IanB

Hi all

I have just completed the 13 day Domestic Installer course at TradeSkills4U and here is a writeup.

Some background: My day job is in IT and the business side of computers (i.e. not programming etc.). I am doing these courses for interest and I would also like to do some work around my house. Who knows, it may even grow from there but currently IT remains my main 5 days a week bread and butter. I am competent with normal wiring etc. (did a year as a mate a long time ago) but had no testing experience.

I chose TradeSkills4U mainly because of location (near my parents) and price. I signed up for the 13 day block which was 5 days foundation, 5 days Part P and 3 days 17th. I chose to do these consecutively. On arrival at the centre the first thing you notice is the almost complete lack of parking. Get in early enough and you get a space but after 8:30 or so everyone struggles. This varies with the number of courses on at one time as is to be expected. Signing in is very easy and then it is off to your classroom to meet your tutor and start. There were 13 in our foundation group with a wide range of experience and abilities. There was just as wide a range of reasons for doing the course too with some wanting to become apprentices through to those wanting to renovate houses. There were none who would admit to having seen adverts for job shortages and high wages and jumped in at the deep end.

Week 1 - Foundation
The course was essentially divided into two days building circuits and three days testing. Day 1 was theory on ring final circuits including spurs etc. and then building them. Day two was theory on lighting, one way, two way and intermediate switching and again building them. This was fun and circuits were proven by simply switching them on and seeing what happened. No student hands were near them at that time. There were some odd results but no bangs. At no point did we touch live circuits and the mains were safely padlocked off. Testing was done by the tutor.

The final 3 days were testing and the theory that goes with it. Some there had scrambled brains at the end of each day but the tutor did a grand job of making sure everyone had grasped it (or at least thought they had). This is where less people in the group would have been a big improvement for those there. I was the only one there to have brought a tester with me and I used it to get to know it which was very helpful. We all learnt a lot in this stage of the course.

Summary of week 1:
Pros: We learnt a lot in a reasonable amount of detail. Hands on testing was great and the tutorage very helpful.
Cons: Coffee was awful, room way too hot and no ventilation. Too many on the course not allowing the slowest to keep up. You couldn’t quite miss the fact that the tutor didn’t like the course and what some students expected from it. For others e.g. wannabe apprentices though no such problems. This did not affect the standard of teaching.
Missing bits: Some sort of practical exercise with known problems to diagnose.
This course is well worth doing if you have no testing experience.

Week 2 – Part P
This was classroom based for the first two and a half days and then there was a 1 and a bit day assessed testing practical. The last day consisted of a revision section and off to the exam.
The lecturing was excellent with all salient points covered. Basically listen and absorb everything said and you would be ok. The testing was next with about half the class out of their depth at this point. Those doing the two day foundation for example just did not have the preparation necessary. The lecturer gave them a half hour top up and I think most completed this section after that.
The revision bit was excellent and a very worthwhile part of the course. We had what seems to be the average number (2 to 4) of people who did not pass. They all said they were coming back to retake though. There were 14 on this course.

The final 3 days – 17th edition.
This was more of the same classroom work with the tutor going through the red book pointing out all the important bits at least from an exam point of view. We were left to mark up our own red books with highlighters and labels or whatever took your fancy. It was fast and furious but ok at the end of the day. When I left no-one had failed but I did not see everyone. I think there were 16 on this course but numbers were not an issue here.

So, what did I think of it all. Well, the courses did exactly what they promised and for me at least delivered. I was more aware of what I did not know at the end of it all which was great but I am also more confident with what I do know. I have done several small jobs now and am enjoying myself a lot. I have even been to a short circuit and near fire and corrected the problem safely. This was caused by a DIY bodge the likes of which I have never seen before – amazing and just goes to show this Part P stuff is not a complete pain in the butt. Finally I would have liked to see more testing on the course but these are short courses and very intense at that. I am also happy with the value for money aspect and hope to do some more e.g. 2391 etc. in the future. I suspect better coffee is probably and sadly a pipe dream.