NVQ full time 6 week course - Seeking Advice

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At the end of the day there won't be any plasterers left if you have to lay out 2500 just to get on site
 
Fatarm said:
that's a chunk of cash mate!! But if you need it to get into oz, an that's what your goal is,then your kinda held by the balls. As spunks has said if you could get in with a spread would be ideal. As you have said you won't be a plasterer in 6 weeks,but its a platform to build from all be it an expensive one! For that kind of layout I'd be wantin a guaranteed job to gain experience at the end of it.good luck mate, you sound determined to see it thru:RpS_thumbup:
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"Determined I am" Fatarm (in the voice of Obi Wan Kenobi) a plasterer I shall one day be! LOL. If any of you guys are living nr Camberley and need a labourer come Feb, Please! Please! give me first refusal. All I am looking for is £50 a day for a five day week. I'll work hard, never bitch and will try my best not to disappoint. Thanks to all
 
Smokey said:
Hi all

I am about to embark on a full time six week plastering course with Gold Trowel of which provides me with the opportunity of being assessed for my NVQ L2. Could I ask if there is anyone that could offer me feed-back on Gold Trowel? Also, could I ask forum members whether it is possible to achieve the NVQ L2 within the 6 week period. Whilst I have done some labouring for a plasterer I have no current experience.

Thanks in advance for your help
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just an idea but you could ring around local plasterers in your area and ask them if you could pay them the x amount of £s you were going to spend on this course and see if they will take you on the job with them for 6 weeks.
 
Hello smokey/all

I just recently joined the forum to research speedskim/s*p*r*lex spats and came across your thread. I have been through a six week course. I left the forces 7 years ago, worked for a builder/ laboured for a plasterer for six months and wanted to get into the trade. I had saved hard while I was in the forces and could afford the course so I went for it.
I did some work for family and friends and then joined up with another plasterer in my area. As you already know the course just a good start, but you do cover the basics and I think a course can be a good starting point.

If you have the right attitude about the kind of work you want to do you will make it happen. I started small no big hits, no taking on jobs I wasnt confident I could do well. Im very particlar about my work, Im my own biggest critic.

I have been plastering for six years now and have a good reputation in my area. There is alot of stigma surrounding trade courses, for a long time I was embarassed to admit that I started by doing a course. I am not so shy about this anymore as I know my work is good quality and I feel more established. Having said that I still have a lot to learn. There are jobs I refer to other plastering contacts as they are out of my comfort zone.

Sorry Iv waffled on for ages there, I just read the thread and I have been where you are so thought I would chip in.


good luck what ever you decide to do!
 
Alreet Olia........welcome marra.....did you not do plastering as part of your resettlement for leaving the forces??
 
Hi All,

You need to do what you need to do...

I did my NVQ through my local college and it was free however, there is a couple of drawbacks with going with a time serve spread... Bad habits... I picked up a few and it took me a while to get out of them.

Gold Trowel is one of the best places to learn and they will help you and guide you... You wont be a plasterer but you will make a good labourer.... Yes you could pay a plasterer to take you on.... but how would you know that you are being taught right? Also you wont get the paperwork afterwards that you will need to give you a chance in getting into Australia...

Good luck fella times are hard and there are a lot of time served plasterers on this forum sat around on this forum without any work so you have to understand their annoyance....

Good luck

Danny
 
Thanks Olia890. I am pleased to hear that you are doing well and that the course helped you along the way. That's all I am looking for really. I have a good work ethic and took my first job at the age of 14. My folkes have worked hard for what they have and and have always encouraged me with statements such as you get what you work for" etc. I know nothing comes easy. I just want to pay my own way in the world like most decent people. Your post is real encouraging so thanks. All the very best to you and yours.
 
Hi artisan,

I got a contribution towards the course as a part of re-settlement but covered the bulk of the cost myself. I had a few quid in the bank back then with being away quite a bit.

yea smokey I think you have the same attitude that I do. I work in quite a small town rural area so I think to myself that I cant afford to leave 1 job that Im not 100% happy with. Word of mouth is everything.
 
Do you always work by yourself olia and how have you got on with externals bear in mind the **** weather we've had
 
Hi spunky, If I get a job thats more than a day or two I work with my mate who I started with, He does the same so we both mainly only do small jobs by ourselves. I dont get asked to do alot of external, occasionaly when I do get asked (if its a big job) I refer the customer to specialists in my area who I know do good work. I only take on smaller outdoor stuff basicly. This year has been a bit different for me, I have been project managing a timber frame new build for my parents to retire into, so have been hands on with most stages of that. So Iv been p*ss wet through in trenches etc. Ha Ha. It has been good to have a bit of a break from full time plastering tho.
 
impossible.....the assessment is complex ,,,u have to show that you;re able to plaster ,,,,,a lot of photos taken,interview,grill test,,,,,,,,loads of paperwork to fill,,,,,,,,,,,,head- eke ........i have bin trough.
 
Sharky if your referring to the nvq2 process then youe experience was not the same as yours. Bloke told me whathhe wanted to see . then i called him on the days i was doing whatever he needed to see. he visited three times for about an hour each time and asked me some very basic questions.

I remember i was bonding out a wall and he asked me "what r u using that derby for" after it had gone off a bit i was devil floating the wall and he asked me why i was doing that. So it was basic stuff. He then went back to the college typed it all up and sent it to me with all the pics of me he hd taken. I signed it and sent if off. then i did cscs test and rang the college. ok they said the nvq cert is in the post!

Total outlay 30 quid for cscs test and 3 hours max as that was wen osats were free. all done over ap eriod of about three weeks.
 
interview,,,,,,grill,,,,,,???

Are you sure your not getting confused with when you joined the sas before you started plastering :RpS_thumbup:
 
just before you go and spend all that money on the course,how do you know your going to like the job.may be better to go on a shorter course to see if you actually like it before you blow all that cash.

just my ten peneth
 
Hi smokey regarding your plan on gaining an nvq2 and getting off to oz I'm afraid isn't that simple. I have been courting this idea myself (fully time served, nvq2 qualified 13 yrs) how ever I am being asked to jump though hoops left right and centre! Also your nvq isn't worth s*** to them and they will want you to pass a AQFIII witch is there version of the trade qualification costing approx the same as what your going to outlay now. Just hope I've posted in time to save you wasting your money. I would recommend you do as a few of the lads on here have said, and get in at ground level and work up. Show your keen to learn and most decent spreads will show you the way. Once you've put a couple of years in do the AQFIII and get yourself out to oz! Bit of luck ill already be out there. Good luck with your decision.
Dave
 
I was reading a thread the other day saying the trade is dead at the moment and rates being cut to the bone? A lot of very experienced guys out of work or getting small amounts a week. Theres not much building going on is there so hard to see where the work is going to come from? I think the main earners at the moment are the course providers!!!
 
Smokey said:
Hi Pete,

Many tanks for you kind reply.

I have been advised by Gold Trowel that they are able to conduct on site assessments from their premises and that will also assist me build the required portfolio. The cost for the course is expensive but not having been in a position to gain an apprenticeship with a time served plasterer leaves me with no alternative other than to take the course. The only training I have ever received as a plasterers labourer is to make coffee and use a broom and this has been in despite of my effortas in being more than willing to listen and learn. As Gold Trowel are NVQ accredited, I have assumed that I could achieve the NVQ within the 6 weeks as they have claimed. Is this not correct?

I would also like to remark on some of the more negative comments from forum members. For information purposes, I am fully aware that gaining an NVQ will not magically provide me with the experience necessary to work on site, nor would I have the audacity to consider myself a plasterer. Gaining the NVQ, will as Pete has quite rightly pointed out, simply provide me with the basic skills which will hopefully give me the opportunity of working for fiends and family and also help my prospects of working with a time served professional. My dedication to wanting to learn the trade is surely reflected in the fact that I have had to save like crazy for months to attend the course. How much more committed do I have to be?
Thanks Pete for your response, its much appreciated.
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This information is wrong or dodgy, you cant be assessed or observed for an nvq in a simulated environment, i.e. college or training centre, it has to be at a place of work, im going to look into this further
 
Reganplastering said:
Hi smokey regarding your plan on gaining an nvq2 and getting off to oz I'm afraid isn't that simple. I have been courting this idea myself (fully time served, nvq2 qualified 13 yrs) how ever I am being asked to jump though hoops left right and centre! Also your nvq isn't worth s*** to them and they will want you to pass a AQFIII witch is there version of the trade qualification costing approx the same as what your going to outlay now. Just hope I've posted in time to save you wasting your money. I would recommend you do as a few of the lads on here have said, and get in at ground level and work up. Show your keen to learn and most decent spreads will show you the way. Once you've put a couple of years in do the AQFIII and get yourself out to oz! Bit of luck ill already be out there. Good luck with your decision.
Dave
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You need nvq level 3
 
CKJ said:
This information is wrong or dodgy, you cant be assessed or observed for an nvq in a simulated environment, i.e. college or training centre, it has to be at a place of work, im going to look into this further
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Why is it wrong or dodgy that you go on a 6 week NVQ course and get an NVQ? you can go to a training centre and be assessed for your NVQ through EWPA but you need over 5 years experience and this takes 1 - 2 days.
 
flynnyman said:
Why is it wrong or dodgy that you go on a 6 week NVQ course and get an NVQ? you can go to a training centre and be assessed for your NVQ through EWPA but you need over 5 years experience and this takes 1 - 2 days.
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Yes you can do the ewpar route as you said but you need to have 5 years previous experience, nvq is workplace assessment NOT simulated assessment, on the other hand you cant train someone for 6weeks then have them go through the ewpar route as they wont have 5 years previous experience which is prob what they're doing. SNEAKY that
 
CKJ said:
Yes you can do the ewpar route as you said but you need to have 5 years previous experience,
nvq is workplace assessment NOT simulated assessment
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, the NVQ is a qualification gained through training or being assessed
on the other hand you cant train someone for 6weeks then have them go through the ewpar route as they wont have 5 years previous experience which is prob what they're doing. SNEAKY that
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you wouldnt train them for 6 weeks then EWPA because you would of gained the quals through your training which is probably what they are doing. The OSAT is over ten weeks but im not sure of how many visits you get in that time but i bet its less than 6 full weeks.
 
flynnyman said:
you wouldnt train them for 6 weeks then EWPA because you would of gained the quals through your training which is probably what they are doing. The OSAT is over ten weeks but im not sure of how many visits you get in that time but i bet its less than 6 full weeks.
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But you cant carry out an NVQ assessment in a simulated environment is HAS to be in the workplace i.e. the person has to be actively working, the OSAT is over 10-12 weeks but this is workplace assessment i.e you cant carry out an ON SITE assessment if they aren't working
 
We will be able to have brain implants soon to be a plaster bit like total recall any when smokey good luck why the feck anyone wants to become a plasterer needs to see a shrink.:RpS_thumbup:
 
sharky82 said:
impossible.....the assessment is complex ,,,u have to show that you;re able to plaster ,,,,,a lot of photos taken,interview,grill test,,,,,,,,loads of paperwork to fill,,,,,,,,,,,,head- eke ........i have bin trough.
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I don't know if you're a plasterer taking the piss or brassed off because you had to show the assessor you know how to plaster
 
flynnyman said:
CKJ said:
Its not an assessment its training to get a qualification
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The nvq IS a workplace assessment though, if its assessed in a simulated environment it only qualifies for the Diploma and they're not worth a carrot as the candidate has no REAL work place experience, only Guided Learning hours. Were gonna have to agree to disagree on this one pal
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CKJ said:
flynnyman said:
The nvq IS a workplace assessment though, if its assessed in a simulated environment it only qualifies for the Diploma and they're not worth a carrot as the candidate has no REAL work place experience, only Guided Learning hours. Were gonna have to agree to disagree on this one pal
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1) So what you are saying is to gain any sort of NVQ you need to be working?
2) You cant gain an NVQ on a college course?
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Smokey, i'm in the same boat as you, what I have done is contact local plasterers for advice and some have been very helpful, what i'm doing is a 4 day induction course with a local course provider to see if it's what I want to do, I will then do a 4 month Diploma which will qualify me to go self employed and gain the work experience needed to eventually take my NVQ Level 2 and then 3 as by 2014 all plasterers will need this qualification if I have heard right ? I also have a local plasterer who is letting me go to work with him (unpaid) to see what he does and even hand me the trowel for a bit, the course is funded by the government if you're unemployed.

Good Luck pal !
 
CKJ said:
flynnyman said:
The nvq IS a workplace assessment though, if its assessed in a simulated environment it only qualifies for the Diploma and they're not worth a carrot as the candidate has no REAL work place experience, only Guided Learning hours. Were gonna have to agree to disagree on this one pal
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I stand corrected you are right about this :) So once you have done your course you then have to pay to get OSAT who will come and see you working, but looking at it it says you need to be plastering 3 years for osat or 5 years for Ewpa so how can you get it? I also read about an nvq in another trade and it said you can work on your own, friends or other family members houses and get assessed there but not sure about plastering but it sounds fair.
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Apart from the usual paperwork, there are two requirements for a NVQ2:

1) A professional testimonial (from the person whom you carried out the work) and
2) A witness testimonial (from the person that witnessed you carrying out the work)

Those two people cannot be you. Therefore, it implies that the on-site assessment can be conducted anywhere apart from your own home. For example, the home of a friend is sufficient because your friend can supply the professional and witness testimonials.

I hope this clarifies the situation.

In addition, there is no need to do a 6 week course to obtain a NVQ2. There are 3 week courses available, where upon completion, you will be eligible for assessment. When you enrol on the course, make it clear to your instructor that you intend on doing the NVQ2 and they will ensure that you cover the required modules.
 
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