Just Found Out At College....

[john dawson]

whilst i must admit its all a shame, and a sad state of affairs.

 

during my course, the nptcs were an additional thing, done at the end of te course assuming we did satisfactory coursework. we still only got 30/31/38/39. no fa, no mewp, no chipper etc.......

 

the law states you must have a certificate of competance. it does not state "nptc cert of competance".

 

your college course certificate is a certificate of competance and proves you have been taught and assessed to a high standard in tree care. if a muppett of an employer wants to pay several thousand for you to have an additional tickets, let them!!

 

a college course will also cover you for many things to a higher standard than an nptc ever will.

 

an nptc ticket is origionally meant for untrained employees already working in the industry, to prove some level of competance and to keep the employer within the law by making sure all employees are competant. its just been taken out of all proportion.

[Andy Collins]

In all the time I've done this job, and time I've spent on this forum, I have yet to see a job advertised that does not ask for NPTC units. Other certs of competency are not considered.

[Andy Collins]

 

your college course certificate is a certificate of competance and proves you have been taught and assessed to a high standard in tree car if a muppett of an employer wants to pay several thousand for you to have an additional tickets, let them!![

 

Haha that should endear you to a future employer:biggrin:

[john dawson]

In all the time I've done this job, and time I've spent on this forum, I have yet to see a job advertised that does not ask for NPTC units. Other certs of competency are not considered.

 

 

thats because they are very missunderstood and over-rated, mostly by people who dont care about the trees.

 

any one finishing a college course should be able to pass an nptc with flying colours, because its just soo easy!

 

ive seen most ads saying "highly experienced qualified tree surgeons wanted, must have 30/31/38/39"

 

if no-one can tell me whats wrong with that, then the whole industry is doomed, DOOMED!!!!!!

 

its not wrong to be unaware of problems, its how you deal with it?

[Andy Collins]

So what are you "practically instructoring" in? If its not NPTC, how many do you think will attend? It may seem wrong to have a dependency one one format of tickets, yet its got t be easier for employers to know what those tickets have covered. If you have too many systems in place, it will just dilute down the quality.

I see you've now changed your signature, so is the "practically instructoring" part a thing of the past, or did you not want to be part of a system you strongly disagree with?

Edited September 29, 2010 by Andy Collins

[john dawson]

people have placed far too much emphasis on the basic simple tickets, and overlooked the more intense informed tickets.

 

if this carries on, the general knowledge and skill within the industry will lessen, or at least take far longer to get to an educated level.

 

as with some of my previous employers, some payed serious cash for my nptcs because they didnt understand the system (and didnt WANT to understand)

others knew my college tickets were higher level than nptc and took them accordingly.

if certain employers genuinly knew what an nptc ticket will actualy cover you for, and how instructive it is, most wouldnt bother!

 

its not great paying for a good level college course, with the expectation of having a lesser ticket thrown in just to entice people to sign up! and colleges should know better, but i would suspect its like most things, money!

[Andy Collins]

In most cases, you need people who have trained to use a saw safely and efficiently, whether felling in woods, in a forest, or up in the tree. Without the basics, the staff are useless, they will not earn the money. Its not rocket science, its not neuro-surgery, its cutting trees with a powered saw. Yes, further knowledge is beneficial to both the employer and employee alike, and hopefully standards will continue to rise as they have done for the last 20years or so, but we do need a basic benchmark/industry standard as an indicator of skills and training, and that happens to be NPTC.

[felixthelogchopper]

Legaly speaking it’s about what you can prove.

 

If you have a copy of the course syllabus detailing what you should get and when it’s a starting point.

 

When the institution takes you on as a student you are both entering into a contract. If they haven’t upheld their end of the deal, either fully or in part you are entitled to redress.

 

Assuming that you can prove (to the satisfaction of the courts) that they said what you claim, and that you fulfilled any pre requisites, it wouldn’t be out of the question for you to get a quote for the training and assessment and take legal action against the college for that amount.

 

Small claims is probably the way to go, it’s cheap enough and not overly complicated. You should give the other party a “letter before action” (LBA) to allow them to avoid any additional expenses that you intend to reclaim.

 

Entering into legal action should be a last resort, as a general rule the only people that get wealthy from litigation are litigators.

 

Andy

 

Spot on mate. Fellow LLB student or just an interest?

[treequip]

Spot on mate. Fellow LLB student or just an interest?

 

I would aspire to such lofty heights but for now it remains an interest.

 

Andy

[felixthelogchopper]

I would aspire to such lofty heights but for now it remains an interest.

 

Andy

 

Come over to the dark side, we don't bite and you can't do tree work for ever