Kitchens - Trainee plumbers stay near their own kitchens

06/03/2008

A home-learning plumbing course is proving popular with potential trades people and taps into the UK's shortage of plumbers.

The Train4TradeSkills home-study plumbing course has seen thousands signup to learn how to repair kitchen sinks, boilers and whirlpool baths since it was launched less than a year ago.

Courses combine textbook learning with a computer-based virtual house that allow students to practise their new skills in electronic kitchens and bathrooms, before graduating with an industry recognised qualification.

Mike Head, Train4TradeSkills' marketing director, says: "Courses such as ours provide students with the chance to study skills in their own time, at home, and at their own pace, as well as accommodating older plumbing students who may well want to study around existing job commitments."

He noted that some of their students are switching from other careers to enter plumbing, with current pupils including an ex-navel officer, a trained paramedic and several housewives.

Last month, training provider JTL warned that the UK's growing construction sector faced a shortage of trades people such as plumbers and electricians over the next three years.