city & guilds 6217

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Hi all
hope this is the right section for this post, if not apologies.
I am a 45 year old due to be made redundant from the chemical industry soon and would like some info on going self employed.
I have decided to take a city and guilds in plastering or plumbing 6217
and was wandering which course to take, either will suit me fine. i can only do the 6217-01 on the plumbing. can anyone point me in the right direction.
regards
 
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erm which do you think you'll enjoy more?

plastering is HARD physical graft and takes a while to get decent results, lots to learn and is skilled so depends on how good you are with your hands really as to whether you'll ever pick it up.

plumbing is basically following instructions (no disrespect to any plumbers) not as much skill involved or anywhere near as physical, if you are thinking of doing gas then consider the costs of getting and staying gas safe registered, otherwise you're basically only doing water and waste which is of limited use in the big wide world unless you can set yourself up as a handyman type.
 
hi bigfoot i can enlighten you about the city&guilds a bit, that qualification is not what it used to be, to separate the people who had job experience and those who didn't they created the city&guilds ica (intermediate construction award) and the nvq the later being the one whos had onsite experience, they meant for the ica to be a stepping stone to an nvq, now they have scrapped that and they are offering diplomas which they still say is a stepping stone to an nvq, now the cscs do not recognize city&guilds on there card scheme can you belive i have a city&guilds advance craft level 3 and they would not let me have a cscs blue skills card with that? i had to pay £550 for an onsite assessment to get an nvq level 2 to get a blue skills card which says plasterer on it, saying that there are loads of spreads out there onsite using a general op card to get onsite you dont really need qualifications, so if you are thinking of city&guilds think of it as a stepping stone, with the city&guilds you will learn the basics enough so to go out and do domestic work, also you will learn more things like fibrous which is interesting, im not sure what the 6217 is in plumbing but my opinion of the city&guilds plastering is that you will learn enough to get you started in the plastering game and from then on its up to you how far you want to take it, and don't let anybody tell you that you are to old at 45 i started late and i know of even older people than you who started late and are doing well, the city&guilds is the best way for you at your age to get involved with plastering unless you have a kindly mate whos a spread :) regards steve
 
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Dont do it there are easier ways to earn a crust than plastering and if you have any kind of back or knee problems forget it
 
plastering helps keep ya fit! imo.

couple of mates who are plumbers have problems with their knees and one is pensioned off in his mid 50s and walks as though he's had an accident in the pants dept.
crawling about under floors and stooped over in attics........... give me a big ceiling any day.
 
Dont do it there are easier ways to earn a crust than plastering and if you have any kind of back or knee problems forget it
Yea but many trades are not half as satisfying or as much fun; how long is it since you got a legit reason for playing with mud :LOL:
 
Thanks for the replys.
I have not made my mind up yet which way to go either will suit me. Plumbing is looking promising, but i am worried about any math involved as its a long time since i went to school. any info of what this course entails in the math department? if I did go with plumbing it would just be just bathroom kitchen jobs and tiling.
Plastering i have tried in the past did my hallway it was hard and apart from a lot of cursing i did enjoy it. I dont think 4 weeks training is enough really, i could be wrong but i would be worried about going on a job if there was no work for a while. the courses are £1750 + vat.
Thank you.
 
Thanks for the replys.
I have not made my mind up yet which way to go either will suit me. Plumbing is looking promising, but i am worried about any math involved as its a long time since i went to school. any info of what this course entails in the math department? if I did go with plumbing it would just be just bathroom kitchen jobs and tiling.
Plastering i have tried in the past did my hallway it was hard and apart from a lot of cursing i did enjoy it. I dont think 4 weeks training is enough really, i could be wrong but i would be worried about going on a job if there was no work for a while. the courses are £1750 + vat.
Thank you.
you know you can get this course free if you are on working tax credits? or if you wait till you become redundent then you can get it for free also with a local college, there are some maths involve not hard sums but you have to be able to work things out like how much materials you will need for so many m2 ect
 
Dont do it there are easier ways to earn a crust than plastering and if you have any kind of back or knee problems forget it
hi wozza old fella i worked with had 2 knee replacements and a hip replacement and that didn't stop him spreading, i can remember holding my breath though when he walked a plank doing a ceiling, he is an inspiration to anyone with disabilities he still done a room a day
 
thanks stevethespreader
if thats all the math is then theres no problem there. i am still employed at the moment. i have contacted many several colleges and courses there dont start until september, there all fully booked. so my only option is to pay for it and hopefully get my money back through being self employed. this will be new territory for me but i am looking forward to it. once i have worked out what to charge and how to go about starting a business i believe things will improve for me. i have got to pay my morgage so this is a big gamble on my part but once i have chosen which course to take i will be fully committed to it.
thanks again i really appreciate it.
 
thanks stevethespreader
if thats all the math is then theres no problem there. i am still employed at the moment. i have contacted many several colleges and courses there dont start until september, there all fully booked. so my only option is to pay for it and hopefully get my money back through being self employed. this will be new territory for me but i am looking forward to it. once i have worked out what to charge and how to go about starting a business i believe things will improve for me. i have got to pay my morgage so this is a big gamble on my part but once i have chosen which course to take i will be fully committed to it.
thanks again i really appreciate it.
no problem bigfoot let us know how you get on and what course you take if its plastering im sure there will always be someone here to give you a helping hand
 
Plastering i have tried in the past did my hallway it was hard and apart from a lot of cursing i did enjoy it. I dont think 4 weeks training is enough really, i could be wrong but i would be worried about going on a job if there was no work for a while. the courses are £1750 + vat.
Thank you.

Hi bigfoot.

Before i did my apprentiship, i did the City and guilds plastering course you are talking about .(6217)

It was very very good. You can basicly practice as much or as little as you want. And all the stuffs free. Thousands of pounds of it.

You will most certainly pick up all the basics.

That sounds like a mighty hefty price to pay though ill be perfectly honest.

Under 25s get eduacation free dont they so you wont qualify for that.

But i almost guarantee you there will be a college near you that will have the course 6217 run over the period of a year or 12 weeks.

NB - you would have to pay for it yes.

But it will be about £300, not almost 2 grand.

Solihull College by me does the course, 2 or 3 times a year (if you live anywhere near birmingham/solihull) and if you have to pay for it, its about £300 quid.


Or am i missing something?

Stevethespreader has hit the nail on the head.
 
Maths - Plumbing . I can`t even do a darts score :oops: Got on OK with plumbing tho`. If you`re near E. Sussex and want some practical advise on plumbing jobs ;)
 
I qualified with my plumbing 6129 a couple of years ago, now doing it in my spare time. Last summer I decided to do a 1 weeks intensive plastering course. Yes you can learn in only one week, I have had a fair bit of work since then, practice makes perfect, more work on the way, I quite enjoy it!
 

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