New Career Skills Opening the path for mature career changers

New Career Skills (NCS) provider of training in plumbing, carpentry and electrics for mature career changers, has launched a new ten-week plumbing course to address the skill shortage in the UK, enabling men and women of any age to change career with ease. The course which is the only one of its type in the UK is accredited by the Open College Network, the UKís foremost provider of accreditation services for adult learning.

The NCS plumbing course was launched in response to the withdrawal of City & Guilds 6988 plumbing qualification. This meant that those wishing to enter the plumbing trade from other careers would struggle to find a clear and time-efficient path to enter the industry. NCSís course is an improved, updated and expanded version of the 6988.

As well as offering a complete change in lifestyle, plumbersí hours of work are flexible as opposed to the regimented 9am-5pm of office jobs. The financial rewards of becoming a plumber have been well documented. Plumbers typically earn between 25,000 and 50,000 a year.

Historically, training to become a plumber was only open to school leavers (16-24 year olds), via job training and day release college courses, taking from two to five years to complete with low wages until graduation. For over 25 year olds, it was virtually impossible as most employers and colleges wouldnít consider taking mature students on. Moreover, the traditional method of training was unsuitable for mature students and younger students keen to get going in a shorter time.

NCS is one of the few re-skilling providers to address these major flaws. NCS offer a flexible, blended learning programme which allows students to complete the theory part of their training at home using interactive materials and tutor support. Then, when ready, students can complete four separate one-week practical sessions at one of NCSís nationwide Centres of Plumbing Excellence.

Following graduation, students are unlikely to be short of work. According to the Institute of Plumbers there are over 30,000 unfilled vacancies and this is growing rapidly as a result of house building being at its highest level for over 100 years.

The British Plumbing Employers Council estimates that 29,000 new plumbers will be needed in the next five years.

Furthermore, the average age of plumbers is currently quite high, meaning that more are leaving the industry than joining it. Colleges are estimated to only have about 3,000 trainee vacancies per annum of which it has been estimated that only 50% actually go on to work as plumbers.

Commenting, Tim Adderson, managing director, NCS, said: ìThere are other training providers offering courses such as the C&G 6032, but as anybody in the industry knows, these certificates do not offer the breadth and depth of training to work to the NVQ2 or to add real value to most employers. With the plumbing course we have answered the needs of both industry and mature career changers, many who have work and family commitments and canít afford to take weeks off work to train.î

NCS, established in 1998, is highly experienced in the requirements of the plumbing industry and the high standards it demands. ìThe company does not expect its students to walk out of its programmes and into your kitchen or bathroom, but sees itself as a provider of qualified and mature individuals with the confidence, knowledge and motivation to enter the industry and progress on to NVQ2 and over time to NVQ3. Employers can assume that our students have had the best training available, otherwise we donít award them with an NCS certificate.î

NCS graduates have been employed by companies such as: British Gas, Plumb Local, Initial Building Services, Peoples Plumbers, Dyno Rod, Gas Care, Awesome Bathrooms & Plumbing, to name but a few.

The first step is to help graduates find employment within the industry; it is a resource that NCS hopes to continue developing in the coming year offering further career and employment advice. After the course, NCS encourages all graduates to return for further training for completion of their NVQ2, which is currently offered on block release. It should be a win-win situation with prospective employers having access to a pool of well-trained motivated mature career changers.