hi james,i wasnt having a go mate,sorry if it came across like that,long story short im course trained so i can only give my opinion on what ive experienced,however my last trade i was a qualified apprentice trained chef so i do understand what its like to go through an apprenticeship for 4 years.however as i ve learned over the years nvq/svq mean very little to be honest and i think people should be merited on how good they perform personally as i worked with plenty chefs that were not qualified but would have wiped the floor with the guys who were apprentice trained,the same goes for any trade as far as im concerned,,what im trying to say mate is personally i think its important in a hands on job to have some actual hands on experience working at something as oppose to going in blind and a nervous so to speak,theres tonnes of good lads on here that can give advice in many ways but at the end of the day tiling is a hands on job and i feel confidence can be the difference in a poor or good job being produced especially something finniky like vicky floors mate,hope this helps