The Centres have been located near the motorway system, rail stations and bus routes so they are easy to reach from most of Southern or Northern England. (See London and Manchester direction pages for maps and travel information.) The first 'pilot' centre opened at Chessington in Surrey in 2005, since when hundreds of trainees have been successfully trained and placed in jobs throughout Southern England. Every trainee qualifying at NVQ Level 3 at the Chessington centre since it opened has been placed in a job and its full-time Placement Team guarantees to place all future trainees qualifying at this level.
Although trainees qualifying at just the Technical Certificate Level 3 are not actually guaranteed a job, the Placement Team has also placed every single one of these trainees that have asked for job finding assistance (as at January 2008), such is the demand even for lesser qualified plumbers.
The Manchester Centre opened in January 2008 and Manchester's Placement Team also guarantees every trainee a job on qualifying at NVQ Level 3, as will the other planned Centres at Birmingham, Edinburgh/Glasgow and Bristol. Although not guaranteed, it also aims to place all their qualifying Technical Certificate Level 3 trainees in jobs throughout Northern England, just as Chessington has already achieved in the South.
There are specially designed and custom built training areas at each Centre, divided into 12 separate bays that provide each trainee, in a class of 12, with their own training bay area. Part of each one-week training module is spent in a bay in a different training area learning, for example, how to install a complete bathroom, airing cupboard and later on gas appliances etc. Other modules are spent in different workshop areas for bench-work and lead-work training. All modules include City & Guilds Assessments throughout the week to ensure all the practical work is properly understood and some of each module is spent in air-conditioned classrooms equipped for classes of 12 to learn the important theory part of plumbing. All classrooms have hitech plasma screens to enable trainers to teach in a modern and effective way and some classrooms are equipped with computers.
Computers are used in a limited way for some of the training and exams but this is at a basic level and most trainees who have had even limited use of a computer are unlikely to experience any difficulty. However for trainees with no computer experience at all, BTSC can offer a low cost basic computer training course called the European Computer Driving Licence.
BTSC ManchesterBTSC Chessington
Each Centre also has a Self-Study Classroom for up to 18 trainees to book into during weekdays for extra study with a trainer on hand to provide any extra help and guidance a trainee may need. Centres also have a large computer-equipped Test Room for up to 30 trainees at a time to take their separate City & Guilds exams and BTSC end-of-module tests. These are taken on a separate visit to the Centre after a module and the recommended module home study are completed, and are to ensure trainees have learnt everything covered on each module, before booking on to the next one. Each training centre also has interview rooms for selecting prospective trainees, an area for the Placement Team, a trainers' Break Area and administration offices necessary for the smooth running of the UK's most advanced plumber training facilities. Finally, of course, there is a Break Area for trainees with food and drink available and a TV usually tuned to Sky News to keep trainees well informed except when the 'big match' is on! There is also free use of an on-line computer for trainees to check their email.
All areas are equipped to the highest standards with many safety features enabling trainees to learn a new lifetime skill safely in the ultimate plumber training environment and become one of the UK's most highly qualified new plumbers.
BTSC's Trainers
BTSC's Trainers The Building Trade Skills Centres' trainers have been hand-picked not only for their plumbing skills 
and knowledge and because they meet the various City & Guilds trainer requirements but also for their exceptional ability to deliver the training in an informative, effective, friendly manner. A sense of humour is another requirement!
Courses for other skills
The very name Building Trade Skills Centres confirms the organisation was formed to provide more than just plumber training. Currently City & Guilds electrical, bricklaying and plastering courses are being researched with a view to providing training for one or more of these skills in a similar way to the current plumber training.
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