To become qualified within any career, it is understood that knowledge, proficiency and skills must first be achieved, in addition to any official qualifications in the chosen profession. Yes the locksmith industry is unregulated but just because you don't legally need any qualifications it doesn't mean you shouldn't get them anyway.

Before the introduction of the official Ofqual Level 3 Diplomas in 2019, it could have been argued that a qualified Locksmith was anyone who completed a 1, 3 or 5 day locksmith training course, bought a tool kit and began touting for locksmith work.

But now that the locksmith Industry has official, regulated qualifications from the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (OFQUAL), a national standard has finally been created among locksmiths and now to be a qualified, professional locksmith actually means something.

With these new Ofqual qualifications receiving full support from prominent organisations such as; Ministry of Defence (MOD Breitling replica), Corgi Fenestration, Highfield Qualifications,  Nationwide Locksmiths and Smart Locksmiths, there has never been a trusted and more straight forward way to enter the locksmith  industry and secure yourself a successful future within this ago old profession.

Achieving a 'professional' standard in any trade of industry inevitably opens up new doors and opportunities for a successful future. It proves aptitude and knowledge within your career, building upon consumer relationships through the added trust and reliability achieved with a 'professional' status. This is particularly relevant within the Locksmith and Security Industry; due to the vulnerable circumstances our clients are put under as they allow a complete stranger into their home. Being a trusted professional provides your customers with piece of mind as they are able to place their trust in you, to keep their homes and properties safe and secure. 

The first step when becoming a professional, qualified locksmith is deciding on which course to take; commercial and property security or automotive vehicle security.

As a commercial locksmith you will be in charge of maintaining and maximising the security of homes, rental properties, commercial offices and even have the opportunity to work alongside the police. You will cover a range of services including but not limited to; lock replacements and repairs, home security assessments, gaining entry, lock identification, safes and of course key cutting. This side of the locksmith industry is the oldest part of the trade and dates back over 4,000 years.

Choosing the automotive route will introduce you into a relatively new and developing area of the trade. You will be required to undergo arguably more complex services, however with the potential to increase your profit! It is a challenging yet extremely rewarding service to deliver, putting you in the position to gain entry, replace and duplicate keys, cut and repair keys, as well as program and code keycards, remotes and fobs.

Don't get taken in by fake non registered locksmith training courses.

As previously mentioned, the locksmith industry remains unregulated despite the introduction of the official Ofqual Level 3 Diplomas. Many people in the industry are hoping regulation with eventually happen especially with the security concerns around entering vulnerable peoples homes and having access to their locks and keys.

Whilst many people link the non-regulation to amateur rogue locksmiths touting for work there is also the issue of private training companies operating their own worthless unofficial locksmith training courses.

When the official Ofqual Level 3 Diplomas where introduced most locksmith training companies welcomed the change and simply registered with Ofqaul and started offering these new courses, scrapping any previous private courses they ran. However there are certain requirements that a private training company must adhered to before they can run official Ofqual courses, one of these requirements is that the people teaching must themselves have teaching qualifications.

You would expect anyone offering training in any field would themselves have teaching qualifications but in the case of the locksmith industry a few of the training centres didn't. These training centres where advised to get their staff the correct qualifications, some did but a couple of training centres resisted the changes and continued to push their own private courses.

It's advisable to thoroughly check out a training centre before signing up to any courses and make sure that you ask if their course is the official Ofqual Diploma before falling for any misleading text on these companies websites because since the introduction of the official Ofqual Level 3 Diplomas in 2019 dozens of people have been duped into taking these private training courses and then having to pay again for the official course after learning that their certification was worthless.

Be sure to make note of these points below

• If it doesn't mention Ofqual it's not official,
• If the company is offering discounts (10%, 20%, 30%) to sign up today then they probably have something to hide and  don't want you looking to deeply into their courses or company.
• If the courses run for just 1 day or even 5 days then they are worthless, you can't learn a trade or profession in a few days, plus the official Ofqual diploma takes several months to complete like any college course.
• If the training company doesn't accept Government Grants and Funding such as ELCAS Funding, 16 to 19 Bursary Funding, Student Finance, Welsh Government ReACT funding etc then it's not the official course.
• If they use their own name in the course title then it's not official
• If the training company insist that you join a private members club then it's not an official training centre. No genuine college or training centre would ask you to join a private members club.