Here's a brief recap on the history of plumbing qualifications.
1950/6os It was a five year apprenticeship with day release to attend a local collage in order to gain a city and guilds qualification however you was paid a small wage by your employer whilst doing this
After this you still needed to be an improver for another two years before you became a fully qualified plumber.
Some employers wouldn't allow you to attend day release after the first couple of years which produced a lot of top quality plumbers who never had any formal qualifications.
Early1970s Plumbing was now down to just a four year apprenticeship city and guilds course ending hopefully in an advance city and guilds qualification.
Again you served an apprenticeship and attended a local collage on day release and you were still paid a weekly wage by your employer.
Employers were now generally supporting apprentices a lot more in the way of helping them to attain a formal qualification.
Late 1970s Recession is here and for the first time lots of youngsters cannot find a job as an apprentice in the plumbing trade. Which in turn collages start to let them attend collage and attain city and guilds qualifications without ever having a job.
Mid1980s/90s The rot as now set in with loads of people now having the once mighty city and guilds qualifications without ever having a job. City and guilds are abolished and replace with the nvq in which the apprentices now have to prove that they are gaining practical experience and the term time for a plumbing apprentice is now down to 3 years.
2000 Fastrack plumbing courses are now all the rage due to a major shortage of plumbers.
40 plus year old butchers bakers caretakers etc are now paying out their savings/redundancy money to training centres which are springing up all over the place offering 6 month fast track plumbing courses.
The traditional apprenticeship as all but dissapeared
Mid 2000s Apprenticeships are making a return wth youngsters once more being paid a wage and attending collage on a day releae basis. The apprenticeship term time is now down to just 2 years though.
2010 And the trade is again awash with all manner of plumbers who simply don't have the experience/knowledge to do the job.
A question I often ask myself was if I was one of todays fastrack adult trainees or even a young apprentice plumber would I be able to make a go of it knowing what I now know?
To be perfectly honest I wouldn't fancy it one bit!
1950/6os It was a five year apprenticeship with day release to attend a local collage in order to gain a city and guilds qualification however you was paid a small wage by your employer whilst doing this
After this you still needed to be an improver for another two years before you became a fully qualified plumber.
Some employers wouldn't allow you to attend day release after the first couple of years which produced a lot of top quality plumbers who never had any formal qualifications.
Early1970s Plumbing was now down to just a four year apprenticeship city and guilds course ending hopefully in an advance city and guilds qualification.
Again you served an apprenticeship and attended a local collage on day release and you were still paid a weekly wage by your employer.
Employers were now generally supporting apprentices a lot more in the way of helping them to attain a formal qualification.
Late 1970s Recession is here and for the first time lots of youngsters cannot find a job as an apprentice in the plumbing trade. Which in turn collages start to let them attend collage and attain city and guilds qualifications without ever having a job.
Mid1980s/90s The rot as now set in with loads of people now having the once mighty city and guilds qualifications without ever having a job. City and guilds are abolished and replace with the nvq in which the apprentices now have to prove that they are gaining practical experience and the term time for a plumbing apprentice is now down to 3 years.
2000 Fastrack plumbing courses are now all the rage due to a major shortage of plumbers.
40 plus year old butchers bakers caretakers etc are now paying out their savings/redundancy money to training centres which are springing up all over the place offering 6 month fast track plumbing courses.
The traditional apprenticeship as all but dissapeared
Mid 2000s Apprenticeships are making a return wth youngsters once more being paid a wage and attending collage on a day releae basis. The apprenticeship term time is now down to just 2 years though.
2010 And the trade is again awash with all manner of plumbers who simply don't have the experience/knowledge to do the job.
A question I often ask myself was if I was one of todays fastrack adult trainees or even a young apprentice plumber would I be able to make a go of it knowing what I now know?
To be perfectly honest I wouldn't fancy it one bit!
