Attend a Plumbing Course – Accredited Plumbing Courses from Access Training

View Plumbing Courses Workshop Gallery We have designed a range of plumbing courses to suit every individual’s needs. Whether your priority is based on your budget, the best qualifications available, best suited to your current commitments, or if you want to change your career in the quickest way possibly that above all helps you to achieve your ambitions, then we almost certainly have the plumbing course you need. Below are 3 of our most popular plumbing courses, they are well worth your time taking a look over. Call us on 0800 345 7492 or enter your details on this page if you need advice and guidance on our plumbing courses. If you want to be trained and qualified City & Guilds Plumber then consider this plumbing course. The course includes, installing copper and plastic pipework, installing bathrooms, installing airing cupboards and gets you working on heating systems including working with radiators. You will be able to attend this plumbing course Part - Time if you wish as it’s a flexible package; our plumbing courses allow you to train around your current job or lifestyle and complete the plumbing course over a longer period. Click on the link and find out if this plumbing course is for you. If you are looking for a plumbing course to gain the skills of a plumber in a short time period then this is the plumbing course for you. It’s suitable for every one, including complete beginners and those wishing to change career. This plumbing course contains comprehensive training on many aspects of domestic plumbing and leads to City & Guilds plumbing qualification. Click on the link to find out more this and other plumbing courses. This is a comprehensive, all encompassing plumbing course that includes Gas training. If you want to eventually become Gas Safe registered and commission and install domestic gas appliances including cookers, fires and boilers but also want to be skilled and qualified to carry out domestic plumbing tasks, then this plumbing course needs your careful consideration. It gives you all the skills you need through a plumbing course developed to be suitable for everyone through intensive small class sizes of a maximum of 8 people to 1 tutor ensuring that you receive the maximum attention from your tutor. Get in touch and we’ll tell you more about how this course compares to our other plumbing courses. Notably, most of our students are looking for plumbing course that leads to a career change to become a plumber. Almost all understandably do not want to give up work to attend one of our plumbing courses, some potential students work unusual shift patterns and think that attending a plumbing course will therefore be difficult, others have been unfortunate and suffered redundancy and want to access plumbing courses immediately and get qualified as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, if your circumstances are similar to these then your local college probably will not be able to cater for your needs, as they have set term times and it can take you up to two years to complete a plumbing course (that’s if you don’t miss any of the classes over the two years).

Call Access Training today and we’ll show you how we are able to provide you with plumbing courses that are entirely flexible and more focussed plumber training, and vitally why previous students rate us so highly and recommend our plumbing courses so frequently.

A list of available plumbing courses that we provide at Access includes:

• DIY Plumbing Courses
• Beginners Domestic Plumbing Courses
• NVQ Level 2 Plumbing Courses
• Plumbing Courses leading to VRQ and NVQ Diplomas
• City & Guilds Certificated Plumbing Courses
• City & Guilds Level 3 Plumbing Courses (6129 Technical Certificate)
• City & Guilds Level 2 Plumbing Courses (6129 Technical Certificate)
• City & Guilds Level 2 Plumbing Courses (Heating & Ventilation)
• City & Guilds Bathroom Fitting Plumbing Courses
• Unvented Hot Water Systems Certificate (BPEC Unvented G3 Certificate)
• Water Regulations (WRAS) Certificate (BPEC/WRAS Level 2)
• Solar Domestic Hot Water Systems Course (BPEC Level 3 Certificate)

Which is the correct plumbing course for the Adult Learner, how do become a plumber and how do I choose from the plumbing courses available to me?

If you are browsing the available plumbing courses to change your career, looking for plumbing courses that get you qualified or you are just concerned that you are a late starter when it comes to training, making a decision about which of the plumbing courses to take when it comes to getting qualified as a plumber can be daunting, as you don't know where to go for real advice on plumbing courses or who to turn to for a point in the right direction.

The first place people usually start for plumbing courses are local colleges, but they are normally busy and are not able to give the flexibility when it comes to adult learners. Their plumbing courses are unnecessarily long, sometimes poorly resourced and have very few start dates during the year. Similarly, many private plumbing courses from other training providers confuse potential candidates by presenting them with the most expensive plumbing course they run and people are put off joining the lucrative plumbing trade all together.

The good news is however, that at Access Training we guarantee that every adult learner will get the plumbing courses information they need and the correct plumbing course recommended for them and their individual circumstances. This enables you to make an informed decision about your plumbing course or joining the Plumbing industry.

We are dedicated to helping and training mature learners on plumbing courses as we have found that employers prefer our graduates as they often turn out to be better employees; they are more focussed and more dedicated than an apprentice who is more likely not to complete his or her plumbing course in the first place.

The right plumbing course depends on your background and your circumstances. Leave your details or give us a call and we’ll tell you more about our plumbing courses. Alternatively read on below to find out what you need to start your plumbing course. Ultimately you will need to achieve an NVQ 2 in plumbing to be regarded as ‘fully qualified’, but to start with you will need to gain what the industry calls, ‘underpinning knowledge’. This can be achieved by attending the City & Guilds 6129 plumbing course or the EAL VRQ plumbing course. After you have completed one of our plumbing courses, you will then have the skills to be assessed on how you carry out plumbing tasks to attend one of our NVQ level 2 plumbing courses. The aim of all of our plumbing courses is to get you qualified with industry standard qualifications and provide you with a plumbing course that gives you a skill level and competence which will give you the confidence and belief to work safely and efficiently on domestic plumbing equipment, systems and home installations after completing your plumbing course. We guarantee that you will learn a huge variety of new skills on all our plumbing courses; we will teach you the ‘tricks of the trade’ and train you to tackle a wide range of plumbing jobs, from repairing a leaking pipe or radiator to re-plumbing an entire house. You will be given the skills and qualifications on your plumbing course to get into the industry and develop a successful and secure career.

By attending a plumbing course with us, you can be reaping the benefits of a career in the plumbing industry by getting the professional qualifications you need. Our plumbing courses can include NVQ2, City & Guilds and BPEC qualifications. Traditionally you would need to wait 2 or 3 years to start your career by enrolling on a lengthy and inflexible college plumbing course. However, we can cater for your individual needs and get you qualified and trained on our intensive plumbing courses in a shorter and more focussed period of time.

At Access Training, we devise plumbing courses that allow students to progress through our training centre at a pace that is dictated by the student and not us. We offer every student the opportunity to advance in whichever direction they choose to take during our plumbing courses. If you decide that you want to attend a short, ‘taster’ plumbing course, and then decide at a later date that you’re ready to progress onto gaining professional level career qualifications in plumbing, then we can manage your training and offer you the advice and support you will need through every step throughout your plumbing course. Our plumbing courses consist of 4 main elements designed to maximise your training experience:


1. Small plumbing courses with class sizes of a maximum of 8 to ensure you get the greatest amount of tuition time possible.
2. Comprehensive plumbing course work completed in the comfort of your own home with regular assignments with 24 hour online or over the phone student support for any questions you have.
3. Attend On-Site-Specialist-Training when you wish to attend the practical part of your plumbing course.
4. Sit exams and take practical tests at the training centre to gain Industry Standard qualifications. We do not teach purely ‘home study’ plumbing courses for you to become a plumber by learning everything at home then attending test days at a training centre. This simply does not work. Our plumbing courses are a carefully designed method of giving students the ability to learn and gain the vital skills and job knowledge necessary to become a qualified tradesperson after their plumbing courses. What we always emphasise to all our potential students on our plumbing courses is that they will be spending more time in our training centre learning practical skills than a typical mature student studying at a local college or even on an apprenticeship plumbing course.

Of the students that have attended plumbing courses following advice from Access Training, the vast majority have gone on to establish profitable new careers in the plumbing industry using the training and guidance they received on their plumbing courses. We can even get you set up and ready to start your own business through our Business Start-up Training, should you choose to do so. We provide help and support long after you have completed your plumbing course and with many students attending more training further down the line to increase their earning potential even further.

• Entirely hands on practical plumbing courses to suit a wide variety of people whatever your background.
• City & Guilds approved training centre, with facilities and staff that are of the highest standard.
• Intensive plumbing courses for those wanting a change of career or short courses for DIY purposes; every individual need can be fulfilled.
• Plumbing courses with class sizes of a maximum of 8 ensuring you get the most amount of tuition time possible.
• Purpose built domestic locations and scenarios including Bathrooms for students to train within throughout their plumbing courses.
• How to deal with a wide range of emergency plumbing tasks that you could come across within the home.
• We offer the City & Guilds 6129 Level 2 plumbing course, the City & Guilds 6128 Heat and Ventilation plumbing course and most importantly we can also offer an NVQ2 plumbing course which can be delivered and assessed without the need for a work placement.
• Our NVQ2 plumbing course has no need for you to delay gaining your Industry Standard Qualifications as you will be assed whilst attending the course. Unlike other training centres who offer NVQ level 2 plumbing courses, you may not need to find a lengthy and often costly work placement with us.
• All intensive plumbing courses have an extensive set of training support material, including text books and individual portfolios for you to complete.
• We cover every sector of the construction industry with our training so if your ambitions include other areas such as carrying out electrical work then we can facilitate and mange your career development.
• For those who are unsure about committing to a full professional plumbing course and just want to widen their skills for the time being or if they simply want to see if they enjoy it, shorter plumbing courses are available that can be built upon towards a professional plumbing course at a later date.

There are various plumbing courses available as a means of starting a new career from:

• There still remains a huge shortage of qualified plumbers across the country (have you tried to call a plumber lately? They always seem to be busy!)
• Graduates of plumbing courses are high demand as the levels of pay are high compared to many other sectors.
• You get to work for yourself so you have the choice of the hours you want to work after completing your plumbing course. Especially if you have family commitments as you have the flexibility you need.
• Attend one of our plumbing courses and become your own boss and grow your own business.
• Gain the status of becoming a professionally qualified person.
• It is one of the few ‘jobs for life’ that are left. Once you are qualified after your plumbing course nobody can ever take it away from you, it is a skill and qualification you will have for the rest of your life.
• Its a job that everybody wants, you will set yourself apart from the rest by becoming a qualified plumber by attending one of our plumbing courses.
• You will get a complete sense of job satisfaction that comes with the practical work of this kind. Plumbing is rated as one of the happiest professions for someone to have, so enrol on a plumbing course now and be happy!

For many years there has been a lack of skilled plumbers entering the plumbing industry. The country relied heavily upon the traditional route of apprenticeship plumbing courses, which has failed, as smaller and smaller numbers of people are prepared to undertake plumbing courses for many years whilst supporting themselves and their families on very small pay packets. The new and most successful way to enter the industry is to attend a flexible, focussed plumbing course attended at state-of-the-art facilities that allows adults to combine their exiting work and family arrangements whist training on a plumbing course for a new career.

Before now, the standard way to get qualified was to attend one of the plumbing courses that give the technical and practical knowledge. However, the only way you can be regarded as Fully Qualified is to gain your Plumbing NVQ Level 2. This normally involves a series of site visits to your place of work by an Assessor who will observe on a range of specified tasks as you are carrying them out that is separate from most plumbing courses. This presents two problems: the first is getting the different types of jobs needed so they can be assessed after your plumbing course, this can take literally years to achieve, and the second is getting a placement in the first place. Many companies ‘guarantee’ you a placement, but where? These could be hundreds of miles from your home, you probably won’t get paid by the company hosting you and there is a strong chance that you won’t complete the plumbing course, mainly because supporting yourself over this period becomes impossible.

Other plumbing course providers ask you to find your own placement but your options are limited: you could get a part time job with a plumber local to you, or you could ask a local plumber nicely and tell him that you would work for free until you get the evidence needed to complete your NVQ, but is this really going to happen? NVQ2 plumbing courses are available at local colleges, but these are long drawn out courses with high dropout rates and spaces are very limited, you can only enrol once a year and there is often a lengthy waiting list that could run into years. The answer is to attend our NVQ2 plumbing course where we can provide you with a fully managed work placement.

There means no hassles and no worries about completing your plumbing course with Access Training. There are no lengthy, time wasting placements after your plumbing course. You just concentrate on gaining the qualification where you know exactly when you will be finishing the plumbing course so you plan ahead to get into your new career straight away. Contact us today for information about enrolling on this plumbing course. Ultimately, if you are serious and want a long lasting rewarding plumbing career, you are going to have to attend an NVQ2 plumbing course to achieve your goals. You need to undertake the NVQ2 plumbing course after which you can then be regarded as fully qualified plumber. You may however decide to further your training and qualify yourself to operate on gas and electrics. These are both useful areas to consider as they can offer greater diversity of work available to you and there a higher level of income. It is an important point to be clear about when choosing which plumbing course to attend. Attending the City & Guilds 6129 plumbing course proves to a potential employer that you have the technical understanding and skill to be a plumber. However, having an NVQ Level 2 in Plumbing proves that you have reached the industry standard and can be regarded as ‘Fully Qualified’ as this is the recognised industry standard. The 6129 plumbing course covers the same elements as the NVQ2 plumbing course and you can progress onto the NVQ2 plumbing course after completing the 6219 Technical Certificate if you wish. Call us for further information about which of the plumbing courses you should choose. It has been stated in independent studies that approximately 100 new plumbers, from plumbing courses and electricians, from electrical courses are needed on average every month. This rough figure was established as it became more and more clear that the amount of people undertaking plumbing courses was not keeping up with the needs of the industry and to replace those who were retiring.

It goes without saying that in difficult economic times above all, most people want job security and to be in a job that is as recession proof as is possible. Evidence suggests that whilst nearly every industry takes a downturn in fortunes through bad times, the plumbing trade appears to be as recession-proof as any other sector so looking at plumbing courses might be good idea.

Over the past couple of years graduates from our plumbing courses have gone on to gain stable employment or built rewarding plumbing businesses for themselves, and we fully expect this to continue and to grow strongly. To quote from government sources in 2009, a forecast was made by the Government’s Construction Skills Network that confirmed that many, people are needed to graduate from plumbing courses as they are still needed by industry, more precisely; an average of over 200 are required every month from this year until 2013. Around 20% of those graduating from plumbing courses are needed by the industry as replacements for plumbers who have either emigrated or who are approaching retirement age.

It is worth noting that as an example, the average age of an electrician in this county is over the age of 45, so there are vast numbers of qualified people approaching retirement very soon, and the plumbing industry is in a similar situation. The range of plumbing courses at Access Training are ideal for people wishing to change career, new entrants and trades people from other sectors who want to gain work or self employment in the plumbing industry after their plumbing course. After completing your plumbing course you will be able to safely install the full range of domestic plumbing work, including:

• Working with copper pipe and plumbing fittings.
• Working with plastic push-fit and plumbing fittings.
• Repairing and maintaining plumbing systems.
• Decommissioning and installing bathrooms.
• Installing and redirecting soil pipes.
• Installing showers and en-suites.
• Installing hot water cylinders in airing cupboards.
• Installing cold water storage tanks in lofts.
• Installing heating systems (up to, but not connecting to a boiler).
• Exchange or replacing radiators.
• Maintaining and installing unvented cylinders and systems.
• Installing guttering and down pipes.
• Progress onto becoming GAS SAFE (previously CORGI) Gas Heating Engineer.

Rest assured you will have the right level of training, the best qualifications available and the experience to work in the plumbing trade after one of our plumbing courses. Don’t worry, Access Training plumbing courses are aimed at people with little or no plumbing experience and aged between 17 and 70! Whether you have never picked up a spanner or alternatively have plumbed in your own bathroom, the plumbing courses are tailored to fit around your experience and learning speed. Not necessarily when you attend the NVQ 2 Plumbing Course with Access Training. Other training providers do not go to the length that we do when they deliver their plumbing courses. We could provide you with a managed job placement where someone will turn up and assess your skills towards your certificate. Contact us now about our unique NVQ 2 plumbing courses.

We give you the full qualification upon completing the plumbing course assessments so you know exactly when you will be qualified to apply for a job as a plumber to start a job you find yourself or start your own plumbing business at any time after your plumbing course. Access Training deliver their plumbing courses in a flexible way so that you are in complete control of the speed at which you study and complete the plumbing course. Most students have both family and work commitments and are able to fit their plumbing course around them. This method works well for students as they do not have to give up their job until they have the confidence and skills to move into the industry after completing their plumbing course. You can do the small amount of theory at home during your plumbing course when you have time, maybe in the evenings or at weekends, and you may decide to take some time off work to fit in the practical part of your plumbing course. The practical sessions are broken down into a number of weeklong blocks, which will be spent at one of our training centres to complete your plumbing course. At the practical sessions during our plumbing courses you will put into practice what you have been studying in the theory and actually see the end result of your hard work. As most previous students of our plumbing courses will tell you, the learning curve is steep and you will be very surprised how much you learn in a short space of time. As mentioned before, the plumbing courses take the blended learning approach to your development. This is a mix of theory that you do at home in your own time and practical hands-on training that you do at one of our training facilities whilst on your plumbing course. You can book your practical training sessions when it suits your schedule, you tell us when you would like to attend your plumbing course. What you will earn depends on how successful you are after completing one of the plumbing courses, how good the work is that you carry out and your reputation, you become a respected plumbing professional with a lifetime skill in long term demand with job security in an apparently recession-resistant industry. These plumbing courses could give you predicted earnings of around £31,500 to £40,500 with some experience, and valuable qualifications recognised worldwide. A few years ago a study was complete that showed the average earnings of a qualified plumber was £31,495. It was predicted by City & Guilds that a plumber could be expected to earn on average £605 a week with some plumbers earning quoted figures of £780 per week or £40,523 a year.

It goes without saying that newly qualified plumbers will probably not get to these kinds of figures straight away and you will need to gain experience in many areas of the plumbing trade before achieving these levels of income. These figures will certainly not be achieved if you are only partly qualified and you will not gain your NVQ level 2. This could and should be the qualification every plumber will want to gain and you can do so at our training centre without the need to gain a work placement and have numerous site visits by an assessor.

Call us to find out more, some of our students are achieving their full NVQ2 from our plumbing course whilst attending one of our specially designed plumbing courses. If in the future you find yourself successfully employing a number of other plumbers within your business then this could, of course, produce even higher rewards. Also it is worth noting that if you plan to use your plumbing skills to become a Property or Housing Manager, then the highest salaries are predicted to be £1,357 a week which equates to £70,576 a year.

“self employed plumbers can charge £90 per hour plus VAT…some make £100,000 a year”
- The Sunday Times In the very near future all persons working with pipes and connecting pipe work to taps, will have to take this plumbing course and hold this qualification. Current legislation dictates that soon, attending this plumbing course will become a mandatory requirement. This mirrors the electrical industry where you must hold a specific qualification to legally work on electrical wiring. You will gain this certificate on most of our plumbing courses, please contact us for details. The City & Guilds 6129 Certificate is a plumbing course designed for anyone wishing to learn the fundamental principles of plumbing and gain a recognised level 2 qualification. This plumbing course is designed to teach someone who has no knowledge of plumbing and give them a certificate that proves they can undertake plumbing tasks and proves to potential employers that you have a technical understanding of the subject. It is the ideal plumbing course for someone wishing to enter the industry and is popular with students who wish to start up a new career by gaining employment with reputable plumbing company or for someone wishing to set up their own business.

The plumbing course curriculum itself comprises of a blend of ‘hands on’ practical training and theory studies designed to give the student the complete understanding of the subject. It is designed to cover all of the fundamental aspects of the plumbing trade, however, it cannot cover every eventuality and complexity and will not fully qualify you as a plumber. It gives you the underpinning knowledge required to enter the industry and allows you to progress to fully qualified status after completing the NVQ2 plumbing course.

The City & Guilds 6129 plumbing course is one of the main qualifications recognised across the plumbing industry as being the qualification needed for entry into the plumbing industry. It also allows you to naturally progress onto plumbing NVQ2 qualification should you choose to do so. The NVQ2 is the qualification the industry wishes you to gain and is ultimately the qualification that all trainee plumbers should aspire to. The NVQ2 in plumbing can now be completed by attending the plumbing course at our training centre giving fully qualified status without the need for a work placement.

Call us today for more information as there are a limited amount of spaces on this plumbing course. The City & Guilds 6128 Domestic Heating & Ventilation Technical Certificate is a level 2 plumbing course and qualification that trains individuals in the plumbing aspects of heating systems installation and the basic principles relating to heating system components including pre-work checks and lawful limitations. This plumbing course is a natural progression after gaining the WRAS Certificate, the practical plumbing skills and underpinning knowledge achieved during the practical workshops in our training centre during the plumbing course. It is one of the highly regarded City & Guilds plumbing courses that proves your knowledge and allows you to progress to Gas Safe certification after a gas course. Our plumbing courses include this qualification as it has been created to enable plumbing and heating engineers to confirm their competence working on unvented hot water storage systems. After your plumbing course it will allow you to install fault-find and test these systems and, upon successful completion, gain membership of the BPEC unvented hot water competent persons scheme (or another industry standard competent persons schemes.) It is illegal to work on unvented hot water systems of over 15 litres in capacity, unless you hold a recognised qualification. After you have completed your NVQ2 Plumbing Course you will have the option of progressing onto the Gas Engineer Course or the ACS Gas Course. This is the natural progression on the plumbing career path following one of our plumbing courses and will give you even greater earning potential should you wish to achieve GASE SAFE registration or CORGI certification, as it was previously known. Please contact us and we’ll give you all the details about progressing towards a Gas Engineer Qualification after your plumbing course. Job interviews could be sourced upon completion of your plumbing NVQ2 but this not a guarantee. If any of our extensive contacts within the industry are looking to employ a qualified plumber from our plumbing courses then we will put you contact with them. What we will not do before your plumbing course, unlike many training providers, is fill potential students with false hope by promising them work in the form of a placement which never leads to what was expected. We will also not directly provide advice on CV writing unlike other training providers following your plumbing course. Will certainly put you in touch with professional CV writers as these people are experts, in the way we at Access Training are industry-leading experts in delivering plumbing courses. Our plumbing Tutors are only allowed to deliver plumbing courses having amassed a vast amount of experience and qualifications, having spent many years working within the plumbing and gas industries. There is very little that isn’t known about the plumbing trade between all of our tutors and they are only too keen to impart their knowledge on our plumbing courses as its a subject they have covered for literally decades. They have continually developed and added to all of our plumbing courses and designed them so as much realism as is possible is included. We have found that this approach has developed our plumbing courses in a way that has improved the quality of the work the student produces and has increased the pass rates.

The realism also includes teaching students about cleanliness and estimating the materials and time required to plan and complete each task on the plumbing course. This area is obviously crucial for those students looking to set up their own plumbing business, as estimating is a fundamental part of being able gain work from customers and cleanliness is a major factor in earning a good reputation. No, you will only need appropriate clothing and footwear for training on our plumbing courses as it is a practical environment. More detail will be provided when you enrol on the plumbing course. We supply all materials for your training; whether that is books, tools and the raw materials you work with such as copper pipe and fittings. We do not ration the amount of material available to you on our plumbing courses, unlike other companies who give a certain amount to work with, we give the materials you need and require for getting the most out of your plumbing course. The tools we will provide are of industry standard and are not cheap imitations; the tools you will train with on your plumbing course will be the tools that you will buy when you begin your plumbing career. Do not be fooled by companies tempting you with tools as part of their plumbing courses fee. They are often cheap imitations of what you need to have and you will only end up replacing them by buying them yourself after the plumbing course. The quality of the plumbing course you are attending is the most important factor when choosing where to go. Speak to one of our experienced advisors about our plumbing courses. They are available at your convenience and will fully explain each plumbing course and our facilities, they will ask you about your ambitions, introduce the benefits of working within the plumbing industry, discuss what you would like to achieve after your plumbing course and guide you towards the plumbing course that is right for you and, most importantly, advise you if this career is right for you.

They can also discuss your accommodation needs should you be interested in attending a plumbing course with us and they will also identify relevant funding options for your circumstances

Call the Plumbing Courses Admissions Team for further information free on 0800 345 7492 or enter your details on this page and we’ll call you back.

Our free Plumbing Courses and Career Guidance Service is available to you 24 hours a day 7 days a week so contact us now by phone or email for FREE information and to attend one of our open days! The main areas include:

• South Wales
  (Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, Bridgend)
• South of England
  (Bristol, Gloucester, Bath, Swindon, Oxford, Reading, Slough, London)
• The Midlands
  (Birmingham, Hereford, Worcester, Derby, Nottingham, Leicester)
• The South West
  (Devon, Cornwall, Exeter, Plymouth, Taunton)

Call us today on 0800 345 7492 about our plumbing courses and we will soon have you on the track to becoming a qualified plumber.