Financial help with professional qualifications

TooMuchLoveWillKillYou

Good afternoon.

Could you help me please?
At the moment I am on Maternity Leave (MA) and I will get paid until October. However I am thinking to come back to work earlier than that. I am a single mum and I know I will be better off working.

I have 6 years experience in Construction and H&S. I have completed few courses including IOSH,SMSTS, Scaffold Inspector etc. the only one thing missing is NEBOSH. I am able to learn at home, but that course would cost me £800-1000 which I cannot afford at the moment. I am sure I would be able to find a job a lot quicker if I gain more qualifications.

Is there any help/scheme anything I could apply for to help me get my qualifications? I have applied for a loan, but got refused.
I do not mind paying back to the goveremnt as long as I can do instalments.

Thank you very much for your help

saintjammyswine

With NEBOSH being a full cost and non-funded course it is unlikely there is any funding the colleges etc can access for it. Try your local FE college and ask if there is any ESF funding available.
It is more likely to cost around £1350 (ours is) but can usually be paid in installments.

ohreally

TooMuchLoveWillKillYou wrote: »

the only one thing missing is NEBOSH. I am able to learn at home, but that course would cost me £800-1000 which I cannot afford at the moment. I am sure I would be able to find a job a lot quicker if I gain more qualifications

You really need the nebosh diploma to move into H&S employment. I assume the course your looking at is gen cert (given the pricing), if so, view that as a simple introduction to h&s, it almost certainly won't open doors for a career unless you are very lucky - it a good start but no more.

TooMuchLoveWillKillYou

thank you guys,

Yes that would help to start my professional romance with H&S. I want to start as a H&S Advisor so NEBOSH GENERAL cert will be enough.Then I hope my employer could help me with my diploma or I will be able to gain more experience and save money to move forward. Because my experience/training in H&S I am in a good position to step in into H&S, but NEBOSH cert is a must in most cases.

ohreally

Bear in mind, its only a lvl 3 qualification, don't become misled by providers selling a "h&s romance" on the back of a lvl 3 cert.

An employer is unlikely to employ without significant experience - what experience do you actually have at this point, in addition the employer will expect you to be gradIOSH. At best, the gen cert will only meet the education requirements for techIOSH.

I don't mean to dampen your enthusiasm, but you need to do some further research.

saintjammyswine

I think you are being a little harsh on someone who only asked about funding for a course.
I quote "I have 6 years experience in Construction and H&S. I have completed few courses including IOSH,SMSTS, Scaffold Inspector etc"

ohreally

saintjammyswine wrote: »

I think you are being a little harsh on someone who only asked about funding for a course.
I quote "I have 6 years experience in Construction and H&S. I have completed few courses including IOSH,SMSTS, Scaffold Inspector etc"

I simply asked what experience they actually have given they don't hold a lvl3 qualification.

Its not at all harsh. H&S is notoriously cliquey and difficult to break ito.

Idiophreak

Coming closer to answering your original question...if you can demonstrate that it will improve your employability, you may qualify for a Career Development Loan - but will have to start repaying after (iirc) 6 months, whether it helps you get a job or not!

TooMuchLoveWillKillYou

Thank you Idiophreak. I will do my research.
I certainly did not wake up one morning and decided I want to do H&S. I just want to back up my experience with relevant certificate and NEBOSH cert is where I have to start.

thanks once again

ohreally

Op, I wish you luck if you decide to sit the exams.

If you want help with the course work, I'm happy to answer your questions (if i can). Just don't get into debt to do this without going in with your eyes open.

Good luck whatever you decide.

saintjammyswine

Up to March this year we funded courses including NEBOSH with ESF funding for people on JSA for over 6 months. Certain courses qualified and we managed to get NEBOSH on the list (we lost money on it but took a decision) so worth contacting local colleges that offer NEBOSH, private providers wont have any funding themselves.