Re: International Student Advisors 4U

Lets put some figures on the line. Generally as carers you are paid minimal wage at that at the moment if aged over 22 is £5.52 an hour, if aged between 18-20 it is £4.20 an hour. Deductions from this will be Income tax and National Insurance. There will also be rent, food bills, electric/gas, phone (if you have it)public transport unless you buy a car then there is road tax and petrol/gas, clothes and footwear plus any other bills that come in. The costs soon add up and only being able to work 20 hours a week means the money doesn't stretch far.

Re: International Student Advisors 4U

This thread has been very informative. Thank you to all who shared their own personal experiences. Let me share mine. I attended a seminar in an agency here in the Philippines with the same program offered: study-work program in UK taking up NVQ. Two of my friends went through with the program I did not because I do not have the money anymore to shell out and also I already pass the NCLEX and IELTS. I attended the seminar for the purpose of knowing what options can we nurses have in the Phil.

Anyway as I said my friends already went through with it. Their papers are under process as we speak. I feel sorry if thats the real situation there. The agency gave an impression that we will be able to still earn money, enough to sustain us there and send money back home. And in fact one of the Filipinos who is already there is able to earned back all their expenses prior to going to UK in just three months time.

All the worst case scenarios are mentioned, I would like to know that if there is any good at all that can come out of pursuing this study-work program in the UK. Anyone please share if u have personal experiences or know someone under the NVQ program, do share what u know. Thank you very much!

Re: International Student Advisors 4U

None, as one cannot remain there to work when they are done.

And it is not winter yet, lets see how much they have to spend to keep warm and for taxis when the weather is quite cold.

Re: International Student Advisors 4U

Originally Posted by zasha

This thread has been very informative. Thank you to all who shared their own personal experiences. Let me share mine. I attended a seminar in an agency here in the Philippines with the same program offered: study-work program in UK taking up NVQ. Two of my friends went through with the program I did not because I do not have the money anymore to shell out and also I already pass the NCLEX and IELTS. I attended the seminar for the purpose of knowing what options can we nurses have in the Phil.

Anyway as I said my friends already went through with it. Their papers are under process as we speak. I feel sorry if thats the real situation there. The agency gave an impression that we will be able to still earn money, enough to sustain us there and send money back home. And in fact one of the Filipinos who is already there is able to earned back all their expenses prior to going to UK in just three months time.

All the worst case scenarios are mentioned, I would like to know that if there is any good at all that can come out of pursuing this study-work program in the UK. Anyone please share if u have personal experiences or know someone under the NVQ program, do share what u know. Thank you very much!

You can read here what has been said about this program. The NVQ has absolutely no value to you as a nurse, it is a certificate that our carers undertake. You have seen the finance that silverdragon has posted and in my opinon that is optimistic. I live in the UK so I know how expensive it is to live and work here.

On 20 hours a week at carers pay (remember that is just the minimum wage) you are going to be on the poverty line. The only way you will be able to survive is if you breech your Visa terms and work more hours in which case you will end up being sent home.

It's your choice it makes no difference to Suzanne, Silverdragon or myself if you decide to listen to us, but please bear in mind that we have first hand experience of the system and country you are talking about, I live in the UK and always have done. The company you are talking about is only interested in making money, we gain absolutely no benefit from giving you a realistic picture of life in the UK.

Re: International Student Advisors 4U

I agree with Sharrie, not sure where all the other information has gone on this thread, but NVQ's are not worth while for nurses. However Degrees are, in particular if it will allow you to study and work in the UK for up to 4 years. Here is the link you need to see that the information being given about restrictions in hours of work are wrong, just look up the facts from the UK Borders Agency it spelt out very clearly.
http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoap...f5students#Q13
Can I work?
You can take part-time or holiday work, but you must not:

• work for more than 20 hours a week during term time unless your placement is part of your studies, has been agreed with your educational institution and leads to a degree or qualification awarded by a nationally recognised examining body

Marconiusantonius, I wish you luck, you have a visa and whether on a NVQ course or a Degree course you can legally work more than 20 hours, 30 or 40 if you want to and don't allow anyone to tell you differently as long as it meets the above requirements. By the way the minimum wage is now £5.73 from 1/10/08, not £5.52.

Re: International Student Advisors 4U

Hello there! I'm glad I was able to read through this forum. My friends and I have been visiting some agencies lately here in our city in the Phils that assists in acquiring UK student visas and to enter a program exactly like what ISA is offering. Of course, the prospect of going to the UK for study as well as to earn gets us all excited. Actually,some of my friends have started to process already, and they're are already RNs and NCLEX and IELTS passers, but they're a bit frustrated from waiting for their US visas to arrive so they've decided to enter this study-work program.

I've had my doubts about it, though, while we were attending orientation. They practically guaranteed that after finishing the NVQ3 & 4 for nursing grads that we will be able to practice as a nurse at an international level. Is that true? Will that be enough for us to apply as a registered nurse in the UK or some other country (regardless of whether there is a shortage or not in the UK)? Will the Nurses & Midwifery Council of the UK allow us to register as a nurse after finishing that BSc (Hons) in Health and Social Care?

Sorry for this really long question. It's just that this is really bothering me and I'm just cautious about these things. I hope someone can give me some info on this. Thanks a lot for the insight you've shared in this forum!

Re: International Student Advisors 4U

Originally Posted by ヤンネさま

Hello there! I'm glad I was able to read through this forum. My friends and I have been visiting some agencies lately here in our city in the Phils that assists in acquiring UK student visas and to enter a program exactly like what ISA is offering. Of course, the prospect of going to the UK for study as well as to earn gets us all excited. Actually,some of my friends have started to process already, and they're are already RNs and NCLEX and IELTS passers, but they're a bit frustrated from waiting for their US visas to arrive so they've decided to enter this study-work program.

I've had my doubts about it, though, while we were attending orientation. They practically guaranteed that after finishing the NVQ3 & 4 for nursing grads that we will be able to practice as a nurse at an international level. Is that true? Will that be enough for us to apply as a registered nurse in the UK or some other country (regardless of whether there is a shortage or not in the UK)? Will the Nurses & Midwifery Council of the UK allow us to register as a nurse after finishing that BSc (Hons) in Health and Social Care?

Sorry for this really long question. It's just that this is really bothering me and I'm just cautious about these things. I hope someone can give me some info on this. Thanks a lot for the insight you've shared in this forum!

If you meet NMC requirements then they will not stop you from registering with them However you will find it extremely hard to find a employer willing to assist you with a work permit to stay in the UK and work as a nurse. At the moment the requirements is UK citizen then EU before the rest of the world and in most cases your application/CV will not even be shortlisted. Just doing in the course will not benefit you as a nurse it has nothing to do with nursing. Shame on them for telling you this as they are not the ones that give out work permits but the government and they are clamping down with immigration and making it much harder

Re: International Student Advisors 4U

Despite of so many posts in this forum it still seems to be not clear to many people that to be able to register in a certain country doesn't mean TO BE ABLE TO WORK.

Nobody can promise you anything, only goverments are issueing visa/work permits. It's the same in every country worldwide.

We don't have a nurses shortage in the UK, there's a hiring freeze for many NHS Trusts, as in many other countries in Europe. That' means no visas!

5cats

Re: International Student Advisors 4U

Originally Posted by 5cats

Despite of so many posts in this forum it still seems to be not clear to many people that to be able to register in a certain country doesn't mean TO BE ABLE TO WORK.

Nobody can promise you anything, only goverments are issueing visa/work permits. It's the same in every country worldwide.

We don't have a nurses shortage in the UK, there's a hiring freeze for many NHS Trusts, as in many other countries in Europe. That' means no visas!

5cats

Thank you 5cats, short, to the point and very well said

Re: International Student Advisors 4U

Yeah, I figured that that was the case, so yesterday we visited another one of these agencies that process student visas (to observe how they presented their program). I think they tend to leave out the part where nurses from here DO NOT become qualified as a nurse there after finishing the NVQ, and this only qualifies them to be senior carers. They focus more on "brighter future" and "experience European culture", which is naturally very tempting for many young nurses.

I asked some questions after their presentation and it was the only time that they were able to clarify this. They answered truthfully that we will not be trained as nurses there, but carers. This 2-year diploma will not even count as nursing experience (if we ever plan to apply in other places). Well, I guess I should have expected that coz this program does not even require IELTS and is open to just about anyone who just has some experience on health care. I'm a registered nurse here and I worked hard for it and there are certainly other opportunities where I can practice as an RN and not a caregiver.

Also, there was another agency who said that nurses who have passed their NCLEX and IELTS can take up this NVQ while waiting for their US visas and the retrogression to lift, but that is actually not allowable because they will be breaching their contract. They also said that you can have sideline jobs, but that is also illegal, right?

thanks guys for your info! This thread really made me open my eyes to this issue and I've started to tell other nurses I know about the part these agencies usually leave out.