Where you train matters

When you compare construction courses, do not stop at the title, duration and price. Look at the space you will work in, the materials you will use, the tools you will be given and who will teach each trade.
Our Stoke-on-Trent centre is built around practical learning. The point of the facilities is to give you as much useful hands-on practice as possible in the time you are here.

Realistic Training Bays That Make You Think

Our bays are deliberately not perfectly square and easy. Real properties are rarely square, level or conveniently laid out. Our bays are not designed to make every task easy. They are designed to make you measure, set out, work around obstacles, plan the sequence of a job and correct mistakes rather than simply complete an easy exercise.

Depending on the trade, that can mean working across larger wall and floor areas, hanging full-size doors, installing bathroom suites and pipework, plastering full walls, tiling around windows and pipework, building meaningful brickwork, or fitting kitchens rather than isolated demonstration pieces.

Where the course structure allows it, you work in your own bay. You should not spend most of the course waiting for a shared space or watching someone else do the task.

Look Closely at Our Training Bay Photos

We encourage you to study our photographs and videos before booking. Look at the size of each learner's working area, the amount of work being completed, the obstacles built into the bays and the materials being used.

You are also welcome to arrange a visit while courses are running so you can see the facilities and standard of practical work for yourself.

Plenty of Materials for Repeated Practice

Practical skills improve through repetition, so learners are not restricted to a token amount of material. There are sufficient materials to practise the skills covered and repeat important techniques where appropriate.

A large bay is little use if the materials run out after one attempt. Courses are designed so you can practise and, where it will help, repeat the technique. Ask other providers not only whether materials are included, but how much you will use.

Examples

Carpentry Full-size materials, including new doors for hanging practice not endlessly patched offcuts.
Plumbing and heating Copper, soldered end-feed fittings, compression fittings, Speedfit, flexi-hoses, radiators and sanitaryware, progressing into complete installations rather than two short pipes on a bench.
Plastering Plasterboard and finishing plaster on flat and more awkward areas, including windows and repairs.
Tiling A range of formats, including 150 × 150 mm, 200 × 100 mm, 600 × 300 mm and floor tiles, across walls and floors and around corners, windows, sockets and pipework.

Tools Are Supplied

You do not need a professional toolkit before you arrive. The hand and power tools for your course are supplied throughout the course. If a training tool is damaged or becomes unusable, it is replaced so learners can continue working. Tutors can also explain which tools are worth buying first when you later put a kit together.

Trade-Specific Tutors

Each trade is taught by a tutor with experience in that specific trade. We do not use one general multi-skilled tutor to teach every subject.

Plumbing is taught by an experienced plumbing and heating engineer; tiling by an experienced tiler and bathroom installer; plastering by an experienced plasterer; and the same trade-specific approach applies to carpentry, bricklaying, electrical and kitchen installation training.

This matters because experienced tradespeople can explain not only how to complete a task, but what commonly goes wrong, how materials behave and how the work is approached outside a training centre.

On a multi-skilled programme you move between those specialists. That matters because an experienced tradesperson can explain what commonly goes wrong on real properties, not only how to copy a demonstration.

Designed for Adult Learners

Our learners include complete beginners, career changers, existing tradespeople, Armed Forces personnel and service leavers, landlords, property developers and people learning skills for their own projects.

The aim is a professional, practical environment where learners spend meaningful time doing the work themselves.

Visit Before You Book

A website can say a centre has excellent facilities. Visiting during live training lets you judge the size of the bays, how much work people are completing, the materials on the benches, class size and whether learners are actually practising.

Construction Skills College, Unit 5–7 Florida Close, Hot Lane Industrial Estate, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, ST6 2DJ. Learners travel from across the UK. Ask us if you need local accommodation information.

Contact us to arrange a visit while courses are running to see a course in action and the high quality of work produced by students on the courses.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I get my own training bay?

Where the course structure allows it, you work in your own bay. You should not spend most of the course waiting for a shared space or watching someone else do the task.

Do I need to bring my own tools?

No. The hand and power tools for your course are supplied throughout, and damaged or unusable training tools are replaced so you can keep working.

Are materials included, and how much will I use?

Materials are included and there are sufficient materials to practise the skills covered and repeat important techniques where appropriate, rather than a token amount for a single attempt.

Who teaches each trade?

Each trade is taught by a tutor experienced in that specific trade. On a multi-skilled programme you move between those specialists rather than being taught everything by one general tutor.

Can I visit the centre before booking?

Yes. Contact us to arrange a visit while courses are running so you can judge the bays, class size, materials and standard of practical work for yourself.

Our Construction Training Facilities