New Career Skills 

I'm about to be ripped off on a sum of 600 pounds. NCS wants me to pay for the second arrival of the assesor despite the fact, that the contract I signed with them says nothing about it. All this talking about helping their students out and now they're doing something completely opposite. STAY AWAY!

Im very sorry for students but as the administrator says its business as usual for the moment.. Please have some thought for the caring tutors and staff at Chandlers Ford and staff in other centres and Head Office who were made redundant 8 hours before they should have been paid for their November service. They are facing a very bleak Christmas and like many people who are commenting on here, have been treated dreadfully by the administrator and have had to apply to the Dept of Business to try and get wages they are owed and redundancy that he has told them he can't pay. Whilst I understand your frustration please spare a thought for the people who helped you and are now in a bad place through no fault of theirs.

May I wish you all a good new year

Alan

Ex employee

Waste of my time. Seem happy to take my money every month .. Have nothing to show for my 6k.. I have a new opportunity now to take a new career path.. As I have gain nothing from these people! What will happen if I do not pay the last 4 months ! .. ? Will they get in contact ? They haven't for past 12 months! I've struggled to find work experience they haven't helped at all either and just day nothing in my area! Haven't even contacted me for 12 months! Just continue paying for what !? Very angry

New career skills have really helped me to change my life around, now i am qualified working for myself at my own pace something which i never dreamt of. the tutors were very helpful when i was doing my studies. happyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

I am currently on a plumbing/heating course in doncaster and i do my week 2 practical in jan 14,i am worried now that i will not be able to finish this course although they have told me not to worry,do i cancel the direct debit and stop me losing more money or bare with them,are there anymore students with views on this.

Closed Chandlers Ford centre all staff redundant.. Some staff at Watford and Doncaster redundant. Staff at head office redundant. . In administration work as usual administrator tells staff then tells them theirs no money to pay them Novembers salary. Don't pay any credit you owe them their going bust.

Having always wanted to be a plumber, there is no stopping me now. I want to fullfil my dream before I turn 50, then I wont look back with regrets. I have done what other people wanted me to do all my working life, but it stops right here because I am going to be a plumber.
When everyone get off the floor after laughing their heads off, they will soon realize that I mean business. The course is challenging but interesting and I am very driven and determined to complete it, even it kills me! The reason why it is challenging is because I am making a complete change of carreer, swapping syringes and needles and jabbing old skinny, frail patients for spanners and screwdrivers and nails.
I just wish there were allowances for people like me who are not working as builders, plumbers already, to learn the terminology, get to grips with the tools and have a practice before being assessed in a timely fashion. Neverthless, I am not a quitter, will see this through. Work experience is not coming by easily either, difficult to fit it in with full time work and children, would have been helpful. I am feeling the pressure, but it is only temporary.!!!

I was very skeptical at the start as have been self employed for many years working for many different people/companies and wanted to get away from it and start on my own. The electricians course is perfect for this, but some prior knowledge or availability to get as an electricians mate whilst you are doing the course is a must.

The tutors are by far the best aspect of the course, if you ask, they will tell you, even if it has nothing to do with what you are studying on that particular day, so have the potential to learn much more. Their expertise is second to none.

All the books and guides are given to you at the start and will become vital when you start on your own and see you through for years. You need the correct mentality to study everything you need to as it is all done in your own time. The theory side is the hardest but with help and advise available whenever you need it, if you put the effort in you will succeed.

The facilities at the centres are top notch and will give you great hands on experience at what is to come. If I could find 1 negative it is that an additional practical week would be beneficial to include some of the scenarios you are likely to encounter when you start on your own.

One of the best aspects is you will meet many different people each week all doing the same as you and you can help each other if you decide to keep in touch when you finish.

Overall a very good course. And more often than not they will help in any way possible, from financial aspects to finding accommodation near the centre if required.

i have found everything to do with the team and the course very good and helpfull, unfortunately i have had some severe change of cercumstance and when i have tried to cancel the course or come to a benificial agreement that will stop me paying for a course that i cant afford and cant complete... i am literally payng for the course with my food money, i have nothing and still have to pay £200 a month for the next 2 yrs for a course that i cant complete and cant afford.

the course, tutors and people i have spoke to have been nce and helpfull but as always they are bound by the rules of thier piers and told what they are allowed to offer or do to help.

in short there should be clause for drastic personal circumstance changes.

i must add that as stated in the NCS Ltd student adviser"s meeting on work experience is still worth and very helpful for me and i believe will help other students. for the past one year and still ongoing, i am on a work experience scheme with one of the graduate of NCS ltd recommended by the student adviser Alison, who i send a special thanks for her continuous hard work.

big thanks

since the start of the course ive been shown alot and been helped all along the way by all the staff they are very friendly and help on site and over the e-mail. I would recommend this to anyone wanting to change career. the course work is pretty straight forward and easy to follow from home

I am angry, upset and frustrated. On my credit agreement is " advanced electrician course" ... I was assured at the end of the course I would be an electrician and be able to get employment and £6000 in and the course completed what am I? Certainly not a qualified electrician let alone an advance one.
I was straight from the start I didn't want to work for myself, I want to work as part of a company to give my family security. (I've been self employed for many years and wanted more security) So the career support at new skills could only help if I lived In Devon (well u took my money and I don't live in Devon), so I've finished the course and no company will accept it as a qualification to work as an electrician, only as an electricians mate..... Which I was doing before the course so didn't need to spend £6000.
So in short I was told at the end of the course ... U will be an electrician (your not) we will help u find work (they haven't)
I have worked so hard for the last 18 months, attending the weeks needed, working full time, staying up until early hours doing assessments ...for what NOTHING that's what .... New skills are a company that prey on those of us trying our best to improve our lives and I'm actually in a worse position now that what I was pre course .... £6000 down.

Don't be fooled, by the end of the electrical course, your not an electrician .... Your not employable as an electrician, by any company.

I should mention that the people at the centre teaching the course were very helpful at all times. I just can't believe that they allowed to run this course, knowing the industry doesn't recognise it as a qualification to employ you.

I wouldn't recommend this course,if your looking to be taken on by a company, because the qualification isn't recognised, this isn't only locally, I've been in touch with companies nation wide, joined every uk electricians forum and they all say the same. Your NOT a qualified electrician and ur papers aren't worth the paper they are written on.

That's where I stand at the moment .... Angry, upset, frustrated, unemployable as an electrician and £6000 worse off !!!!!!!!!

I enrolled on an electrician s full course costing just short of 6k. The salesman also told me I would be a fully qualified spark. After making two appointments for my first practical week I had to cancel due to work commitments. I was never told of any time limit on the course which was ticking away. I contacted ncs saying I wasnt happy and they offered an extension at my cost. I refused and asked for a refund they refused and said its my problem. I am now in contact with a solicitor and citizens advice bureau. They are a waste of money this has cost me 6k for nothing.

Since I embarked on my new skills training in March 2013 I have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge this learning has brought .The structure and day to day workings of the coarse have been well planned and thoughtfully executed from the supply of books and hand outs, to the more practical items of pipe work and tools I have been equipped and educated to a high level .The working knowledge of the instructors and the office staff who organise your exams and careers knowledge and even the first aid coarse have been ready to help and approachable .

I was told by the salesman that came to my house "at the end of the plumbing course with NCS you will be fully qualified". Not only is this untrue but when I reminded him about this he denied even saying it.
I found the actual course to be quite good and the tutors were very knowledgeable and helpful. However, to become fully qualified you must get a work placement within the industry and complete some on-site assessments. If you cannot find a plumber or company to take you on to do these assessments then the course is completely pointless.
NCS say that they will help you find this work placement but ive received no help at all. When i asked the careers advisor at the practical center for help i was told that the only help she could give me was to look on google?!?!?!
Without the guarantee of a work placement then this course becomes exactly the same as any plumbing course you can do at your local collage for £400.

New career skills offers great courses which are easily fitted around existing employment.
The tutors are dedicated to helping you pass, and after a few minutes of being on my week 1 practical the nerves of such a large career change were gone.
All that you need to pass the course is given, and the rest is down to you!
All my 4 practical weeks were with different lads and tutors, and equally enjoyable(ok so exam week the enjoyment came after passing!).
Everyone learns at different speeds, and instead of being a class each week, we were more of a team. Helping each other to complete the tasks, as you would in a work environment.
After the 3rd week of the course I felt confident enough to start my own business.
So with Titanium Electrical Services up and running I can only recommend the course through my action of choosing to complete the extended modules.

I found my whole experience so far with new career skills to be a positive one. My initial visit from the representative Julian Barfield was very informative and interesting. I find that the benefits that the course offers to be first class. Knowing I can phone a tutor and learn at my own speed gives me the drive to gain a new skill.
Julian is a very positive and helpful rep who has provided me with plenty of information to start my new career. I'm very happy that Julian was such an insightful rep and very easy to talk to. I thank him for the opportunity to start my new career and I would be happy to recommend this course to anyone who is interested in these areas.

I've found this a good course to help me retrain for the elecrical world.
Staff on the practical side were friendly and helpful.
Took me a while to get going on the home study if im honest and took a lot of dedication as I had been out of education fo 12 years it took a lot of getting back into the swing of things, In hindsight shoulve asked for more help. However after the first practical week things seemed to click into place. On the whole a truly enjoyable course

From day one, from the visit by the salesman to my final day of my final weeks practical, I found everyone at New Career Skills very helpful. The trainers went out of their way to full explain/demonstrate anything that I was not sure of, the backroom staff making the bookings for the weeks practicals did their utmost to fit you in at your convenience.
Overall, they delivered a first class service, and the fee (which also included all of the books for the course + a starter tool kit & bag) was worth every penny.

Its hard to teach old dogs new tricks and when I signed up for New Career Skills to train to be a domestic electrician and started training at the age of I thought it was a case of just knowing how to install lights and sockets how hard could that be?
Well the course is full on and in places very complicated but the my online tutor and the tutors at Eastleigh are very supportive and have patiently taken me through the theory and all the calculations so that they become second nature. The practical weeks are intensive and the amount of knowledge and skill that you leave with is huge.
Now to take this knowledge out into the outside world New Career Skills Careers Advisor are very supportive and are helping me go forward with my new found skill and hopefully a brand new career.