looking into this for about a year & am almost ready to decide which course to do. I'm torn between met uk & T4T - would anyone be able to vouch for met uk at all, if not the chance is i'll go with T4T. Interesting forum this, wish i'd seen it sooner, John you seem to have a good idea about this & i like sonrays response as a time served plumber.
Cheers

 

[johnmess]

Hi wyng56,

I can't give any details about met uk just the t4ts although there saleman will try and sell you the course off the back of earn £100k per year blah blah I think these kind of courses are the only way for an adult to change into plumbing.

At the moment we are going through this credit crunch and supposdily there not much work but the t4ts course is 2 years so although you need to pay for it thats 2 years for the economy to get better.

I don't imagine plumbing will be an easy job with regular pay once I am on my own but if I wanted that I would just stick with my current job.

The best thing to do is think about what you want from the course, personally I wanted nvq level 3 and pick the one that suits your needs.

John

 

[nimitz]

hi chaps new to the forum,joined t4t back in summer 2007 started with foundation city and guilds 6022-6032 and intermediate 6128 now upgraded to 6129. had the salesman sell it to me i bought it thought great off i go,then i started to read all the negative fall out about t4t and its not worth this and not worth that! fair enough everybodys deserves there opinion! well i thought stuff it iam in for the long haul,the books arrived so i started to soak up the knowledge and theory worked my way through the modules submitted tmas got good results,then decided to have a crack at the scenario 3d load of bollocks the cd froze up,but to be fair t4t did recognise there were problems so they swiftly despatched a replacement,but never did complete them,anyway the two weeks practical came up last year 2008 6022 6032 sanitary installation and water regs well what can i say excellent training facilities,accomodation is NOT provided but details are provided for local guest houses recomended by other students! the staff at the centre are all time served waterboard type blokes really friendly and you can have a good laugh with them but they deff know there trade not a stich up as some may think but very surprising considering what i was expecting it was well run proffesional set up! anyway passed that course certs were dispatched in the post along with BPEC water regs card, carried out the intermediate now completed theory just waiting to go on the two weeks pratical now,! a very good course ok its not going to get you a job but it gives you plenty of confidence to carry out plumbing work and puts you in good stead to run your own buisness and to those guys out there doing the course dont worry its very rewarding and you meet some bloody good blokes on the course and think glad i did it now!

 

[johnmess]

nimitz thanks for the info will help plan money needed for accomidation.

LM Ceramics you are absolutly right being time served or fast track is no garuntee you will get good or bad workmanship. It seems to me that more and more people don't take pride in there work.

When I had my central heating installed the guys wanted to run all the pipes including the gas pipe allong the skirting board and up the edge of my stairs !

I told him if he was not prepaird to do the job right (i.e put the pipe work under the floor) he could take his gear and , he was not pleased but he did do the job correctly.

Again I think this kind of thing comes down to pride. I for one would hate to have any customer call me back because I did not do the job correctly first time. Mistakes happen for sure but some of the trades men I have come across only want to complete the job asap and get paid.

I too an not worried about the competition as where ever I have woked I have gained a reputation for working hard and doing good work and I will carry that into any plumbing that I do. Word of mouth is a great way to gain work or to kill your buisness so these guys that are crap will in the end fail wether they are time served or not.

 

[LukeB]

Hi Paul, I was interested to read your question about your Train4TradeSkills course. My son Luke was thinking of joining this course and I would be very interested in hearing more about your experiences of the course todate and also reading the poor reviews you have seen ... where did you see these reviews ? Cheers Peter

 

[Benfoord]

I'm halfway through the Train 4 trade skills course. I have learnt things but none of it seems very practical in terms of hands on learning. It seems that they charge you a few thousand, give you a couple of out of date theory books and an awful 3d scenario computer based learning program. Haven't gone to the 2 week practical part of the course yet but My advice is buy some theory books yourself and enter the exams. I try and get some experience where I can. I've installed a Toilet, outside tap, new waste for a basin and various bits and bobs but I get confused with all the City and guilds qualifications that you can get. I really want to be a self employed plumber but I am realising that this course will not be enough. I personally think its ok but NOT worth a few grand!!!! Has anyone got any advice for me? I'm 24, I work as a laborer for a country estate. They've officially taken me on as a trainee plumber but haven't really given me much training. I think they can see aswell that this course is not giving me enough knowledge to be able to go into plumbing anyone got any advice on which route to take?

 

[Benfoord]

Hi, to anyone interested in the Train4trade skills. I'm halfway through the course. Someone basically comes and sells you a dream. Sign on the dotted line and after this course ou'll be qualified to set up with a little van and be a plumber. They scare you by saying ' Lots of people end up in dead end jobs, now you don't want to be like that do you?' So I signed up. I got given a big theory book. Teaches you the basics. You fill in the assessment at the end of each module and then post it online. They send back your results using an automated marking service. If you think a rubbish theory book full of mistakes and spelling errors is worth a couple of grand then go for it!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm halfway though the course now as I've already said and I'm abit confused as to what my qualifications will count for at the end of the course and whether it will stand for anything in the eyes of an employer or a customer. Really feel cheated!!! But then again thats what most companies do. Pull the wool over your eyes then run off with your money.

 

[Benfoord]

Sorry but he's right. You can't expect to jump straight into being a plumber after this fast track course. I'm also 24 am half way through train4trade skills course and I'm a trainee plumber on a country estate the more plumbing I do in the reall world the more I realise this plumbing course counts for nothing much. My advice get employment with a plumbing company and stick it out for a good couple of years or more. Then re-assess whether you think you can go self-employed or not. If your determined and you cover all your bases theres no reason you can't be a success though.

Hope it works out for ya

 

[johnmess]

Benfoord,

I am doing the t4ts and I fund the sales man the same but before he came to my door I knew for a fact he was full of ****, I decided to take on t4ts not because of the salesman but because I wanted a start into the plumbing industry.

There are so many courses so at the end of the day you got to take what you think will work for you.

Not only that I have agreed to the payment I will make sure I get my monies worth. There are mistakes but these are corrected on the site or you can call you tutor and he will help.

NVQ is a UK wide reconginsed qualification so there will be compaines out there that are happy you have it. The practical experiance is hard to come by when looking for a company to work with but thats a catch 22 thats been around for an age "can't get work if no experiance. can't get experiance if no job"

 

[emo_luke]

Re: Train 4 trade skills, help i may have made a big mistake.

Well it was from word ofmouth by someone doing the course that I contacted them! I'm currently a kitchen fitter and do my on plumbing etc but just would have liked a few bits of paper work to go with it I'll have to rethink how I go about this but cheers guys!

 

[wyng56]

hey folks
just wondering if anyone has any feedback on the 3D software that T4Ts give you on their course, i know nimitz didn't sound to fussed by it, but i thought it looked good on the DVD. Can someone give me an idea if it's any good as due to join a course & want to know if this will sway it for me.
Much apprec plumb dudes =

 

[PlumbBob]

Re: train4 trade skills new starter

Hi all!

I am a bit shocked to discover no accomodation is provided when you visit a training centre... you would think there would be when you pay that much for the course!
On their website the video speciffically states "the training centre will make the accomodation booking for you, so you don't even have to worry about those logistical details!" Naive of me, maybe, but I thought that would mean it was included in the cost of your course.
From T4TS's website they say " A new centre is soon to be opened in Luton to complement the existing facilities in Southampton Guildford and Leeds."
I'm in the midlands and that's a long way to travel Also how long will you be away for- anyone know?
You may have guessed I haven't signed up for it yet and can't wait for the rep to come (see what price they quote me as so many different ones are quoted on this site)!
Out of curiosity can everyone who has signed up tell me how much they have paid as we may be in for a bit of a surprise.
Cheers all!

 

[bcharalambous]

Hi everyone - just out of interest can anyone on the trade 4 trade skills course tell me how long they had to wait for the call after requesting information?? put a request in for some information 2 weeks ago and heard nothing back - phoned them again and some lady told me that there was nothing more they could do! all i want is information about the cost and what qualification you actually get after you finish... anyone got any ideas??

 

[kes]

hi i was told you would be away for two weeks monday to friday

 

[Rumpel4skin]

They took a few weeks to get back to me - out of the blue phone call.
For £5570, you get what they call distance learning. Studying and all the books/dvd to do at home, submit your TMA`s and then book for when you feel your ready to do the practical of that TMA.

7hrs study per week = NVQ level 2 in 2yrs or
14hrs study per week = NVQ level 2 in 1yr is what I was told, as long as you pass etc.

For the £5570, you will get NVQ level 2 & 3, solar heating, part p and something else from what I can remember.

They took a few weeks to get back to me - out of the blue phone call.
For £5570, you get what they call distance learning. Studying and all the books/dvd to do at home, submit your TMA`s and then book for when you feel your ready to do the practical of that TMA.

7hrs study per week = NVQ level 2 in 2yrs or
14hrs study per week = NVQ level 2 in 1yr is what I was told, as long as you pass etc.

For the £5570, you will get NVQ level 2 & 3, solar heating, part p and something else from what I can remember.

hi i was told you would be away for two weeks monday to friday

That is the final 2 weeks to get your full qualification. You spend it in a house and have to do everything - central heating install, solar panels, boiler, bathroom etc

 

[bcharalambous]

They took a few weeks to get back to me - out of the blue phone call.
For £5570, you get what they call distance learning. Studying and all the books/dvd to do at home, submit your TMA`s and then book for when you feel your ready to do the practical of that TMA.

7hrs study per week = NVQ level 2 in 2yrs or
14hrs study per week = NVQ level 2 in 1yr is what I was told, as long as you pass etc.

For the £5570, you will get NVQ level 2 & 3, solar heating, part p and something else from what I can remember.


hi, did you do the course in the end?? cheers.

 

[Rumpel4skin]

It was recently someone came round.
Some thing`s just didn`t add up right, like the interest free loan.

I was very dubious when they said a place had become available and I had to let them know within a few days. The practical sessons run all the time on a bookable scheme.

Also, some of the modules in level 2, that I think are un-necessary. ie: web site, business banking, book keeping, defining sales, topics for expansion to name a few.

Don`t get me wrong, it`d look great on paper after getting qualified, but it`s not relevant for me.