New Career Skills - Doncaster

[Blimeyme]

Just browsing through and could not see anything for NCS so thought for those who are researching to add my own personal experience of them so far.
I am almost through the domestic installer course and have to say that on the whole the experience has been a good one in the main.
The site is not flash but adequate and it does provide tea/coffee for free and has a daily food van delivery which is useful.
Tutors are really knowledgeable and down to earth, no bull which I like and every questionIhave asked , however silly, has been explained. Qualifications at the end of it are the eal domestic installer, cg2382 and cg2377 , cg2392 and the pv is additional but you know that at the beginning.
Practical is good but cannot possibly cover everything and every situation you will encounter, forme the missing parts are things like practically lifting and replacing floorboards, cutting chases and they do not teach how to change consumer units which I find a bit strange and a gap in the training,I will discuss this at my next session with them and see if these gaps can be filled.
Course material is pretty good and comprehensive but there have been a few errors in there, I guess you could say that the studying must be working when you are able to spot them and know the correct answer! Support is good and they help you find work experience through their dedicated search team, you also get a reasonable toolkit in week1 which is a good starter kit and it is yours from day one, this saves a bit more outlay and gives you a lot of what you need to start with.
All in all then Ihave been pleased with NCS so far and only hope that this will continue.

 

[stephen1974]

I'm also doing this course.

I started out in southampton and at the time thought it was ok but not great. I moved to Doncaster ( about 80 miles closer to where I live ) and the standard of the instructions was considerably better and I came away much happier with the standard of tuition, and passed exams as well

The facilities are pretty good and if your staying at a hotel there are some good ones (£150 for 5 days is the most i've paid) close to the centre. The course material provided is comprehensive but the course notes they give out make a lot more sense that the engineer written text books.

There are big gaps in the course. It's not whats advertised or sold to you by the sales advisor. No one should be going off to start their own electical business after this course. Students should also be aware that this isnt school - you need to do the work at home in your own time. Don't expect to do a few bits of course work and then forget about things until you go on your practical week. You will not get a proper understanding of things doing it this way. You have to put in considerable time and effort to make sure you thoroughly understand the concepts. Looking up answers in a book is easy, understanding and retaining knowledge is not.