saw somewhere on here someone said clearstone qualitas and sterling should be avoided like the plague, also that qualitas used to be good but have really gone downhill recently
i ask cos i was about to book a ce course with qualitas and the very day before i was going to call them i went to work and got my foot stuck in the taillift and have beeen off sick for the last 6 weeks now (paid holiday 
)
what attracted me to qualitas was that you can pay a set amount and you get unlimited attempts at the test which makes things less of a gamble financailly
anyway my foot is getting better and will be back at work soon and im keen to get on the artics so if anyone has any experience of them would appreciate it
by the way i actually did class c with sterling and passed first time and thought they were ok really.
Personally i would stay as far away from Qualitas as you possibley can, i enquired with them to do my training, i paid my deposit to then find out that my C+E relied on me passing my operators CPC not the drivers CPC, the operators one is not needed for normal driving, i then had a fight with them to try and get my deposit back, WHICH I NEVER GOT! they then took £750 out of my partners account ( the card used for the deposit) without his consent, they said this was standard procedure, this was reported to the bank as a fraud and is being looked at now!
We did get the £750 back but lost £150 they would not give back, they are shoddy, have been brought out by Sterling, and they will rob you blind 
On the contrary, I have nothing but good to say about Sterling/Qualitas. I did my training last week and passed my C test first time. They did everything they said they would do and were professional about it too.
As regards Firebirds problem, it is quite clearly stated on thier website what the conditions are for obtaining the grant to cover C+E training- that you pass National CPC. If he booked a course and paid a deposit then realised he had made a mistake then why should he expect his deposit back? What on earth is a deposit for otherwise?
The terms and conditions are on the website. There is no excuse not to read them.
the pass cpc and get free artic is a bit of a scam i think what they do is they charge more for this than rigid trining alone. they know full well most people just wont bother taking the cpc, it simply is not relevent for a new truck driver its for owner drivers and trainsport managers. so all they actually sold you is a rigid course at a higher price. i reckon the government funding is something they made up.
but i only want c+e so that dont apply to me
i dont think he can expect a deposit back, its a deposit and if you cancel you lose it standard in business isn’t it, but taking money for the canceled course is well out of order. im not going to cancel
i havent really heard anything to put me off and it seems like this are the only schools to offer unlimited retest training which is what i want to go for
bakerchris:
t
i havent really heard anything to put me off and it seems like this are the only schools to offer unlimited retest training which is what i want to go for
although unlimited test deals can be very expensive if you pass first time 
On the contrary RoadRebel if you had read my post about Qualitas you would funlly understand, you have a grace of 7 days to cancel you course and get your Deposit back, Qualitas said when i cancelled that i will received a call from one of them, strangely enought this never happened! and there excuse for not refunding the money was that it was over 7 days! which i went over because they never bothered contacting me!
Also to take money out of someones account without there permission is Fraud! and i dont think even you could justify trusting an organisation that rips off there customers
pass first time, well who cares how much it cost?
Once upon a time there was a company called Qualitas and another called Sterling. Then one day Sterling bought out Qualitas (The instructors refer to the company as Sterlitas now)
They kept the same trucks and the same instructors so there is little difference between the two now.
As for whether they are good or not depends, as usual, as to which instructor you get and if you pass or not.
roadrebel:
On the contrary, I have nothing but good to say about Sterling/Qualitas. I did my training last week and passed my C test first time. They did everything they said they would do and were professional about it too.As regards Firebirds problem, it is quite clearly stated on thier website what the conditions are for obtaining the grant to cover C+E training- that you pass National CPC. If he booked a course and paid a deposit then realised he had made a mistake then why should he expect his deposit back? What on earth is a deposit for otherwise?
The terms and conditions are on the website. There is no excuse not to read them.
However, if booked and paid for over the 'phone, it does probably come under the Distance Selling Regulations, which give you a legal right to cancel within 14 days, as long as the product or service has not already been provided. (it’s actually a bit more complicated than that, but that’s the gist of it).