Now here’s the thing – when you really do need to get a close look at what’s being shown, and you may have to ask to see an action repeated just to make sure, then the next best thing to being in the workshop with an instructor is having a DVD. Check the training instructions in your course manual alongside with what’s being demonstrated and you will instantly ‘see’ – and remember the particular set of knowledge being taught.

AbleSkills have devised a set of DVDs to cover individual courses. They are all filmed in the AbleSkills Centre, in the same work areas where you would be undertaking your practical training with a step-by-step procedure on the same set of tasks you will carry out, by your own qualified instructors.
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All DVDs come with Free Postage & Packaging and is a really great way to actually see real inside knowledge in action with those helpful tips from the professionals!

Of course, you can’t beat actual hands on training – so if you like what you see and would like to learn more about how to enrol on one of our courses, then please let us know. You can take a look now at our plumbing DVD.

And if pausing and rewinding at home is not enough, just in case you need a quick reminder whilst actually doing your practical training, you can take a look on a newly installed plasma screen at the AbleSkills centre!

It can be a minefield out there – you have made up your mind, you are ready to make the career change and get into the construction industry say, as an electrical installer, plumber, plasterer or kitchen fitter – but how do you choose the right course for you? Will you learn everything that is required? Is the training approved, up-to-date? Where can I go to find out some of the answers?

AbleSkills has set up an unique DIY advice Forum where you can check out the questions and answers posted by people in the same situation as yourself! Here you will find all sorts of bits of valuable information about courses, credentials and anecdotes which will help you to make your mind up.

You can use it to ask what you need to specifically know, chat with others about what what they have found out, from finding a special tiling tool, changing a tricky shower head, getting Building Regulations info, a trade supplier of hard-to find-parts.

Probably most important of all at this stage, a dedicated section for exchanging information on training courses, honest, unbiased opinions and helpful advice.

Joining the forum means you get a chance to becomer part of a construction skills based network and knowledge exchange with whom you can learn and discover with and even let them know about what you’re up to – advertise yourself now and for the future.

Get involved – take advantage and become part of the AbleSkills resource…it will help you to understand the industry and gives you an advantage in your formal training.

In the current economic times, it makes sense to wait for the upturn in the housing market, hold on to your hard –earned savings and and concentrate on doing those repairs, redecorating or even attempting some of the more complicated jobs yourself!

If you have also been thinking of going into the industry for the first time, there’s only one way to find out – by finding out what it involves !  You need to remind yourself of a few things first.

Firstly, these are physical jobs. You will have to be prepared to get your hands dirty, learn to use many tools and equipment in a safe and proper fashion.  You will need a head for heights, be willing to fit into small, cramped spaces when required, and you will need to be a quick learner and ultimately a problem solver. Developing a good style of customer communication skills is a real must when, for example, explaining how a new boiler operates to a customer.

You may already be a bit of a handyman, or woman, and have some experience of fixing small repairs around the house, like replacing a leaky washer or putting up the odd shelf, changing a fuse, re-tiling a wall of the bathroom.

If you thought at the time that you enjoyed getting ‘hands -on’ and gained a lot of satisfaction from doing them, then you are well on your way! Standing back and taking pride in knowing you have completed a ‘good job’ is an important part of being in the construction industry. AbleSkills provides a  number of short handyman courses just for this very requirement.

Or you may just want to get a bit more knowledge and ‘know how’ to undertake the more technically complicated jobs around your house, say, installing kitchen units, tiling an entire bathroom or building a brick wall.

Those of you who have previous working experience in another construction trade skill, then there’s never been a better time to add another key technical ability to your skill set. Training to be able to carry out electrical or plumbing jobs will prove to be a very wise decision in the longer term. A number of courses are available, aimed at different levels of experience and may be taken in a set period of time.

Or put it the other way around … when an instructor takes a real interest in making sure you are taking in everything he is saying or showing you, it really helps to boost confidence in your own abilities and you will definitely feel you are getting somewhere!

The biggest obstacle to taking a training course is remembering bad experiences from your school days : a teacher’s sarcastic comments and heavy red lines in your work book may have been bad enough. Worse was being ignored or overlooked in the classroom when you were actually interested in a subject but your subject teacher seemed to be more concerned with speeding through the lesson with the those sitting right in the front of the class!

Adult learning couldn’t be more different! Much of course will depend on with which training centre you select and a good way to try and discover beforehand, the level of competency and if they look friendly and approachable, is to check the training centre’s website to see if there is a full list of teaching staff with individual photographs, background and approved qualifications.

Able Skills go to great lengths to provide an exceptionally  high quality of teaching for their students. The training centre has worked hard to recruit Instructors who have the required qualifications in both teaching and Construction, and who have all been particularly selected for their interpersonal skills. The training workshops are conducted in a very relaxed and upbeat atmosphere, which is, as we all know, great for producing the best results!

All of our Instructors – who  are City & Guilds trained, CAA approved, A1 Assessors and VI Internal Verifiers in their own right – are approachable, friendly, helpful and informative.  The emphasis is always placed on ensuring that everyone who attends, feels comfortable and at ease.

The AbleSkills Centre itself is affiliated with several Accrediting bodies such as City &Guilds, CAA, NICEIC, EAL, IPHE and Corgi,  and also ISO 9001 approved.

You may already know about the the AbleSkills Level 2 Technical Certificate in Distance Learning for Plumbing Theory. It is a great way to learn because it gives you the freedom to study and learn the basic theory at your own time and pace.

However, we hear you say, finding the space and the time may not be that easy! Especially after a long day at work, you can return to a house where there is a boisterous 7 year old practising his ski moves on the Wii or teenagers strutting their Rock Band II stuff through the 36 inch plasma with the volume cranked up to eleven! Not to mention the youngest howling because they’ve just walked headfirst into the door, tales of woe about the car not starting or problems with the neighbours, and unexpected visitors dropping in for a brew!

Either way, organising a routine procedure, where you can have an hour or two of peace and quiet to focus on your studying without any distractions, is going to be the number one priority if you want to make good progress.

Everyone will find their own solution. Some will wait till late in the evening when everyone is –or should be- asleep in bed. One hour say, to concentrate on one or two important pages covering an individual section of information. If you find it works for you because you do remember what you have read the next morning, then it’s obviously a good schedule to keep up.

You may decide to wake up really early and study for an hour before breakfast. Sometimes, this will wake others in the house who will wander in to find out what’s going on and disturb you. You might also be tempted to munch on a piece of toast and not really concentrate because you are dropping crumbs! You might decide to give in to early breakfast pangs and quit after reading two or three lines. Yep – it’s a real test of discipline.

If you can, then also setting aside some regular time at the weekend will help – you can use this period to check if you have rememembered what you have learnt from the previous week. There is a Self Assessment section at the back of each of the training manual units, which is designed to help test your memory.

Another useful way is to announce to the household that you are studying at a set time on a particular day in a separate part of the house – and remind everyone when you start each time!
Thinking about organising your home study time can be a daunting prospect but once you organise a regular routine, then it will become a habit that you will not want to break.

Able Skills Gas Centre is becoming increasingly busy and the demand for new entrant training is phenomenal. The training aspect of the scheme we have in place (Intermediate Gas Certificate) is brilliantly designed and executed by our expert Gas Instructors to the point that our students all want to give something back.
As each Able Skills students reaches their goal of CORGI registration, Able Skills can add another name to our Database of CORGI registered Engineers. This in turn gives us more scope to assist any new entrant trainee as we become in a position to refer them to any one of our ex-student Engineers for help and guidance in evidence gathering and portfolio building.

Able Skills Gas Centre is now under the watchful eye of ConstructionSkills/ CITB for the purpose of ACS training and assessment.

The change allows new entrant candidates to work towards obtaining the Intermediate Gas Certificate before moving forward to achieve CCN1 Core Gas Safety and assessments for Appliances.

Our Gas Centre met with approval from CITB with little alteration required which enabled us to continue gas training courses with no disruption to existing students.

All previous Able Skills Gas students who are out in the industry at present, completing their ‘on the job’ training and gathering portfolio evidence will return to a CITB approved Able Skills Gas Centre to complete their journey on the path to full Gas Engineer status.

Able Skills has expanded again based on the success of our current Plumbing programmes and is set to open a new Plumbing Training Centre by the summer of 2009.

The new Plumbing Centre will be better equipped to prepare modern day Plumbers for the industry with entirely new equipment in place, spacious training and assessment areas and more new staff!

Able Skills has successfully recruited an additional 2 Instructors for the new Plumbing Centre. Both guys have Private Training Centre backgrounds and are fully capable of professionally delivering the City & Guilds 6129 courses in the time scales set by Able Skills.

Our aim as a fast track training centre has always been to deliver value for money training using only the best equipment and producing only the best industry ready Plumbers and with our new Training Centre and staff, we can continue to do just that.

The new Centre is perfectly situated next to our Gas centre which gives all Plumbing students an insight into Gas and the prospect of progressing further with additional Gas or Plumbing courses

Able skills now offer all of our short painting & decorating courses and wallpapering courses over weekends. We have a new painting & decorating instructor, Martin. Martin has achieved all his teaching qualifications and has been working within the industry for many years, because of martins qualifications it enables us to deliver all of our city & guilds qualification painting & decorating programmes 7 days a week. We have recently refurbished our painting & decorating area to take on more students and to offer a lot more painting & decorating programmes.

All our tiling courses are now available at weekends, enabling us to deliver every programme that we offer 7 days a week. Now that we deliver our courses at weekends it enables those with work commitments to come and train. We have also refurbished our kitchen and bathroom areas giving them a fresh look. Able Skills has invested in getting a new Rubi wet tile cutter. Our NVQ tiling assessors are very busy at the moment profiling experienced tillers enabling them to obtain their NVQs quicker. Our tiling centre mirrors real life situations.