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The Plumbing Industry
The plumbing industry is currently in short supply of qualified plumbers. According to the Institute of Plumbers there are over 30,000 unfilled vacancies, and this number is set to increase.
As most plumbers are quite mature in age, more are leaving the industry than joining it. It is estimated that colleges only have around 3,000 trainee vacancies each year, and only half of these will go into employment as plumbers.
Training to work as a plumber is generally open to school leavers, up to the age of 24. Training is completed through college courses and apprenticeships leading to vocational plumbing qualifications. Training can take between 2 and 5 years to complete.
Finding an employer to support you through your training can be difficult. Many plumbers tend to be sole traders who can't offer the level of training required, or are concerned that once trained, their employee will set up in competition against them.
Mature students who wish as train as plumbers face an even bigger challenge. It will be harder to find apprenticeships as employees may feel that they should pay them more. Moreover, a mature plumbing student is more likely to have financial responsibilities of a mortgage etc, and so part time work with a college course may not be a feasible option.