jproberts

Hi all, I have had a look through the WES website but i'm still not 100% sure what I need to send them.

I don't physically have any of my certificates. If I get in contact with the awarding body in the UK. What exactly do I need to ask them to send to WES?

The qualification which i'm looking at having assessed is a HNC in Mechanical Engineering which I received in 2016.

Also, I applied at the beginning of February to Alberta Industry Training for their trades qualifier program. I sent in all of the evidence which they asked for on the 14th Feburary. They then emailed my boss in the UK asking for a reference, which he responded with on the 6th March. Does anyone know any time-scales for this? I appreciate it will all be delayed now though due to Coronavirus.

On the plus side, just checked my IELTS results online today and have top marks!

christmasoompa

Firstly, congratulations on the IELTS result!

https://www.wes.org/required-documents/

I don't think anybody can tell you given the current situation everywhere. They've stated that they've shut certain services, so I'd assume they're working with a skeleton staff and it will be much longer than usual, but you never know, maybe they'll have less applications than usual and it'll be quicker! Bit of a piece of string question at the mo I'm afraid, normal processing times for pretty much everything have gone out of the window.

Good luck.

jproberts

Thanks Christmasoompa. I've seen the required documents page but when I select the UK then 'Higher Education' it says

1. Cetfificate / Diploma
2. Transcript of Academic Records

Does that mean I need to send both or just one or the other?

christmasoompa

Both.

HTH.

Stumpylegs

As above, you get them to send them both, however dependant on who your applying to to get your certs for most none degree courses many of them will include the transcript along with the cert as a matter of course. I had an NC sent across to WES, but as i had had to order it to get my trade qualifier, i knew what it contained - and it had the cert, with the transcript attached.

If you ring the exam boards(if they are still working) they should be able to confirm.

jproberts

Thanks for the reply’s guys, I’ll chase that up with the exam boards!

In the mean time I've finally heard back about my CofQ but I’m unsure what this means entirely. It seems as though this just entitles me to take the exam, but I have to already be living in Alberta to take it? I was hoping to use the CofQ on my EE profile to become eligible for FST. Has anyone gone through the CofQ process in Alberta before?

Frazzle

I looked into taking the exam a short while ago but for Manitoba. Same story, you have to live there.
I researched some other provinces and most were the same, however you can take the C of Q exam in Saskatchewan even if you aren't a resident.
If you were to get a certificate of qualification in another province you could still use it for EE.

jproberts

Thanks for getting back to me. Not ideal after spending hundreds getting this far with the Alberta process though. I may yet come to just putting all of our eggs in one basket with the IEC pools then doing the exam whilst i'm over there. Who knows what'll happen with all of that this year though.

jproberts

On the plus side my diploma etc is on its way to WES so th'ats another box ticked!

Just getting concerned now about IEC seeming increasingly unlikely and C of Q seeming difficult to get without being in the country on an IEC.

Stumpylegs

Aye, I sat mine in Saskatchewan without being a resident.

I'd speak to the Alberta apprenticeship commission, explain that you currently aren't a resident of Alberta but would be looking to challenge the exam whilst on a visitor visa at some point in the future, is this acceptable? and if so can you apply for the exam date/place prior to entering the country - if they say yes go through the required steps.

I sat mine in Saskatoon last June, was only over there for 8 nights and got my CELPIP english test done at the same time - just treated it like a high pressure holiday. Had no issues whatsoever and was quite a simple/easy process to sort.

jproberts

Thanks for the advice guys. I got in contact with AIT today who confirmed that I need to be living in Alberta in order to challenge the exam. Wish they'd told me that 8 weeks and £200 ago when I applied but oh well. I'm thinking that rules out FST for us before leaving the UK. It'll have to be IEC to get ourselves over there.

christmasoompa

This is really odd, they must have changed the rules recently?

jproberts

It seems a bit ridiculous to me to accept a $450 application fee knowing full well that the applicant is based abroad and that you then won't allow them to sit the exam. More frustrated about wasting 8 weeks whilst waiting for them to get back to me though.

To me the whole FST program now seems abit strange. It's a way for people with skilled trades to get into Canada, but in order to be eligible you must either already be living in Canada and have a C of Q or have a job offer, which is again unlikely without living in Canada.

christmasoompa

CofQ is normally obtainable for those living outside Canada, tons of people on the forum have flown over to do it. That's why it's so odd that they're telling you you have to be living there.

jproberts

That was definitely my understanding of it and I thought that was the point of C of Q and FST. I was hoping to speak to someone on the phone but their phones seem to be off (virus related i'm guessing)