The price of 17th ed course

[Paul.M]

There has just been a thread posted by a learning center offering the 17th ed course and exam for £570 inc vat. The thread has been correctly removed due to not being a forum sponsor.

My question is, do you really think you need 3 days tuition to understand and pass this exam? Yes its a very important qualification that all electricians need but for the price, well can it be valid. The exam by itself costs around £35 and a few people on this forum have revised at home and just sat the exam and passed with flying colours.

People with electrical training should be able to down load past papers, look through the brb and get themselves familiar with it and save themselves a whole lot of money. After all this is no way near as hard has the 2391 that does need a lot of classroom and workshop practice and the 2391 is only about £100 more?

What are your own views and opinions on this subject? Is it to expensive? Do we need a 3 day course?

 

[tonys]

I did 2382 exam only for about £80. I've never had any electrical training at all but got 98%. If you're a working electrician there is no reason you should need a 3 day course. It's multi-guess, open book and the pass mark is only 60%!

I know I was conned a long with thousands of others, please don't rub it in lol and given your not an Electrician, it just goes to show the course and exam is pile of garbage.

Ive said it all a long, what they charging the working person who's lucky if they can get £12 with a van full of kit, its rip off to show someone how to reference a book.

Hope people wake up and stop funding these FREELOADERS

 

[rryles]

Its about more than just bein able to look up the answers to the questions in the appropriate place which is all that you have done if you managed a 98% with no electrical training on what you describe as a "mutli guess" paper.

You sould understand the chapters, understand the tables and the curve graphs, you should understand the reference materials and understand and be able to work the formulas. Most of all you should understand and be able to implement the regs and not just read through them to find the answers.

If you can do this without any training either for the 2382 or and electrical training in general then you really are something special!!

"multi guess" was rather tongue in cheek, but had a point to it. Multiple choice exams are usually easier. It is perfectly possible to pass the 2382 without understanding the content at all. It shouldn't be, but it is.

I'd like to think that I have a fair understanding of the content. Whilst I don't have any electrical training I do have a degree in electronics, and A-Levels in Maths and Physics, so I'm pretty comfortable with graphs, formulae and basic circuit theory. I also spent many hours studying at home.

Do you think that attending a 3 or 4 day course gives candidates a better understanding of the material? or does it just teach them how to use the index?

 

[tonys]

Do you think that attending a 3 or 4 day course gives candidates a better understanding of the material? or does it just teach them how to use the index?

You know the answer, it's a course to show us Electrician's how to reference a book. Having said that, imo at an evening class over 12/14 weeks (what ever it is) at a proper college they do make more of an effort to teach you a bit about regulations.

I know its all a big con and its set up to raise income and stimulate a false economy and I got caught, but they won't hit me again.

 

[High Tower]

In the college enviroment, you are taught how to reference the book, what the regulations mean, how to interpret them and how to apply the maths and the reference material.

I just find that this sits better with me than hoping my previous maths a-level serves me correctly and hope for the best!

Might as well just turn it on and see if it starts a fire!

Im sorry to all of you guys for my grumpy confrontational attitude towards this but im getting really peeved with the "lets get the bare minimum of qualifications with the bare minimum of effort for the cheapest price" or "what do i need that for!!"

It maybe because im only embarking on my career at the moment but am i the only one that wants to do this with the most amout of effort, trying to digest and understand as much as i physicly can?? i sit through the bits that i already know, which i may add is a damn site more than some of the ,ore experienced sparks on the course!!, and i sit through it all and pay attention in case there is something that i have missed or something that i have not grasped.

Im not saying that the current course is perfect but i have never met anyone that knows it all!

Part of my love for this trade is that we are professionals, who put the effort in.

Again guys sorry about the rant its not directed at anyone!

 

[tonys]

Hightower

Your doing the course over 12/14 evenings yer? if so I agree with some of what you say but over the 2/3 days courses, they are only interested in getting you a pass.

Over the 12/14 evenings, in between these times you can look things up etc, its a kind of home work imo. I enjoy my electrics as well and read and study books when others are on the ---- lol my living comes second to my family, then my fishing and so on.

 

[High Tower]

Yes mate 12 week course 2.5 hrs a time, homework on each occasion, 20 questions to take home, reference understand and answer. Collect the answer sheet on the way in the following week.

 

[grantr37]

Remember ILA SCOTLAND ! its a FREE 200 pounds off ANY course in Scotland and that includes 17TH Edition

 

[High Tower]

If only I lived in Scotland!!

For me cost isn't a factor, I just want the best training

 

[rryles]

Yes mate 12 week course 2.5 hrs a time, homework on each occasion, 20 questions to take home, reference understand and answer. Collect the answer sheet on the way in the following week.

Sounds like a good course, and sounds like you are making the most of it too.

 

[tonys]

Yes mate 12 week course 2.5 hrs a time, homework on each occasion, 20 questions to take home, reference understand and answer. Collect the answer sheet on the way in the following week.

So that's 30 hours at college and say another 18 doing home work and bits, total = 48 hours.

On the 3 day course, you do about 20 hours top wack including the exam? hell a lot difference imo

Any other courses I intend doing, will be back at the college.

 

[Sparky Ninja]

So that's 30 hours at college and say another 18 doing home work and bits, total = 48 hours.

On the 3 day course, you do about 20 hours top wack including the exam? hell a lot difference imo

Any other courses I intend doing, will be back at the college.

Not all training centre's are the same. The problem is people want to pay the cheapest, and so go for fewer days and are taught to pass. City & Guild state a 30 - 35 hour delivery period for the 2382-10, so it should take at least 4 days.
I deliver from 8.30 - 5 with a 30 minute lunch = 8 hour day. On the 4th day we have another little break around 4 then study on till 7 for the exam. Which averages as a 35 hour delivery. I do this at both colleges and training centres, and the training centres are cheaper.

 

[bomjac]

Widdler, the30-35 hour delivery quoted by C&G is all fine and well.

But let us not forget that the majority of qualified electricians are apprentice trained, and have done wiring regs training as part of that process during their apprenticeship and by means of further training as the regs go from edition to edition. So for someone already with a decent enough knowledge of the regs gained through experience and past training then this time scale is pretty much overkill.

 

[tonys]

Widdler

I don't doubt you take an interest in delivering the course you do in the best of interest in relation to helping people understand the regulations and the reasons behind them as well as showing them how to navigate the book.

That's an eye opener because the one I was on, only 3 of us turned up which was nice, we done about 18 hours studying?

 

[j.mawer]

I did a one week course at the local collage (£400) and thought it was great. There were about 18 people there most of whom were having to do updates for NICEIC or who had been working overseas and come back to the UK. There were a couple of us with electronics backgrounds (no electrical installation) and one doing the jobcenter funding thing. I think its fair to say that the people who were doing updates didn't know everything, although they clearly knew more than most.

There were frequent diversions to discuss application of regs (e.g minor works such as adding a socket and RCD and what it meant for clients what are the options) and talk about real experience, solutions to problems . The guy who did the course prepared questions that were not multi choice and were written in a less obvious way than the C&G i.e. it was harder than picking a keyword and looking it up they also often required interpretative rather than reading, you then had to argue your answer with everyone else! One good thing was showing pictures and trying to spot deviations from regs, I don't think anyone actually managed to spot all of them independent of experience.
The course was 8:30-4:30 4 days 8:30-1 then exam +lots of homework questions. The 100% of people passed one person got 100% (experienced spark) and 3 got one wrong (the two electronics people and an electrical apprentice) The guy from the jobcenter struggled the most but still passed. I conclude that those who use the regs everyday are less good at looking up answers and didn't know all the answers.

At the end of the day you can pass the exam by just reading the book but I think everyone got something out of our course. There are good teachers and bad teachers the good ones should make sure that everyone get something other than the bit of paper. One thing I did learn was how little I did know and if everyone (especially newbies) learns that then its a good thing!

 

[geordie]

anyone know of anywere in the north east yorkshire area which does exam only

 

[bomjac]

Google for 17th edition courses in your area, then phone or email them. ?worked for me, local college were willing to take me as exam only for £50.