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Jay

Hello. I'm currently halfway, just short of, through a ND for I.T practitioners in Software Development at college, I chose it as I have a passion for games *which 16 almost 17 year old does lad does?* and since I was younger have wanted to design them or work in I.T. I'm now finding that rather than an option as a career, programming would be more of a hobby of mine, growing up my family have all had what you'd call manual labour jobs maybe? I'm bad at categorising things. I've helped them do jobs around their houses over the last few years and have found that I enjoy doing it and after much thought decided that I would enjoy becomming a plumber. Now i'm not posting this so some people can have a rant at me over this forum topic, i'm posted it for advice/help and to let you know some information about me to help you help me, if that makes sense.

Last week I found an advert for the BTSC company in Eccles, Manchester. So I sent off an application on the website on tuesday, I received a phone call from one of the recruitment people the following day that confirmed my details and we had a short "interview" over the phone where I was asked why I wanted to go into plumbing and such, at the end I was told that he'd like to invite me to the area for a more practical interview where i'd be shown the site and told about the course.

My interview was set for today, so I set off and got there a little early so sat down and waited. The man came in and i following him off where he told me about the company and what its done so far at the site located in the south of the UK, after this I was shown the bay areas where the modules are taught in their practical aspects. I was then shown the teaching rooms, exam rooms etc and told that it was all new state of the art etc a few times throughout the hour I spent there. I was then guided back to his office where he took out a brochure and opened it on the page for the module guide, which has better description of the seperate modules than the website had. After reading this, I was also told that they had 100% placement into jobs record at their other site so far and after doing modules 1-8 I would be qualified enough to work as a Bathroom Fitter and told that alone would be something like £500 per bathroom fitting, now as a side note i don't care about the money gained from working as a plumber or any other job for that matter so please don't rant about that either, I want to work to help people and enjoy myself while doing it. I'd be found a job at the end of the modules as carrying on the course, if I wished, needed assessment in the workplace.

So after all the guiding and information giving I was asked do I have any questions. So having just been told the fee before starting was a massive £4850 plus £130 for books and £20 per exam, I was a little daunted to say the least, i'm 16 so not got money putting it lightly, to be able to join the course i'd have to take out a student loan *if possible* to pay for getting onto the course, and if what he said was true and I did get a job at the end of the 8 modules etc then i'd be able to pay it back slowly. So after asking is it paid in one installment or over time I was promtly told one installment then followed by but i'm sure there are ways of paying it without interest, now i'm not amazingly smart but i'm not dumb neither and thats one messed up sentence. I then asked about receiving EMA or something similar for attending, as atm I gain EMA for attending my college course which helps me travel to it and back aswell as pay for any books I need to research into my projects, I was told that he has no idea and has never heard of such a thing so i'd have to check the website and ask the EMA company/people.

After this he said i'd rather not go into the money aspects of the training right now as I want to choose the applicants based on their suitability for the course and not their money status, yet he also said that if I was offered a place that there would be no point accepting it if I cannot afford travel/payments. Which is stupid to me if he won't discuss paying for the course till after i've done the aptitude test and we meet a second time. So a little disgruntled I said that there were no other questions and then was taken to take the aptitude test where he shook my hand said good luck and left me to it. Now I must say that the aptitude test did cover what was said in the advert;
Basic use and understanding of the English Language.
Pactical person. *the questions were mostly knowledge or at least IMHO*
Think you can do the course.

One question was which of these is the phillips screwdriver? Below was displayed a picture of three screwdrivers, two flatheads and one phillips in the centre. Most of the questions were basic logic and knowledge. I don't want to sound up myself saying this but thats how it came across to me personally, the test as such I think is used to make sure that the person can understand english well and use math aswell as basic logic. I was then told that the man would phone me on monday to let me know, and IMO I have easily passed the test, there should be none of the questions that I answered wrong, at the very most two.

I now just must wait till monday and see how everything goes, personally the interview as such was more of a "Look at the site, tell us why you want to be a plumber" than anything, I was asked had I done any work and he added I don't expect much with you being 16. Thinking about it though, that question was pointless, I mean he only used my answers to say that "So you know you can't learn anything fast, it takes time and effort which is where we put dedication and work into the course" or anything similar to say how good the course is.

Now, i've heard alot of mixed things about the BTSC course for plumbing, i've spent the last few hours browsing the forums here, visiting the blog links that people have posted and such. Some people say its a huge waste of money and pointless, others say its worth it. My predicament here now is this....

If I do decide to do the course and pay the £5000+ fees then I ABSOLUTELY NEED it to work out and get a job at the end *the 8-10 months quoted on average to do the 8 modules and get the qualification to work as a bathroom fitter where i'd be found a job* where i'm earning money, as the fees will have to be paid for finding a loan for myself and then asking my parents to help pay towards it, if it falls through not only will I have a loan to pay for once I do start earning enough money but I don't want to be wasting my parents money even if its only £10.

Neither do I want to miss out though if this could lead me to starting a job/career whichever you wish to classify it as that could work out great for me.

So my question is, without an answer along the lines of "Theres no shortages of plumbers bugger off." or "Don't bother, waste of time and money." I'd like an answer with a reason if possible please, as it's a massive decision for me to make and would like to be 100% sure of it. If you wish for any more information before posting an answer please post under this thread with your request of information and i'll post back asap, definitely before monday as thats when i'm due my phonecall.

Thank you for any help in advance, even though i'll thank you again. It is greatly appreciated!

Jay.
 
due to your age you would be better off going to your local collage as an apprentice the course would take about 3 years. but you would need to find a plumber to take you on this way you will get better qualifications than courses offer and be earning money at the same time, the courses are misleading for a bathroom fitting (like for like is around £250 to £300 this includes parts, tax, insurance, ECT) the only ones making money on these courses are the instructors (around £45k a year) Q..... if your only 16 and take the course and it takes 8 months then how are you going to transport your tools? if you get a placement then you will need to work with someone that can drive so you would be like an apprentice and are more likely to be paid as one, ... So don't pay for short cuts get on an apprenticeship :D
 
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