As I said above I like the engineering training given by the UKSA and the training given on the professional yacht engineer course is really quite comprehensive. The problem is that due to sea time requirements the only recognised engineering qualifications you'll walk out with are an AEC and an MNTB Skills test. The former can be gained in a four day short course and the latter isn't really all that useful until you come to do your Y4 three and a half years down the line.

The training you receive will certainly be useful when you eventually get a job and go on to do your MEOL(Y) and Y4 however won't necessarily set your CV apart from someone who just did their day skipper, short range radio, STCW basic safety training, power boat level 2 and AEC as separate courses and saved money in the process.

What happens after the course is mostly down to how much effort you put into looking for work as well as your background and any other experience you might have. You should work on your CV during the course (with help from tutors) and contact a few crew agents online (the UKSA have a list) then after the course finishes go to one of the big yachting hubs (Antibes, Palma, etc.) to meet them in person and make yourself more easily available for interview.

As a first engineering job you could be looking at a dual roll 2nd or 3rd engineer/deckhand or a sole engineer on a smaller superyacht, you could also look at doing flotilla work as an engineer responsible for a number of small boats owned by a charter company. On a superyacht I'd say you should be earning more than 2000 Euros a month and won't have any living expenses so could be looking at paying 9000 GBP back pretty damn quick.

Hi,

I completed the comp crew course in September 2011 although I have a lot of small pleasure yacht experience, i required the basics to work on Super Yachts so did the 6 week course to gain these qualifications. The staff at UKSA are very professional and will expect you to be the same. The way you represent yourself there is the way you would represent yourself on a Super Yacht. Overall very good acadamy and from that i've managed to gain employment on a 64m M/Y as a deckhand

 In all fairness I think UKSA are literally having a laugh. After coughing up over 6000 for the competent crew course, I struggled to see where the money went. The instructors were lazy sometimes late for a session and short tempered. There's a lot of negative energy between staff and pupils, and you feel very belittled being new to the industry. The accommodation was so cramped where someone would have to get into bed just so you could open the wardrobe or open the door, this was apparent training for the cramped conditions at sea. I got the instinct feeling that if you complained about the course or anything then you would be flagged and wouldn't put you forward for opportunities, so if you just play ball and keep quiet then they might give you a chance. However for 6 weeks you can't hold your frustration for your  money going down the drain.  It seems like once you've paid in full and a week or 2 into the course they just don't care. I hardly ever write negative reviews but feel compelled to write about uksa and seemed shocked to only find a few negative reviews. After spending 2 years in the yachting industry I've met many first mate/skippers who look down on uksa graduates and refer to it as 'the dream factory'.

I just can't believe I paid the money before looking fully into it, and hope I can save others from the same mistake.

Any RYA course is just a joke. 

The MCA should do something about it . 

BTW training centers in Antibes are not better. 

But 6000 P is really a day light robbery.