There are many options for you to take if one day you wake up and decide that you want to be a plumber. There are courses at colleges, courses with private providers, courses on line, distance learning options - a huge variety out there. Some training options are good; some are great and some not so great. Regardless of this, most courses should eventually provide you with a level 2 Plumbing qualification; it is always best however to ensure that your certification is accredited by a recognised certificating body, usually City & Guilds or EAL or even Bpec.

So, once you achieve the qualification, what can you do? Domestic plumbing is usually the first port of call and you can earn well from this if you are a good plumber. Moving on from this, there is always the option for site work however; the sticking point can be that NVQs are required in order to get the right plumbing CSCS card to get on to a site. NVQs require you to be assessed in a real working environment.

Whilst most people leave Able Skills with their plumbing qualification and manage to secure work straight away, that isn’t the case for everyone. Those that do inevitably enlist with us to be assessed on their work to achieve NVQ level 2. We have access to an amazing, supportive Assessor who liaises well with all of his candidates and supports them through the process to achieve the NVQ in the smoothest manner possible.

Not everyone finds it that easy to get the right work and so to combat this and to help candidates achieve their NVQ, Able Skills are offering guaranteed placements to achieve the requirements of the NVQ. These placements will be under the watchful eye of our Assessors to ensure that all plumbing work is undertaken to the correct standards.

With a Plumbing NVQ achieved, the doors start to open that bit wider. You will be eligible to apply for a JIB PMES card, accepted on all sites. There is so much by way of development going on in the UK at this current time that you shouldn’t have any problems securing work. Equally, if you are looking to be employed by a plumbing company, the likelihood is that they will require you to hold an NVQ as this acts as a declaration of competence.

So if you want to swap the suit for a pair of overalls and get started in a hands-on and (mostly) fun job then maybe Able Skills is the place to start?

If you think this line of work is just what you are looking for or maybe it’s something you’ve been thinking about, why not pop along and see us. We will give you a tour of our 3 plumbing workshops – gas centres too. You can get a good understanding of how the course runs; see what theory you will learn and what practical skills you will achieve. We are open 7 days every week and we welcome visitors every day – no appointment – just come along, look around and even have a cup of tea – most plumbers spend a lot of time drinking tea…..