It's almost the New Year again and people fed up of their boring 9 till 5 jobs will be announcing New Year resolutions to start new careers and go working for themselves. It happen every year, some people go through with it and some don't, those that do often consider a career as a professional locksmith
Hundreds of adult learning centres, colleges and training centres, some good, some not so good typically spend December/January promoting their courses to entice these people and every year due to lack of regulation people getting suckered into paying for worthless Locksmith training courses that do nothing to help them successfully start a new career as a professional locksmith.
You may have seen a number of different 'qualifications' being offered by a variety of private companies, some offering self titled certification i.e. " AB training Locksmith Qualifications" and even City and Guilds certification . However, City and Guilds Locksmith Awards are not recognised qualifications within the Industry and are merely customised awards achieved in around 3-5 days.
The question you should ask yourself is... Can an individual be introduced to a new career in just 3-5 days, to then be classed as qualified, professional, trustworthy or skilled in that trade?
The answer of course is no they can't but these official sounding qualifications trick 100's of people each year into paying for worthless qualifications that do nothing to enhance their skills leaving them unable to pursue a successful career in the industry with over 90% of them calling it a day within the first 12 months.
Do you want to be an actual qualified Locksmith in 2022? Here's how...
The introduction of two official Level 3 Locksmith Diplomas back in 2019 has raised the bar for locksmith training.
As they are the only qualifications to be Ofqual regulated, a National Standard has been created for the Industry with these two diplomas being the most advanced academic and vocational courses available. Now that students have the opportunity to become qualified in the field, becoming a Locksmith in 2022 is quickly being perceived as a very exciting career move for any individual.
What makes the Level 3 Locksmith Diplomas different?
Not only are these THE ONLY Ofqual approved qualifications for Locksmiths, they are also the only courses taking 6-12 months to complete, putting the many un-official 3-5 day crash courses offered by many questionable training centres into perspective. With this extended time period, comes a greater level of learning, experience, skills and knowledge for the trade. This is a very big change for the industry and has provided locksmiths with the chance to gain an official locksmith qualification for the first time in history.
The two qualifications available give learners the opportunity to home in on their preferred area of the industry, whether that be Commercial Property Security or Automotive Security. Read more about each course here.
- Level 3 Diploma in Commercial Locksmiths & Property Security
- Level 3 Diploma in Automotive Locksmiths & Vehicle Security
Unlike the unofficial private and customised City and Guilds courses that can be taken at any self appointed training centres and even online, yes online, the two official Ofqual regulated courses can only be taken at recognised colleges that pass the requirements laid out by The Government Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation, one these requirements is the appointment of fully qualified teachers as well as official adult higher learning centre certification.
Unfortunately because of this and the fact that classes tend to be smaller for vocational courses where there is hands on learning, this does mean that until more colleges start to run these courses places do fill up fast which does tempt people into going down the unofficial route, please don't.
The colleges and approved training centres that run the official Ofqual regulated courses run them a number of times a year so if you miss registration for the next available course you'll be able to register for an upcoming one. As of writing this article there are 5 colleges and officially recognised higher learning centres in the UK who run these courses.
Also, because these are Gov't (Ofqual fake Rolex watches) regulated training courses this has opened up a mass of grants and funding that isn't available for private courses including the ability for ex armed forces to use ELCAS credits or other current/ex-Military grants such as SSAFA Grants, CTP Ministry of Defence Resettlement or Royal British Legion Grants.
How to spot worthless locksmith training Courses?
Unofficial locksmith training courses are easy to spot. They are cheap (less than £500) and usually run for a maximum of 5 days, sometimes only 3 days and we have even seen a 1 day course, yes a one1 training course and because the courses are not Ofqual regulated they cannot use Ofqual in their titles.
Rogue training centres will bombard social media and use paid Google ads around Christmas and throughout January offering sign up now discounts, free tools etc. They'll use generic sometimes official sounding terms and course name like "Specialist Locksmith Training Courses", "Approved Locksmith Training Courses", "Bespoke Locksmith Training", "Advanced Locksmith Training" etc all of which don't actually mean anything.
Another sneaky trick is the use of the term "approved" which is done in an effort to trick people into thinking that there is something official about the course, but approved by whom? The Rogue training centres will simple use their own name i.e. "Rogue Centre Approved" meaning nothing illegal is being done they are just approving their own course, so not illegal but definitely Immoral.
In Summary
So there are official Government (Ofqual) regulated and approved locksmith training courses that set the standard for the industry.
The official Ofqual Locksmith Training in currently the No1 course attended by new locksmiths (as it should be) so whether you need a local locksmith in Billinge or a local locksmith in Golborne there is good chance that your find a professional locksmith who is Ofqual qualified
Unofficial, private crash courses are still legal to tout and run whilst the industry remains unregulated, but as time goes by and more and more locksmiths do take the official courses and crash course locksmiths die out, regulation of the industry will come which panics the rogue training centres so much that they are now upping promotion of their worthless courses because they know that the time will come when they'll have the stop them.