I am thinking about doing a tiling course and setting up on my own and was just looking for some advice? i got the idea from a couple of my good mates who are both plumbers and mentioned that there seems to be a shortage of decent tiliers and could get me a fair bit of work. In people opinion is there a lot of work out there? any other advice on starting out would also be greatly appriciated

Checkout these posts mate: Decent topics a new tiler should read

There is a shortage of qualified tilers.

If you can get work via your mates then you're laughing, otherwise it's a case of getting your name out there.

Hi mstiling and welcome to the forum.

Started out myself about 6 months ago and things are going really well at the moment. If you are willing to put the work in you can earn a nice wage. It is great that you know some people who would put some work your way, very good stepping stone. Work can be slow some weeks and the next week you are inundated with calls.
As for a course have a good read through the forums, lots of feedback on here from various courses to help you decide who you should be trained by.
I couldn't really say if there is a shortage of tilers, think it totally depends on the area you are from, lots of tilers in my area but i still get plenty of work.

Got to agree with Penno, much depends on where you are situated but if you can get a head start with good plumbing contacts it makes things so much easier. Don't put your self under pressure on your first few jobs though by trying to be quick. Take your time and do it right.

Grumpy