One of our former plumbing courses trainees has been kind enough to leave us a glowing review on Qype. Take a look to see what he has has to say about training with Able Skills.

Having decided in 2009 to retrain, I looked around the internet at various training centres and chose Able Skills. I turned up unannounced one day, as invited to do so on their website, and met Gary, owner of Able Skills, who showed me round the subjects I had expressed interest in gaining skills in.

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What’s more, the construction industry’s looking good too – as recent figures show the construction sector’s grown over the last three months. And things look set to get better and better as experts predict building boom after building boom.

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Skilled tradesmen and smaller firms could soon benefit from a simpler and easier procurement and planning process, as the government has said it’ll simplify planning and some organisations have lobbied local and national government to remove contract bundling from the procurement process.

What’s more, new figures show the construction industry’s grown - despite the recession – so things look on the up for skilled bricklayers, plasterers, carpenters, decorators, tilers and plumbers, as well as gas and electrical engineers.

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Photography: Martin V. Morris

Skilled tradesmen could soon be in high demand as the government and the private sector have pledged to invest billions in construction, in a move that will create new jobs for bricklayers, plasterers, carpenters, decorators, tilers and plumbers, as well as gas and electrical engineers.

And London-based contractors are especially set to benefit, as experts predict the capital will enjoy a decade-long boom in both residential and student builds.

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A new Ballymore project in London may interest tradesmen who are seeking employment after completing plumbing courses.

Around two thousands homes, a hotel and 600,000 sq feet of office space will be built if The Embassy Gardens development receives planning permission from the relevant authorities.

Tradesmen with the appropriate plumbing qualifications may be required to start work as early as next year if the Ballymore scheme in the borough of Wandsworth receives the green light.

Sir Terry Farrell, design advisor to London Mayor Boris Johnson, told the Evening Standard that the Nine Elms area will offer a natural line of defence for the American Embassy, which is due to relocate to the neighbourhood.

He told the newspaper: “The aim is to turn it to one’s benefit by making a defensive area around the embassy take the form of landscape.”

At the moment, the American Embassy is located in Grosvenor Square, but this will move to the Kieran Timberlake-designed building by 2017.

Qualified tradesmen who have completed plumbing courses may be able to find work in North Yorkshire once a new construction project commences.

Housing solutions specialists Lovell have announced that they will join forces with Maple Grove Developments and Craven District Council to build over 200 homes in the Skipton area.

The £40 million housing and retail initiative will require tradesmen who have gain City & Guilds qualifications after completing the appropriate plumbing courses and electrical courses.

Paul Smith, chief executive of Lovell’s parent company Morgan Sindall, said that the firm will embark on more house building projects as the construction industry attempts to recover from the global recession.

He said: “Lovell continues to make progress developing its market-leading position in the affordable housing arena with this latest deal, one of a number we have already secured this year.”

Lovell recently revealed that it will be building 30 homes for elderly people who require care after signing a £3 million affordable housing scheme in Norfolk.

Out with the old and in with the new……. 6189 QCF Plumbing Courses arrive at Able Skills

Able Skills has been delivering qualification Plumbing courses (C&G 6129) on a fast-track basis for more than 6 years now, the same tried and tested formula, producing quality Plumbers who are industry ready. We have always taken pride in delivering more than City & Guilds require ensuring that all aspects of plumbing, both practical and theory, are delivered in depth so that when our students have finished their Plumbing training, they have the skills, knowledge and confidence to take on any plumbing task.

We have been fortunate in that we have always had a full class of 10 students start at each intake of a Plumbing course and in the majority, the same 10 have finished in the allocated 8 weeks and have been very happy with the training that they have received.

In 2010 we were introduced to the idea of the QCF, a new framework which would enable individuals to transfer credits from one subject to another at a later stage, saving them repeating certain aspects of a qualification, ultimately saving them time and money.

For Plumbing, the QCF 6189 has introduced the mandatory aspect of site assessments in order to achieve the qualification in its entirety; previously individuals completing the C&G 6129 have been able to work without the NVQ aspect of the award, receiving certification for their 6129 technical certificate.

Able Skills came to terms quite quickly with the new award and adapted our training centres to cater for the changes and then low and behold, just before the changes were due to take effect, the decision was made to extend the C&G 6129 until July 2012.

The temptation for us was to revert back to the tried and tested Plumbing qualification, going with the familiar format and staying within our comfort zone but if we do this, we will only have to face the changes again in a year or so’s time so we have decided to move forward with the QCF qualification and deliver the new C&G 6189.

We feel that this Plumbing qualification is much more in keeping with what modern Plumbers need to know. There is much more training on Central Heating systems and Renewable Technologies are introduced for the first time, a route that most Plumbers should be considering as the drive on shifting to alternative sources of energy is foremost in the Governments agenda and will continue to be for a good few years to come. We also feel that because this qualification forces individuals to have work based assessments undertaken, it will prove that ‘fast track’ training can work – when delivered in the correct manner and by the correct Training Provider.

Fast Track training has received some bad press and in some cases, rightfully so! There are some very bad Fast Track training centres in the UK and there are many stories relating to people being ‘ripped off’. Additionally, there are stories that make statements that you cannot learn plumbing in short spaces of time but again, this depends on the training provider you choose. All certificating bodies, in our case City & Guilds, define the amount of hours which should be allocated to study and they also define the methods in which students should be assessed.

When you undertake a City & Guilds Plumbing course at Able Skills, we provide you with the Guided Learning Hours recommended by City & Guilds and we also meet their requirements for candidate assessment which in the case of this new QCF 6189 Plumbing Course, is a series of Online exams and Practical Assessments – exactly the same as you would do at any FE College.

Work based assessments will prove that Able Skills Plumbing students are competent and that they can do the job in hand.

We are not claiming that every single person who has trained at Able Skills is working within the Plumbing industry and earning thousands of pounds but Able Skills has produced large quantities of competent Plumbers and watched them progress and run their own Plumbing and Heating Companies. We have been able to offer them additional training for Part P (Domestic Electrics), Gas and Renewable Technologies so that they can grow their own businesses and offer services beyond the realms of ‘just plumbing’.

Why Choose Able Skills Plumbing Courses?

At Able Skills we have used the same format for recruiting potential students for many years and this will never change. We do not employ a sales team of any kind; we do not cold call or visit people at their homes. We do not offer any ‘high interest’ loans and we do not take customers money up front in full. We offer every individual the opportunity to pay us a visit at any given time, Monday through to Sunday to encourage anyone who is looking to embark on a Plumbing course to just turn up at our door and see for themselves the reality and the quality of what we do here.

We have a fantastic plumbing set up which operates from industrial units in Dartford, no plush offices or glass fronted buildings, just real training from real Plumbers who have turned to teaching and who do a great job in training individuals for the real world.

We are taking a huge risk by moving forward with the new C&G 6189 Plumbing Course as our competitors inevitably will stick with what they know but time stands still for no man and Able Skills, despite providing training from ‘not so modern’ premises will move with the times and provide potential Plumbers with a ‘modern and up to date’ qualification. At the end of the day, if you are paying £4000 or so for re-training I imagine that you would prefer to know that your money is being re-invested in the Company and the facilities for the students rather than in a trendy, glass fronted building that matches the Directors Ferrari, looks great but if there’s no money left for copper pipe and tools, you can’t really get the training that you have paid for.

Able Skills track record speaks for itself: 9 years in teaching • owning all of our training centres and everything in them • 30 full time staff • superb External Verification reports from all of our Approval Bodies • and most importantly of all, hundreds of past students returning intermittently to renew qualifications when required or to add other skills to their portfolios of services –
If we weren’t getting it right, people wouldn’t keep coming back!

Pay us a visit at Unit K5, Riverside Industrial Estate, Dartford, Kent, DA1 5BS

Sometimes all it takes to open a door and step into a new world is by simply reading a few intriguing words or seeing something that fires the imagination. Sci fi sounding phrases like solar courses and photovoltaic systems can act as triggers to want to discover more. A new publication from the UK Copper Board, which introduces the different types of solar collectors (flat-plate and vacuum tube) and the layout of solar thermal systems may be just such a catalyst!

The subject of renewable energy is of course, of great global concern as the debate over climate change, reducing carbon emission and sustainable energy sources is now centre stage in how we provide and use heat and light in our homes and workplaces.

Many experienced electricians and plumbers will also now be looking to find out more and expand their skillsets, as well as entry level candidates to the growing energy installation and sustainability industry. Daily, new build developments and retrofit projects highlight the importance of incorporating key renewable energy systems and the corresponding demand for trained and qualified installers to carry out the vital task.

At AbleSkills, an invaluable renewable energy awareness course can provide great examples of interest catalysts! The range of key topics covered acts as a fascinating introduction to renewable energy courses available from solar PV courses and ground source heat pump courses, to biomass courses and rainwater harvesting courses.

The new Copper Board publication, available in print and online, is yet another example which can also make for useful first reading about solar thermal systems for those candidates interested in finding out about the kind of knowledge you will need to learn on solar courses.

As with candidates taking City & Guilds Plumbing Courses, where the copper tube used is the same specification for many other pipework applications, solar course students first learn that copper is the ideal pipework material for solar thermal systems as it is perfectly capable of withstanding the high operating fluid temperatures, which often exceed 2000C. Consequently, jointing has to be carried out by capillary brazing or by using flame-free solar press fittings, specifically designed for high temperature operations.

Installation of undertile heating has risen in recent years to around 5 per cent of the total UK heating market. Energy consumption is between 15 – 40 per cent less than traditional heating systems, and it’s not surprising that with both the current economy forcing up heating costs and the long term goal of reaching the UK’s emission reduction targets, that this form of heating is on the increase.

Consequently, there has also been a significant rise in the the requirement for competent, experienced installers who have trained and qualified on key underfloor heating courses, tiling courses and renewable energy courses. The ability to correctly design and install a properly functioning underfloor heating system is crucially dependent on possessing the key knowledge and skills to carry out vital loop configuration and balancing, pipe size, pitch and depth, calculated water temperature and required flow rate values.

At AbleSkills Renewable Technologies centre, a 2 day underfloor heating installer course, which has been developed by BPEC in association with the Under-floor Heating Manufacturers Association (UFHMA) and recognised by IDHEE (Institute of Domestic Heating and Environmental Engineers) can be undertaken. In addition, the AbleSkills tiling centre offers a carefully coordinated tiling course curriculum of specific skill units, from a 5 day introductory tiling course to professional NVQ tiling courses of varying duration.

For the householder, the two most important rooms in their home first thing in the morning are the bathroom and kitchen. With underfloor heating on timers, these two areas only can be entirely heated, where wall space for radiators is traditionally limited. Underfloor heating is particularly efficient in hallways where previously heat was lost at the opposite end of the heat source due to the ingress of cold air. And of course, tiling is the ideal floor covering for all of the above areas.

Increasingly, underfloor heating systems are also being installed beneath slip-resistant and frost resistant tiles in exterior areas of commercial premises, and under patios in residential properties.

Undertile heating is more energy efficient because the heat is spread evenly across a defined space and extremely quick and easy to install. Underfloor heating is particularly suited to being installed with tiled floors at the same time as tiles are being laid, as tiles are excellent at storing and conducting heat, and only add a few millimetres to floor height.

Whereas 20-30 years ago, underfloor heating was likely to be installed in poorly insulated buildings, usually resulting in long pre-heat times and slow response, as energy consumption reduced by an average of at least 50 per cent and the use of improved insulation standards became more widespread, today, heating systems do not expend as much power to overcome standing heat losses and a greater proportion of the available power is used to actually increase the space temperature.

Modern well insulated buildings do not any longer change dramatically in temperature with changes in the external climate. Underfloor heating is clean, creating low velocity air convection and distributing heat evenly across an entire floor area of a property, eliminating unwanted hot and cold spots.

By being able to steadily reduce the operating water temperatures of underfloor heating systems and, thereby, the floor/tile surface temperatures, warm water underfloor heating is now considered both a cost and energy efficient heating system of choice for today’s living spaces.

An initiative that could inject a significant boost to future employment prospects for construction trade skill students is to be announced at the launch of National Apprenticeship Week this week by Vince Cable, the coalition government business secretary, who plans to create an extra 100,000 apprenticeships by increasing annual funding for vocational training by an extra £222m a year to £1.4bn.

According to a report by City & Guilds, one of the UK’s largest vocational training providers – especially of prime building trade knowledge and skills qualifications in NVQ electrical courses,  plumbing courses and tiling courses – while over half of businesses who already recruit apprentices believe they offer greater value than hiring university graduates, an impressive 90 per cent of company employers see the vocational training schemes as being key to the success of their businesses in the coming two years.

There has been a greater drive in recent months to promote apprenticeships and vocational training schemes which will address skills shortages in several UK industry sectors. The coalition’s spending review last year earmarked £250m a year in extra funding to create another 75,000 apprenticeships from 2014, and a bill was recently introduced in parliament to ensure that companies winning large public procurement contracts commit to providing apprenticeship places.

In support of the work of the National Apprenticeship Service and coinciding with this week’s funding increase announcement, City & Guilds have also just launched ‘Million Extra’. Their stated mission under the current, challenging economic climate, is to collaborate with training centres, employers, industry bodies and Government agencies to help ensure one million people get the opportunity to develop their potential to grow by starting an Apprenticeship by Summer 2013.

A key route to apprenticeship is of course, via a recognised vocational qualification as a solid springboard to career development and gaining vital experience in the real working world. It also forms a necessary part of obtaining verification at higher levels of knowledge and skills attainment in an ongoing learning process.

AbleSkills, as a firmly established, and independently funded, approved and accredited City & Guilds training centre, serving London, the South East, Home Counties and further afield, provides a comprehensive range of construction trade skills learning to NVQ level 2 and 3, in a carefully coordinated curriculum of selected knowledge units to mandatory industry standards.