Recently, secretary of state for education, Michael Gove announced that an independent review of vocational education for 14 to 19-year-olds is to be carried out. It had been suggested that when it comes to Higher Education training, there needs to be a balance in vocational courses between teaching practical skills and building job competencies.In other words, skills training should balance theory knowledge with practical application. In today's working environment, the emergence of new technology impacts every industry and it is becoming increasingly important that trades personnel should ensure their knowledge is updated to adapt their learning, in order to know how to solve new and broader practical tasks.We are all aware of the development of green energy and their applications in both the electrical and plumbing industries. Today's plumber - or electrician - must be able to understand the theory behind renewable energy in order to correctly specify for installation of appliances.It is vital that learning to be plumber requires undertaking a serious career development through at least two levels of knowledge learning and practical skill training to qualify, in order to be considered a competent plumber. Established, industry recognised skills training courses such as City and Guilds, provide a comprehensive schedule of subject understanding and implementation. The first step to being a plumber begins with the NVQ 6129 level 2 course, designed to introduce the student to all the fundamental theory learning and practical instruction required before being eligible to progress further.The good news is,?