Discuss OLCI...any advise plz in the Electrician Courses : Electrical Quals area at ElectriciansForums.net

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Vassy

Hi, I have been working in the telecomms industry for the past 5 yrs as a contractor and am looking to widen my horizons so to speak. I was wondering if anyone has heard of OCLI construction training? They are offering me a course that gives me, at the end:
C&G level 2 (2330),
C&G level 3 (2330),
17th edition IEE wiring regulations C&G 2382-10,
Inspection & testing C&G 2391,
Applicable building regs (part P),
level 3 Certificate for in service inspections and testing of electrical equiptment- portable appliance testing (C&G 2377)
EAL level 2 certificate for domestic electrical installers.

They offer this as a study at home course where visit training centres for practical work when can. The course costs £5500. What i want to know is will i be fully qualified to work as an electrician, either on pay roll or self employed and are the qualifications the right ones. I've heard about people doing this kind of course and employers not recognising the qualification. £5500 is a lot to spend if going to be a waste.

Any help is welcome.
Thanks
 
Looks a pretty comprehensive list to me covering what you need to know.

Don't know what the costing is like but I reckon Shakey will be able to put you 100% right when he has had a look. He has a wealth of knowledge on training and technical aspects.

Welcome to the forum. Don't forget to put an entry in the New Member's Introductions section
 
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Hi, I have been working in the telecomms industry for the past 5 yrs as a contractor and am looking to widen my horizons so to speak. I was wondering if anyone has heard of OCLI construction training? They are offering me a course that gives me, at the end:
C&G level 2 (2330),
C&G level 3 (2330),
17th edition IEE wiring regulations C&G 2382-10,
Inspection & testing C&G 2391,
Applicable building regs (part P),
level 3 Certificate for in service inspections and testing of electrical equiptment- portable appliance testing (C&G 2377)
EAL level 2 certificate for domestic electrical installers.

They offer this as a study at home course where visit training centres for practical work when can. The course costs £5500. What i want to know is will i be fully qualified to work as an electrician, either on pay roll or self employed and are the qualifications the right ones. I've heard about people doing this kind of course and employers not recognising the qualification. £5500 is a lot to spend if going to be a waste.

Any help is welcome.
Thanks

it looks like you are getting more than you actually are:

the 'applicable building regs part p' is not a seperate qual, it is unit one out of the EAL course!

And 2377, are you getting both parts? Lots of places offer it, but only give you part 2 which is useless by itself

We dont offer the 2391 'straight off' to people starting from scratch, it is nearly always to much for them, we get them through the 2392 first, then they do the 2391 when they have got a bit more experience

good luck anyway!
 
Thanks for your help so far guys, It does say you get both parts to the 2377. The literature i have says the course is built in 3 steps..

Step 1 :prepares you for the C&G 2330 Electrotechnical Technology Certificate level 2.

Step 2: prepares you for the C&G 2330 Electrotechnical Technology Certificate level 3.

Step 3: Gain NVQ while working on site.

Did choose the course because work away from home a lot so have to train to fit round my life at the moment. They start with the basics and move you on the the higher courses as progress.
 
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I am new to this site and in exactly the same position as you, Vassey, wanting to expand but nervous of doing the wrong course. So far I have only found one major criticism of OCLI and I was recommended to them by Learn Direct who were very helpful on the subject. I am happy to pay what it costs but cannot afford to get it wrong. I will keep you informed of anything I discover and would be grateful for any advice. You do seem like a helpful and supportive group, thanks.
 
Sounds like we are in the same boat Niggy. Dont mind the cost if is fair and am paying for what i need. I am expecting a call from OLCI soon and have a few questions ready, will let you knkw how it goes. I'm new her too and finding this site very helpfull too....Thought good people were few and far between these days, Glad proved wrong :)

P.S. what was your one major criticism of OCLI by the way?
 
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Halo again. To answer your question, my son found a site a bit like watchdog where they investigate your problems with goods and services and someone had approached them about OCLI. he was training as a plumber and found that the course he was expecting to do was cancelled due to their being too few attendees. He pushed them for his money back and eventually, with help, he got a refund. So, it is not a huge criticism of them and I have seen mixed comments elsewhere although generally not bad. It is a lot of money though and I feel their approach is a little bit pushy and 'salesman' like which makes me nervous. Rather than a straight answer it tends to be a bit ' everything will be fine, dont worry about it'. I asked how often they run course at the nearest centre and was told they would send out a scheduel when I signed up - why not just tell me now so I know. I am in a hurry to get this training and do not want to find I cannot do the next step because there is no classroom time availble or whatever. Anyway I am going to do a bit more research this afternoon and will keep you informed. Cheers, Nig
 
HI, I am in your exact position, well sound very much the same. Do foind them pushy and more salesmen like. have been looking at a side and input my details, they ring you back...not done yet but supposed to. your interested in looking.

Thanks
Vass
 
Hi Niggy,

I think I have agreed to sign up for the same course as you at the Skills Centre, have you had any further feedback on the course and the actual outcome at the end?

Thanks

Chris
 
Hi Chris and niggy.I wrang to see about prices and qualifications gained with the skills Centre and they just made an oppointment for a rep to come and see me at home. On the day of the appointment the rep wrang me to say he is running late and is that ok. I said yes but explained all i was after to day is qualifications gained and price of courses. He then seemed to loose interest and said the prices are £5250 for basic electrian training and £6950 for the full one that allows you to plan wireing routes for new builds and reworks ???. Didnt bother coming for the appointment as wasnt signing up today and could claw back some time to put him on track for rest of day.

Wasnt impressed by his attitude once learnt that i just wanted info to compare with OLCI. Let me know how you found the skills Centre towards you plz and how the course is going chris, looking to sign up next week for one....just not sure which one yet.
 
The advisor did come round to see me, had a chat but I hadn't seen this site before I signed up. It did feel a bit like he was trying to sell to me and made a lot of promises, so I am a little unsure now I may ring up a cancel....
 
The choice is your at the end to go learn with them but you have to know that its sometimes hard to find dates that suite your needs for practicals and theres not alot of support from them, the teachers are just people who are retired electricians (The London centre has only 2 electricians!). So dont expects great stuff from them. Although im doing the course with OLCI, Im learning through lots of external sources such as text books off the net due to OLCIs books are full of mistakes and very less explanation. If your a newcomer to the electrical knowledge, I don't recommend this place. When im finished with this place im just going to do the other Inspecting and Testing and 17th Edition with a local college. Hope this make is clear for anyone that interested.

P.S. The advisers on the phone arent assistance for your course needs they are 98% sales team the remaining 2% which are there to help for Q&A are always busy putting you on hold and sometime ask to call back or they say they will call back and you call you back like 2 month later! by then you'll either sort out your problem or finished that practical. Dissapointing stuff. Again i'll state this is the downside of the course.

If anybody asks you didnt hear it from me! ;)

Good Luck.
 
Hi guys i am new to the forum and stumbled upon it searching for courses that would qualify me as a fully qualified electrician. I have no recognized electrical qualifications apart from PAT Testing although i work in the industry. i am self employed and work in lighting maintenance but put myself under alot of pressure because people take it for granted your a spark and im just into relamp etc, so i obviously need to rectifiy that problem, i also came across OLCI a few months back but was unsure if the qualifications they where offering where nationally recognised and where you a "qualified electrician" in the end. Has anyone been through the adult learning route to becoming an electrician?
 
Hi

I am to looking at the OLCI and The Skills Centre and am yet to decide, they both seem to claim the same things and offer very similar courses. Do you know if either own their own training centres? What course prices have you been quoted?

cheers
 
Guys
I'm brand new to this club.I'm in full time employment(not in this industry) and want to qualify so that I can take on small domestic electrical installations and self certify the work. I would be grateful if anyone can offer advice on how I can do this over a short time scale whilst maintaining my full time job.
I've had a look at OLCI but the more I read about them leads me to thinking that I might be wasting my hard earned cash.
Mac
 
I just rang OLCI about doing 2382 17th ed.What a shower of dog poo!The guys on the phone are salesmen,the price for a home study course was £345 plus regs and exam fee.I can go to my local college and get a tutor for 11 weeks for £295+regs+exam.Having done the 2391 and 236 part 1 and 2 and AM1 + AM2 I dont think I could ever have passed them without a proper college tuition,especially 2391!
 
hi piggy ,im replying about the exam on one post and the course on another!!!
re the course; i used electa course for about 50 pounds (been a while please check my earlier posts).as long as you know your way round the regs boook you'll be fine
 
Cheers Bane, Found it a little daunting when 1st started but when you get your head round it, starts to make sense.

Vassy :)
 
Cheers Bane, Found it a little daunting when 1st started but when you get your head round it, starts to make sense.

Vassy :)

Glad to see you made the right choice Vassy, get your studying under way, and me and Dinosaur will see you on your first week:)

Cheers Mr Bane:)
 
hi
i too looked at OLCI the rep came pretty informative,told me about electrical installers course for £2230.
Informed me that if isigned up would have 14days cooling off period.
Thave have a 12 month start course now pay it off in 12 months scheme going which seemed ok.
i signed for it and after a couple of days tryed ringing them with questions but the people were totally abrupt and made me think again that if this is what you got before you started the course might not be up to much when it got going.
needless to say i emailed to cancel on the same day they sent all course material out.:)
now OLCI say i have to pay the return postage for 50kgs of books etc before they can cancel.
all in all i would never trust them again as they ignore emails and wont respond to phone calls in a professional manner:mad:
please dont make same mistake as me as i can sense this is goin to end in me complaining to a ombudsman.
 

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