HI, Hope someone can help out with this problem. My sister is claiming JSA and has been told she must attend a skills conditionality course, mon-fri 10 til 4, lasting 18 weeks. She has been told this course is mandatory because she is long term unemployed. She has been to the first interview with a group of other claimants and was told to fill in all the forms etc, and given a run through of what training she will be given, but the problem is she is blind in one eye and only has awareness of light and contrast in the other, she is unable to read or write legibly one of the attending advisors filled in the forms and asked her to make a mark as a signature. my sister is looking for work although restricted, she does voluntary work at a local animal sanctuary at weekends and at a nearby allotment 2 days a week, that is run by the rnib I have seen some legislation that some diabled claimants could only be put on the course voluntary but it also states that long tern unemployed is mandatory. She uses the county community transport service to get around but they will not take her out of county, which this course is. her work coach/advisor seems fairly uninterested in helping and has explained she will be sanctioned. she receives PIP at enhanced rate for both sections Please can anybody point me in the right direction many thanks

Hello CAG Ive had a good read through on the forums & it seems i may be able to get some valuable advice here. I enrolled on a self study electrician course 2 years ago and i am still paying monthly for what seems like is not all its cracked up to be. i have 4 years (total) to learn all the modules is a large book i was given & then apparently i will be a qualified electrician but i fail to see where the actual learning is as there is no practical learning and it seems that all this book contains is regulations on 17th edition domestic installation. I was hard sold this package by a salesmen that gave me all the chat & i was so exited to finally train as an electrician, but all i have been sold is 4 years finance at a total cost of £5770 and all i have got is a book and lots of paperwork which means nothing. I have had no one at all get in touch with me to ask how my progress is going & ask if i have any questions but still they take my money for which im getting nothing for. I did hear that this Train 4 Trade skills were trading under a different name & were exposed on watchdog in 2008 but i could be wrong. I am 41 & works full time & like everybody find living tough enough without getting ripped off, can i send/scan any documentation that could assist you in help me bring this to light, please please help me, im in such a dark place at the moment. many many thanks in advance

Took a job , I do not have the tech skills for, No time to learn on the job I am under pressure, the company is 2 guys and feel like I have let boss down, anyway if the guy lets me go after 10 days working on the grounds that I do not have the skills to do job will I still be able to claim job seekers ? Pretty worried so ideas much appreciated

hi all, I am new in this site and hope i am in the right place. I wanted help with a refund from skills train. I enrolled on 2008 with skills train but didnt complete the course because i hardly got any reply from the tutor and it just didnt work for me. But they made me pay the whole amount eventually with monthly installments. i've already paid full amount as of date. I recently found that i could get refund from Skills Train after reading some posts so i am asking if someone can guide me on this please. I have still got all the course materials and the receipts that i was given from them. Please if anyone out there wants to help me i will much appreciate this. Thanks for reading this post.

hi, im looking for some advice , i left the army in 2005 with no qualifications i decided to take a skills course on I.T and computers i applied for the course i was accepted a guy came to my house with a welcome pack i paid him 125 quid in cash we settled out the relevant paperwork then off he went. i started this course online after a few days i started to feel the course was crap and wasn't for me my wife told me to give it another try , i paid my first months installment on the course and tried again to do this course , the course wasn't for me. i called the main people and asked them to cancel my course and told them it was not what i wanted and it didn't do anything for me. i heard nothing back from them while i was at this address. i moved shortly afterwards due to my wife expecting a baby to which i didn't receive any sort of comeback while being there. we had another baby and moved again to a larger house to where i still live now. out of the blue 6 years later i receive a bill for £3500 and then i am bombarded with letters demanding this money. i spoke to a guy on the phone from cabot finance told him what had gone on and told him im not paying nothing , a few months later another letter from a different collection agency i ignored the letters to be honest i was sick of them. i got numerous letters from different collection people all wanting this cash >? then today i got another letter SHOOSMITHS :-REF ARROW GLOBAL ACCOUNTS MANAGEMENTS LTD saying i was being sent a court pack. the letter explains the original pack was wrong and i should disregard it and that there was another court pack in the post! i never received the first pack to be honest or the second ? what shall i do all advice is welcome im not upto speed with courts and finance ect

just another one drawn into this [problem],signed up 3 year ago to these cowboys, only phoned up a few week ago to change some details and ask why i could,nt access web site,received letter that weekend saying my course had finished??????????TAKE AS LONG AS YOU LIKE i was told. It took me 27 month to get on first 2 weeks training was already on module 19 by then,while i was on my practical received a letter saying i was due for 2nd 2 weeks practical??????????? pre attendance tests showed up LOL FAILED 4 TIMES like most ppl . UNLIKE MOST PPL ON THESE FORUMS I AM WITH A DIFFERENT FINANCE COMPANY CALLED HITACHI CAPITAL.can anyone out there give me some advice as i have 5 more payments left to pay .thanks.

Hi, I am desperately hoping that someone out there can help me. My husband joined a plumbing course with train 4 trade skills in 2009 but since he could not get credit for the course I signed up for a £6000 loan with CDF to pay for it. We got divorced not long after this and I am still paying £135 a month to the loan company for this course even though I know my ex husband never even opened the course material or even sent in his initial registration card. I have none of the paperwork as he took it when he moved out. I have written to train 4 trade skills who say they can not discuss anything with me as it is not me who is registered on the course. Is there anything I can do or do I just need to continue paying the money every month until March next year? I talked to a solicitor and he said that since I signed the loan agreement it is down to me to just keep paying. Is this correct?

I was just wondering if some of you had any advice on surviving the long and stressful ET process. As per my other post, I have raised an ET against my employer. I have spoken to a number of organisations (Equality helpdesk / acas helpdesk) and legal people and have not met one that has said 'mmm, not sure you have a case there'. My doctors and psychiatrist are backing me 100%. Fortunately, most of the evidence I have is in writing and in my possession. My questions: 1) I am off work sick and no longer receive any pay from my company. If the ET takes nearly 2 years to get to court (my employers are keen to delay at every opportunity), how did/do you survive financially? Are there any options or I am I simply to rely on my other half and family? I haven't been offered any help or adjustments by my employer even though I originally asked for some in writing (they told me to raise a grievance if I wanted an adjustment hence I find myself with a ET claim). 2) Maybe a silly question but any tips on surviving this process mentally as my life is on hold and even though I am medicated, I don't seem to be able to pick myself up from the floor!? It seems that the process is not helpful for people suffering mental illness. Can I get allowances from the court? Can I get my doctor to write to the court and ask them to speed things up? 3) I have had legal help but as I am not being paid, I am fast running out of money to pay them. Can I get free legal advice (for when I eventually receive their ET3 defence) from CAB or is there somewhere else? I think I have a strong case but because of the pressure of the situation, I am very close to dropping the case (i now understand why so many cases are dropped). Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I recently got feedback from a interview that said "I wasn't sure you were so confident with Excel". I have been to college and gained good marks in units using Excel, and I'm pretty sure I completed all the tasks he asked me to using Excel. It makes me wonder what is the point of going to college to gain certificates if a Interviewer can just say you are no good based on a 2 minute test?