| By :
Martin Hofschroer
An increasing number of school leavers are choosing to take vocational courses instead of going to university. The City of Bath College said that more young people were opting for vocational learning through plumbing courses, while the BBC reported that the number of persons taking vocational courses has risen 24-fold since 2005. Such plumbing courses require students to take an apprenticeship which will provide several benefits for the apprentice and also the business, according to research by Populus. The Populus survey discovered that 77 per cent of employers believe apprentices make them more competitive in business, while 76 per cent claim that apprentices help improve productivity levels in their company. Furthermore, 80 per cent feel that apprentices reduce staff turnover and 83 per cent of employers rely on their apprenticeship programme to provide them with skilled workers that are necessary for the future of their business. Apprenticeships.org.uk stated: "UK businesses consider skills shortages and recruitment difficulties a bigger threat to performance than soaring oil prices and declining consumer spending. "More than a quarter of these businesses rate this form of vocational training higher than any other qualification." Many school leavers are choosing to embark on vocational learning at private training centres because there are fewer university places available and higher education colleges are cutting the courses they provide because of budget constraints. The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) is warning people not be taken in by training centres which offer crash plumbing courses with the promise of an industry recognised qualification on completion. Becoming a fully competent and qualified plumber may take years and cannot be achieved in a matter of weeks. People interested in plumbing courses should always confirm a training centre's City & Guilds Registration number and enquire as to the experience and qualifications of their staff. Students are advised to visit a training centre and view the facilities available where they should be allowed access to see the training bays, chat to instructors and any existing students. People should also be wary of heavy duty salesmen tactics either in the training facility or at home because the qualification should sell itself if it is industry standard. The recognised entry into the plumbing sector is by taking levels 2 and 3 of the City & Guilds 6129 Plumbing Technical Certificate, which gives the required knowledge to move forward onto the NVQ. City & Guilds' plumbing NVQ is the necessary qualification for people who work or want to work as plumber and can only be undertaken by those working in a plumbing-related job.
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