Plumbing Courses UK

Hands On Practical Plumbing and Heating Short Courses



Our Plumber Training School is based in Blandford forum Dorset

Head Office - Tel: 01258 489775 E-mail: plumbskill@btconnect.com

How To Become a Plumber?

The Traditional Approach

• Foundation Modern Apprenticeship - get an apprenticeship with a plumbing company,
  go to college one day per week for 2 or 3 years and gain the NVQ Level 2 certificate.
  Unfortunately however it is a fact that over 50% of college starters drop out of the course
  well before the end due to a lack of interest and other reasons leaving spaces that
  cannot be refilled.
• Advanced Modern Apprenticeship - a further 12 to 18 months work attending college
  one day per week to gain NVQ Level 3 certificate.
  

Drawbacks :

Mature students would find it very difficult to find a company to take them on as an apprentice

• Low pay for the next 3 to 4 years
• A long drawn out process
• There are long waiting lists to get places on college courses.

In the Dorset area, for example, the college waiting list is currently 2 years.

Our Approach

To help you train as a plumber we offer intensive hands on practical plumbing courses covering every aspect of plumbing. By training as a plumber you could be working within days of completing your course. In fact the majority of our students have work on the books even before they have completed the plumbing course.

Please note - although there are no rules that state you need NVQ's to work as a plumber we recommend that you should consider it.

How do I become a plumber with a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) ?

The industry realise the difficulty for mature students to learn plumbing so they have come up with a scheme called accredited prior learning (APL).

Home | ToolKit | FAQs |Plumbing Courses - Syllabus | Student Feedback
Plumbing Courses - Fees | Plumbing Courses - How To Apply | Accommodation | To Find Us

This is how it works:

Step 1 - Attend the PlumbSkill Centre to learn all the practical plumbing skills.

Step 2 - Start work.

We recommend you start off with smaller jobs to gain confidence. Start by working for family and friends. Place adverts in shop windows and local papers, consider a leaflet drop which is proving very successful at the moment. You may start off by working just evenings and weekends. You could even try to work with a local plumber who may need assistance due to his workload. This way you have a 'safety net' of working with someone who is vastly experienced which will quickly help to grow your confidence.

Step 3 - Study at Home for your NVQ plumbing theory course through distance learning.

Please see notes below regarding Home Study.

Step 4 - Complete a Portfolio of Evidence.

Build Your NVQ Portfolio of Evidence

We provide NVQ Job Report Forms and sign off each Plumbing Task properly completed

The portfolio should include certificates and assessment reports from the PlumbSkill Centre, photographs, a short statement of any materials used and the nature of work done and testimonials from satisfied customers.

Note - It is a good idea to bring your camera along to start recording the work you have done. This will enable you to start building your Portfolio of Evidence, something you will require to get your qualifications. We provide you with NVQ Job Report Forms to help you register and record the work you carry out.

Everything you learn on the Plumbskill plumbing courses will help you achieve your NVQ Level 2 Certificate. Each practical task you perform is constructively criticised and assessed by one of the Plumbskill instructors, corrected if necessary, and then signed off as completed to the satisfaction of the Course Director. NVQ qualifications, should you decide to go that route, require the gathering of a portfolio of evidence of work that you have achieved both as a student and as a practicing plumber. Every task you complete at Plumbskill will count towards that goal and we provide NVQ Job Report Forms for you to write up and sign off each task. We also provide literature to back up the taught theory and you are encouraged to take notes and photographs of your work to add to the portfolio you will take away with you on completion.

Step 5 - Contact your local college and ask to be assessed for your full NVQ in plumbing.

Home Study

Taking into account all the points above, we do suggest that you give serious consideration to becoming qualified. Through research you will quickly realise there are various distance learning routes to take - which we will not elaborate on here. If you choose this path please be aware of possible hidden costs such as workshop and assessment fees.

We offer 2 plumbing courses:

A 2 week Practical Plumbing and Heating Course*
A 1 week Domestic Plumbing Short Course

Home | ToolKit | FAQs | Plumbing Courses - Syllabus | Student Feedback
Plumbing Courses - Fees | Plumbing Courses - How To Apply | Accommodation | To Find Us

Specialist Tiling Courses (1 or 2 week) are also offered by Plumbskill Tiling Centre situated within to The Plumbskill Centre. tiling courses can be booked to run consecutively with our course for convenience.

Contact Information

Telephone: 01258 489775
Fax: 01258 489776

Head Office Postal address:
The Plumbskill Centre Ltd,  Unit 5, Langton lodge farm, Black lane, Blandford forum, Dorset, DT11 8SJ

E-mail: plumbskill@btconnect.com