college nvq/c and g - absolute MESS

boandelvis · 25 January 2017 at 12:13AM

hello - any advice welcome here as we just dont know what to do
WARNING..LONG POST, GRAB A BREW..

My son has been attending college two nights a week since sept 2015 to do an NVQ level 3 in plumbing and heating. On the day of signing up to the course he was at work and couldnt get time off - we were concerned that places were limited and might be oversubscribd, so I went on the day, spoke to the course tutors and registered his place. He went in later to complete forms etc. The tutor/c and g assessor explained that this was a 2 year course with assignments and exams throughout the duration. Towards the end of the course , the student would have to do some practical work with a plumber and the assessor would come out and assess to sign off for the qualification. I distinctly recall saying that at the time, my son was not working in the trade but he did know someone who was - the tutor said all he would need to do would be perhaps a few days with the plumber to get practical work assessed. That was agreeable as he would have arranged a weeks holiday from usual job and worked with the plumber he knows for a week.

So he commenced the course and was fortunate enough to be eligible for 24+ funding (the course would otherwise have been 3k). It was two nights a week. This course was to run until March 2017 followed by a Gas Safe course.

At frst, there were the same regular tutors. Then last year one of the tutors left quite quickly and wasnt replaced. A few weeks ago, the remaining tutor, the C and G assessor announced he was also leaving - this left the students in a situation with no one to assess their practical work. Then it was announced that the college wouldnt be running the course again so they had no plans to replace the assessor/tutor.
Realsiing that there was a certain amount of anger within the class, the tutor organised a colleague to take a few students per day to work with him and sign off their work..

THIS IS WHERE EVERYTHING GETS A WHOLE LOT MESSIER...
my son was one of the first one due to go on this practical day but fell and broke his arm the day before !
he went to college tonight where it was announced to the sixteen or so students..
This course finishes at the end of feb. You will get a 'diploma' but that is pretty much a worthless certificate as its not the qualification.
In order to obtain your qualification for Watersafe (a requirement if you want to tender for stuff like council work etc), you need the NVQ - you can only get this if you are working in the plumbing trade. There is no funding and it is approx 2k. The only way you could get funding is if youre unemployed - and if you're unemployed you're not working in the trade so you cant get the diploma
The college is not now running the Gas Safe part of the course

There are students who paid for the course and couldnt get 24plus funding. One man used his retraining grant when he left the army to pay for this. All were under the impression and told, as I was, that this course would lead to City and Guilds level 3 plumbing and heating. No mention to anyone about having to work in the trade to get the qualification - I know for certain this wasnt mentioned to me, nor were the extra costs involved.

This feels like not only a waste of 18 months but it seems like a con. To add insult to injury, the C and G website is still stating that the college are running the course!!
Any advice on funding for the diploma would be appreciated. The majority of the students in the class dont have a spare 2k lying about, indeed many of them are in minimum wage part time jobs and were doing this course to improve their work prospects.

Sorry for the long post, thanks for reading

silvercar · 25 January 2017 at 9:46AM

Put in a formal complaint to the college.

boandelvis · 25 January 2017 at 11:52AM

Thanks, we intend to and to Ofsted too. I think I also need to contact the organisation who supplied the 24 plus learning funding as that has to be paid back when the salary of the person they have funded reaches a certain level. Not much chance of that in the near future.

Savvy_Sue · 26 January 2017 at 12:46AM

Local councillors and local MP too?

bez2345 · 26 January 2017 at 3:43PM

You need to write to the college and city and guilds informing them you are taking this matter to the Skills Funding Agency as both organisations are committing fraud as they have been paid by the taxpayer via the SFA to deliver your sons training and assessments as laid out in the standards required by the awarding body. You will have to google the SFA as i cannot post links on here.