If you're looking into becoming a professional gas engineer, you may well have heard the term Gas Safe training. In order to work as a gas engineer in the UK, you must be on the Gas Safe Register, and this requires specific training / qualifications. You can think of the Gas Safe Register as an official list of every certified gas engineer who is legally allowed to work on gas appliances in the UK.

Previously known as CORGI, the Gas Safe Register is a nationwide scheme that was created to protect the public from unsafe gas work. To get onto the Gas Safe Register, you must provide evidence of your competence and training by presenting the relevant qualifications, which can be one of the following:

• A Nationally Accredited Certification Scheme (ACS) qualification
• A Scottish/National Vocational Qualification (S/NVQ), such as the 6012 City & Guilds range
• Qualification Credit Framework (QCF) certification

The training required to become Gas Safe registered is where Access Training Gas Courses can be of use. Whether you are starting as an absolute beginner or would just like to refresh your skills, our courses are designed to get you ready to work as a professional gas engineer. Our Professional Gas Course, for instance, allows you to gain your ACS certificate and join the Gas Safe Register (no experience required to enrol on this course).

Completing a Gas Safe training programme and joining the Register is the only way to be able to work legally in the UK as a gas engineer. Without this, you will not only be working illegally, you may also be putting yourself and the public in danger. Our courses allow you to train safely in state-of-the-art facilities.

Click here to learn more about our gas courses, or contact us today to find out how to enrol.

Thinking of changing careers? Wondering if you'd enjoy life as a professional electrician? Read on to find out just what this job has to offer.

Becoming an electrician can be a very tempting prospect, especially if your current job keeps you cooped up in an office all week. Electricians spend their working days out and about, travelling from one job to the next, fixing people's electrical problems and helping them to get their appliances up and running again.

If this sounds like a pretty rewarding way to make a living, well, it is! Here's a closer look at why electrical work may be a good career for you to pursue:

1. How much do electricians make?
2. What hours do electricians work?
3. How difficult is it to find work?
4. How do you become a qualified electrician?

How much do electricians make?

According to the Office of National Statistics, the median salary for a UK electrician in 2016 was £30,765 per year. This was slightly higher than the figure for the previous year (which means that electricians' salaries are going up over time).

The same ONS survey found that electricians are the best-paid tradespeople of all, earning more on average than other professionals such as plumbers, carpenters, bricklayers and plasterers.

READ MORE: What is an Electrician's Salary?

What hours do electricians work?

So how hard does an electrician have to work to earn upwards of £30k a year? Obviously, there's no set working week when you're a self-employed electrician - you can take on as many or as few jobs as you choose - but it goes without saying that the more work you do, the more money you'll make.

Depending on how much work you find (and how much of it you choose to take on at once), you may well find yourself doing 50-60hrs per week. However, it is more than possible to live comfortably as an electrician working significantly fewer hours than that.

How difficult is it to find work?

The UK is still suffering from something of a trade skills shortage, meaning that there simply aren't enough tradespeople available to do all the jobs that need doing around the country.

This means that electricians (as well as plumbers, bricklayers, etc.) are in very high demand right now, with many tradespeople finding that they're able to command a much higher price for their services than in the past. Interestingly, the result of last year's EU referendum seem to have exacerbated the skills shortage further, and UK electricians are sorely needed to replace the EU workers upon the trade industry relied until recently.

How do you become a qualified electrician?

If the perks of professional electrical work sounds too good to pass up, the next question you'll ask is probably 'what's the next step?'

View accredited electrician courses >

Electricity, of course, can be very dangerous, and so would-be electricians are required to hold a number of qualifications before carrying out any work. Here are the qualifications you MUST have:

• Part P Domestic Installer
• 17th Edition Electrical Regulations

These two certifications are included in our Essential Electrical Course. If you wish to learn more advanced skills and expand the range of jobs that you'll be able to undertake, you may wish to investigate our Professional Electrical Course and our Premier Electrical Course.

All of these training programmes are open to all, with no prior electrical knowledge or experience required. If you would like to train to become an electrician, please contact Access Training today!

For many young people today, it's easy to think of university as an automatic route - the default next step after leaving school. With fewer vacancies and greater competition, it can seem like there are not as many opportunities available nowadays as there used to be, and so going to university comes across as being the safest option.

But is the experience of university worth the enormous tuition fees and oppressive debts that come with it? Is university really the surest route to a successful career?

The answer is: no it isn't, at least not for everybody. Many other equally prosperous options are often overlooked by parents, teachers and students alike.

What does university cost?

In 2012, university tuition fees in England almost tripled, going from £3,375 per year to £9,000 per year. At the time, students were promised increased value for money, a far higher quality of university teaching, and far better future prospects - and if the higher fees actually were justified by a far higher quality of learning and a better future for students, then perhaps this could be seen as a fair deal. But with the number of students increasing each year, the value of a degree has if anything fallen since 2012.

And that's not the only problem. The latest report on student debt by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) revealed that graduate students are currently facing a lifetime of debt, averaging around £57,000. On top of tuition fees, which are continually increasing,  this extortionate lifetime bill is made even heftier when maintenance fees and general living costs are taken into account.

So unless a university education is undoubtedly, unquestionably what you want to pursue, why saddle yourself with such a huge backlog of debt?

Is it worth it?

Many students who started university courses after fees were increased have now completed their degrees, but a lot of them are not doing too well; according to The National Union of Students, nearly half of all students who attended university as undergraduates in 2012 are now back to living with their parents.

And the struggle to find employment is only going to become more difficult, according to Sharon Walpole (the Chief Executive of Not Going To Uni, an organisation devoted to spreading awareness of options other than university to help young people secure a strong future). Walpole warns that graduate intakes for large employers will be reduced when an apprenticeship levy is passed in 2017. This levy will include an investment of £2.5 billion into funding apprenticeship training, resulting in an influx of apprenticeship placements and less room for graduates.

With more and more graduates achieving university degrees, things are only likely to become worse, with more competition, fewer opportunities, and less room for work. Read this article to find out how newly-graduated students are finding life after university, and how successful they have been in finding work

What else can your child do?

Leaving university owing £40,000+ is no way to enter the world of work, and a debt of that scale can be a huge financial and mental burden, not only for the students themselves but for the families who then have to support them. With far less priority now being made for graduate employees, finding work is becoming extremely difficult.

If you are thinking of attending university, and are not 100% certain about this choice, we implore you to consider all the available options. If academia is not your forte - if you are better with physical, hands-on work - then the trade industry might be just what you’re looking for, and Access Training is the best establishment in the UK to train and qualify aspiring tradespeople.

Please give us a call today on 0800 345 7492, and enquire about the courses we have on offer. Our course advisors will be happy to give you all the information you require.

Alternatively, select one of the following options to find out more:

• Electrical Courses
• Plumbing Courses
• Gas Engineer Training
• Bricklaying Courses

No one wants a job that makes them miserable. Feeling unfulfilled in a job can badly affect your quality of life and may lead you to consider a career change. Although a career change may sound like an incredibly daunting choice, it really doesn’t need to be that difficult! You no longer have to feel dissatisfied and stressed while earning a living, you can make the decision to retrain for your career change. To help you do this, widen your career prospects with one of our courses at Access Training.

Whether you are in a trade and would like more qualifications to progress onto more challenging work, a tradesman wanting to swap the trade you are in or are a beginner starting from scratch, Access Training has a career change course suitable for you. 

We offer a diverse range of exciting career change training courses and we want you to be able to complete qualifications that will allow you to get the most out of your new career. Browse through our extensive range of programmes below to discover your next exciting move.

Get Qualified in the Shortest Amount of Time 

All of our courses are designed to provide you with the qualifications you need within a very short timeframe; not the 2-3 years which is traditionally required when training for a new career. This means that you can start the process towards your career change as soon as possible without having to be out of work for a long period of time. We also offer courses which can fit around your current job, so that your career change has a smooth transition which provides you with the security to keep earning while you train. 

A career change can really change your life – just have a look at our testimonials and hear from our students who decided to make a change for the better. Choosing to expand your prospects is always a positive experience, so don’t be afraid to give yourself other options. Start your career change today by choosing from our career change training course options below:

Electrical Courses >

Gas Courses >

Plumbing Courses > 

Construction Courses > 

If you need some advice on your career change training course, or would just like to speak to one of our expert advisors about any of the courses we offer, don’t hesitate to get in touch!

6 Tips on How to Become a Property Developer

• Consider ROI and the Rental Yield  

• Location, Location, Location 

• Don’t Pay More Than You Need to  

• Consider Timing 

• Bear Your Buyer or Renter in Mind 

• Ensure You Have Property Development Finance in Place 

If you feel stuck in a dead-end job or simply aren’t enjoying your career anymore, then you’re likely to be weighing up your career options right now. Family members may encourage you to be a labourer if you’re a practical person, but do you often wonder ‘what is a labourer?’ and ‘what does a labourer do?’. Well, you’ve come to the right place. Find out if a career as a labourer is for you.

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