Hi im a novice of 35 looking to get a career in tiling. Im aware of the catch 22 situation that exists for those who want to get NVQ qualified in that you need to get a job to get NVQ and you cant get a job with anyone unless you have it, etc...
As much as i would be willing to do one at 35 i cant realistally see myself being offered an apprentiship.
Ive been told a way round this situation is to get trained then go self employed, claim back your course fee via your tax return & call out an assessor to verify & tick off your work on your NVQ form each time you have a job.
My questions are:-

1. Can you really claim back your whole course fee?
2. How many jobs would you need to do to get NVQ qualified? I mean how many different types of jobs requiring assessor call outs can there be?
3. How long would you have to be self employed for before you could apply for a job with your NVQ.?

Hi Gat15. You don't say if you have done any tiling before so I can't give you any advise about the course fee being claimed back. I'm in a simular situation as you but have been tiling part-time for around 8 years and have built up a portfolio of the work I have done.

Now I contacted one of the training agencies on here and showed them my portfolio and was advised of the course to suit me. My next move is to do a two week course (although you might have to do a 6 week course). After the course you have some time to choose the jobs that you think will be good enough to be assessed on. You can't achieve the NVQ Level 2 qualification within ten weeks but could in 12 weeks.

Hope that helps!!

Chers for the reply. Ive never done proffessional tiling in my life apart from in my home but have a rough idea that you have an NVQ tick sheet to become qualified.
A family member is training to become an NVQ qual mechanic, so needs to undertake a list of jobs on a car to be completely signed off.

By the same principle i dont know roughly how many types of jobs i would have to do as a tiler to get my NVQ2? and would i need to call someone out each time or just take photos and build up a portfolio?.

What you have to do is call and arrange for an assessor to meet you on site. He will be looking at the quality of workmanship and also how tidy the site is for health and safty reasons. I'm lead to believe that once you have been signed off as NVQ qualified you also get the cscs card that is required for commercial site work.

I'm not sure what the requirements are but once on the course the trainers will probably be able to tell you..

Once you are nvq qualified you can then take the cscs test.

Originally Posted by Dale44

Once you are nvq qualified you can then take the cscs test.

Hi all,

The CSCS Test is part of the NVQ L2, you cant be awarded it without having taken your H & S test.

Hope this helps.

All the best

chers for the advice

hi gats i got my nvq2 last year through the experianced worker route as id been tiling for more than 5 years as a novice i dont think theirs any way ud get an nvq in 12 weeks. the best people to talk to for advice is max at able skills, if you go on the web and go to www.ableskills.co.uk the web site has lots of info or give them a call. hope this is of use yo you. good luck

Hi bsc ceramics. Thanks for the feedback on the EWPA NVQ2 route. It's funny as i have been quite busy on the OSAT route lately but anyone thinking of gaining NVQ level 2 and has a minimum of 5 years experience i would advise the EWPA route as it tends to be quicker than OSAT.