How to judge a specific institution

Ask what proportion of last year’s cohort finished, what proportion are working in the trade they trained for, and which employers took them. Ask to see the workshop and the equipment. Ask how old the equipment is. In practical training the equipment is the course, and a workshop full of machines nobody uses commercially any more is a warning worth heeding.

Then ask whether the qualification is recognised by the relevant national council, and check that claim against the council’s own published list rather than the prospectus. This is exactly the same test our course on accreditation applies to universities, and it applies here for the same reason.