this thread may sound complicated but im not afraid to ask for help.
like many others i wish to take a course and become a full time tiler.

my background is within a construction enviroment and i have been self employed and a sole trader before so business start up,although valuable is not essential to me.i also hold many site tickets such as cscs(supervisor)card.

my aim is to complete an intensive course,tool up and start almost immediatly-i will be able to shadow a contact but also i have plenty of home work that i can do so as to gain some experiance,whilst looking for outside work.
my problem arises from the confusion of courses available and a catch 22 situation i see.
i wish to be trained up to nvq level and understand this is what most will require to work on sites-although i want to do domestic work,site work is inevitable and invaluable for making contacts.
it is my desire to complete a course that will give me a recognised qualification so i will be more attractive to customers so as to find work,then be able to have this work documented for my nvq.
i seem to find plenty of courses that will give me the grounding for the nvq but not a course certificate,or a city and guilds course which provides a certificate that is a basic qualification in floor and wall tiling.

other problems are the area i live in has no training centres so i would like to hear from training centers who do accomodation.

basically i would like real advice from real tilers or trainers to point me in the right direction,im not completley green to the industry as i already have an nocn tiling certificate.

im looking for a 4 week course pref and one course provider has told me that if i do theirs then go and tile my bathroom and downstairs wc i will amass enough experiance to have my nvq!!understandably im cautious!

im currently unemployed as i had an accident 5 months ago which has left me unable to continue my previous career so this is something im taking very seriously.

basically thats me,i no its a lot of info but i would be very grateful of everyones help-this site seems to be a brilliant point of contact and really freindly.if i can help anyone let me no.

Get intouch with Darren at NETT. You will learn all you need to know there and can get your tool kid sorted. I did another tile training course before going to nett and the difference was unbelievable.
B&B in South Shields is cheap and very good, loads of places listed on-line. I traveled over 200 miles from the West Midlands to do my training and was so impressed that I went back a few months later to do the plastering.
Many members of this forum have done their training with Darren and everyone praises his training methods.
Be careful as there are many poor centres offering tile training. Read course feed back on this forum before you decide, but you wont go wrong at nett.

One bathroom and toilet for an NVQ??

Have you read through all our reviews yet Tom. Theres a few course providers as forum members so pm / phone them up.

been researching for a few months faithhealer,that is what i was told by one company-2 visits from an asessor on my own home and i wiil have an nvq-i did smell a rat straight
away and thats why im on here

You say site work is inevitable, why so? not a lot around at the moment. They are not going to let a newbie on site when they have tilers fighting each other for the available work. Plus on site you have to get up to speed pretty quickly or you won't earn! Do your course then do domestic to gain your experience (small jobs) then hopefully you'll have some experience by the time theres a few more sites open.

that will be my plan anyway faith healer-to do domestic work initially to gain experiance(plus its where i want my business to be anyway)in my area their is alot of site work available-alot of ministry of defence stuff aswell,i worked as a foreman for a specialist coating firm for 6 years before my accident and still have alot of contacts in the refurbishment sector so site work will still be something i want to work towards-hence the desire for an nvq.

Get as much experience as you can.
I've heard good reports only about the Nett course and as stated the NE is a great place to be!
Test your area with phone calls to see how much work is around - but the signs are good that its picking up for most!
Good luck and if you come to Nett give me a PM and I'll take you out for a days tiling.

I can say Diamond Training are excellent and would easily fulfill all your requirements and then some.

Just take a look at there web site and watch the video to see how great there training center is.

Click here for Diamond Training.

I trained there and can't tell enough people how good it is.

My understanding of NVQ's, which is limited at best, is that you can only really attain them on the job (I could be a million miles away with that, but having done one in Team Leadership a few years ago, i can tell you there was a lot of work involved). I'm sure there are courses that are geared up for NVQ, but i don't know if you'll walk away from one with the NVQ level 2 certificate in your hand. NETT don't do the NVQ, or at least they didn't when i was there.


*Edit: Sorry Prem, i didn't read your post.. Did you finish the course with the NVQ then?

The course dont entitle you to gain the nvq but they set if up for you then process the relevant paper work you need b4 coming out to do an on site assessment.

For instance Diamond Training lodge your request for assessment funding and granted your eligible you do your course and are assessed in the relevant modules that can be covered in the center i.e safety brief, tiling a wall, tiling a floor, grouting a wall, grouting a floor. Obviously there are more than just them but there the start points.

Then once you leave the center to embark on your new career you build on your portfolio making sure the evidence you get is good enough for your nvq i.e wear PPE in your photos, get traceable references.

Then once you have everything required you need to arrange to be assessed 'on site' this is on a job of your own. You can arrange the assessment with Diamond Training. after that the collage that is hosting your NVQ in Diamonds case Chichester collage issue you with your NVQ II.

There are more details to this but I know not enough to go in to it I'll leave that to an assear. Ask for Danny or Sam at Diamond they will set you straight.

You can now get an nvq level 2 through nett. You will have to be employed as a tiler or tax registered and self employed before you can do a nvq with anyone.
These courses can not be done in a training centre or any other simulated situation, assessment is done 'vocationally', on the job in real working conditions.

Originally Posted by Prem Tiler

Then once you leave the center to embark on your new career you build on your portfolio making sure the evidence you get is good enough for your nvq i.e wear PPE in your photos, get traceable references.

Ahhhh that would explain why you had a Hi-Vis jacket on in that photo of you doing a domestic conservatory floor. I did always wonder

Hi All,

There seems to be a lot of confusion on here regarding courses and the NVQ process, so I will try my best to set things straight in the most basic structure.

Firstly no training centre or college in the country are able to award an NVQ qualification in house without on site assessments, unless you have 5 years provable experience and you will then be able to undertake the EWPR assessment which is assessed in simulation over 2 days. Anyone telling you something else is totally wrong and should be avoided.

You will also not be in a position to apply for your NVQ after a 1 - 2 week course, as you will just not have enough knowledge or skill to to apply straight away.

Prem tiler (Dean) is almost right in what he has posted, apart for the bit involving Chichester College. We used to award NVQs via Chichester College until we gained our own Accreditation with CAA ( Construction Awards Alliance ) and now we act independently.

After completing a 4 - 6 week course, as long as you have followed what our instructors have taught you and you have taken the information in, then you will be in a position of having 90% of the NVQ portfolio complete upon completing training with the company, the only remaining requirement is the on site assessments.

The on site assessments do not have to be on a construction site, they can be anywhere as long as it is not simulated and it is a real life situation.

The NVQ L2 in Wall & Floor Tiling is not a complex qualification, it consists of only 5 units. The first 3 are generic units on H&S / Handling of Materials etc, it is only the last 2 which relate directly to tiling.

To sum it up you need to attend a well structured course, be trained by tutors who are familiar with delivering this qualification and have the support of the team who are delivering your training and assessments.

At Diamond Training, all of our staff are qualified A1 assessors and we also employ 2 full time Internal Verifiers who monitor the delivery and assessment process.

With regards to accommodation on our 4 & 6 week courses, for bookings taken before 18th Dec 09 for the 2010 we are including free accommodation within the course fees.

If anyone has any questions or would like to talk to myself or our tutors, please call us on 01903 739 407 or email info@diamondtraininggroup.co.uk .

I hope the above makes sense.

All the best

There you go fellas cant put it clearer than that!!

Originally Posted by Colour Republic

Ahhhh that would explain why you had a Hi-Vis jacket on in that photo of you doing a domestic conservatory floor. I did always wonder

I know but a mans got to do what a mans got to do. saftey 1st and all that.

You should see the faces on my customers when I don hard hat and hi-vi. lol priceless!

Originally Posted by Danny@ Diamond

Hi All,

There seems to be a lot of confusion on here regarding courses and the NVQ process, so I will try my best to set things straight in the most basic structure.

Firstly no training centre or college in the country are able to award an NVQ qualification in house without on site assessments, unless you have 5 years provable experience and you will then be able to undertake the EWPR assessment which is assessed in simulation over 2 days. Anyone telling you something else is totally wrong and should be avoided.

You will also not be in a position to apply for your NVQ after a 1 - 2 week course, as you will just not have enough knowledge or skill to to apply straight away.

Prem tiler (Dean) is almost right in what he has posted, apart for the bit involving Chichester College. We used to award NVQs via Chichester College until we gained our own Accreditation with CAA ( Construction Awards Alliance ) and now we act independently.

After completing a 4 - 6 week course, as long as you have followed what our instructors have taught you and you have taken the information in, then you will be in a position of having 90% of the NVQ portfolio complete upon completing training with the company, the only remaining requirement is the on site assessments.

The on site assessments do not have to be on a construction site, they can be anywhere as long as it is not simulated and it is a real life situation.

The NVQ L2 in Wall & Floor Tiling is not a complex qualification, it consists of only 5 units. The first 3 are generic units on H&S / Handling of Materials etc, it is only the last 2 which relate directly to tiling.

To sum it up you need to attend a well structured course, be trained by tutors who are familiar with delivering this qualification and have the support of the team who are delivering your training and assessments.

At Diamond Training, all of our staff are qualified A1 assessors and we also employ 2 full time Internal Verifiers who monitor the delivery and assessment process.

With regards to accommodation on our 4 & 6 week courses, for bookings taken before 18th Dec 09 for the 2010 we are including free accommodation within the course fees.

If anyone has any questions or would like to talk to myself or our tutors, please call us on 01903 739 407 or email info@diamondtraininggroup.co.uk .

I hope the above makes sense.

All the best

brilliant information and a great help.thanks alot.