Joinery Qualifications

[JoanneV]

Hello, can anyboody out there help? All new to this!

 

OH looking to get joinery qualifications, he has experience but nothig on paper.

 

Any advice on the best route he should take to gain his qualifications? (courses etc)

 

Cheers!

 

[Guest soggy]

Hi,

I have recently completed a NVQ 2 in, not in carpentry, based mainly on past experience, the company used was smarterbuilder, they can be contacted on 01685 888 700 and there web site is www.smarter-builder.co.uk , they assess your past experience, looking at your work history any references you can get and a range of job sheets signed off by customers and management that cover the range of work required to get the NVQ 2 or 3, there is also an onsite assessment and written test on safety, and knowledge that people who have been around building for a few years should know, this took me about 6 months but was arranged by my employer who were not in a hurry.

 

I am not 100% on costs but seem to remember about £1200 being mentiond but at the time about £850 was avaiable in goverment grants to the employers who used this service.

 

hope this is some help

 

Simon

[JoanneV]

Tanks for that advice, I will look on smartbuilder website and see what information I can get there.

[Guest chillyanna]

hi joanne

i am a qualified joiner and i passed my NVQ level 2 at my local college 8 years ago.

i started on the saturday morning courses but these were stopped due to lack of people coming so we were moved onto the evening classes on tuesdays and thursdays which was better because in total we got 4 hours per week study, well more practical work and paperwork was done at home so we got more practical work done in class.

it was said the course would take most people 12 to 18 months to complete depending on how much you knew already and how quick you pick it up.

it was all real easy basic stuff in level 2.

the cost then was about £350 for the course but now the student must be working within the trade and can use jobs done at work on site to count as part of the units for the course such as fitting a kitchen or hanging doors just take photos and hand them into college. i did this for some of my course.

try to contact your local college for prices and start times and have a chat with the course leader.

 

well after all that i hope i shed some light on it for you.

all the best with finding out more

paul

[JoanneV]

Thanks alot for your advice. Looked on smartbuiler website and realised that OH can be assessed at work and gain his NVQ Level 2 through a local college within about 6 months which we are really pleased about. Would it be a good idea to do NVQ Level 3 also or is Level 2 adequate enough.

 

Also wondered about experience, i think you have to be working in your chosen trade for 12 out of the last 24 months, is that once you are qualified or would they take into account working towards NVQ and past experience? If you can help that would be great. Thanks.

[Guest chillyanna]

hi joanne

i think the experience your O/H has will be enough even though he will only just be getting the NVQ, he will have been in his trade long enough and gained enough knowledge to prove he knows what he is doing.

and as for level 2 or 3, well my level 2 was enough for me to pass the TRA. level 3 would only be better for your O/H in terms of learning more of the trade or impressing new empolyers but i dont think it would help you any more with the TRA people.

 

P.S i forgot to mention when i wrote about the australia and new zealand magazine, this magazine contains adverts of different migration companies/agents andalso removal companies which you will need one day.

 

bye for now

paul

[Guest chillyanna]

sorry i forgot to mention another thing

as i understand it our NVQ's are not worth much in adelaide, they are good enough for the TRA to prove your qualified in a trade but when you get to adelaide they are not good enough for some trades people to get a job with. plumbing being one of them,

i would suggest joanne that your O/H only do the level 2 NVQ as level 3 "could" be pointless.

but this is only my understanding, maybe one of the PIA's that are living in adelaide might be able to tell you better.

 

T T F N

paul

[JoanneV]

Hi there,

 

Really appreciate your help and advice. OH looking forward to sorting out his NVQ then we can get the ball moving with having his skills and qualifications assessed.

 

Thanks again,

 

Joanne

[JoanneV]

Hi there,

 

Took your advice and looked on Smartbuilder.co.uk and couldn't believe how quick and easy it will be for OH to get his NVQ whilst working, not having to take time off to go to college, even better his employer will pay for it!

 

Cheers

[Guest soggy]

Hi there,

 

Took your advice and looked on Smartbuilder.co.uk and couldn't believe how quick and easy it will be for OH to get his NVQ whilst working, not having to take time off to go to college, even better his employer will pay for it!

 

Cheers

 

It seems to be the best way for those with plenty of experiance but no papers, it is to do with the goverment wanting to have a fully qualified workforce in the construction industry by 2010 everyone will need a cscs card with trade details and health and saftey pass on it to work on site, its also helping lots of us to leave the country !

 

Simon