College Help

ArsenalFC

I don't know if it's still being offered, once on jsa for 6 months then put u on a New Deal programme which they pay for the course if you wanted to study for a year and still gets jsa. Ask your job centre adviser.

The joiner course is a skill based vocational course so you cannot study that on a level 3 without having completed level 1 and 2.

Oldernotwiser

ineedinfo wrote: »

Thank you Briona and oldernotwiser, you are being a great help to me.

So just to clarify because i have a level 2 in COmputers does that mean i can go straight to a level 3 Joinery course? or do i have to pay for the course at level 1 first?

i think the best option if i can do this is to go to college full time and look for a part time job also.

But i need to be sure what i am asking for when i phone the college.

Many thanks

Rick

Unfortunately it doesn't work like that. If you wanted to do a level 3 course in computers you could do that for free. For a different career area you'd have to start lower down and pay for the course. When you've done your level 2 joinery you'd then be able to do level 3 for free, with ALG if doing it full time.

Many colleges will let adults start straight on level 2 , particularly if they have some basic skills in this area, for example from DIY or school woodwork and I always used to recommend that adults do the part time courses. If you do it full time you're likely to be doing it with a crowd of 16 year olds and there tends to be a lot of "padding " to make the hours up to full time. Because adults are more motivated (and better behaved) they can usually get the same qualification in the same time as those doing it full time.

As AFC says, if you've been unemployed for 6 months you'd be on New Deal which will offer some training opportunities, depending on your area. Worth discussing this with your adviser at the Jobcentre, or asking to make an appointment for some careers advice with a Nextstep Adviser, which would be free.