Day December 1, 2025

The JIB Gold Card is the UK electrical industry's most recognised credential. Pass your NVQ Level 3, complete your AM2 assessment, and you're officially a qualified electrician. But here's what the training ads won't tell you upfront: your Gold Card doesn't come with a fixed salary attached to it. JIB pay rates for 2025 put a qualified Electrician at £17.68 to £18.80 per hour depending on whether your employer provides transport. That's the official baseline, the safety net, the foundation.

The question comes up constantly from electricians who've been working for years without formal qualifications: "Can I get my Gold Card without doing a full apprenticeship?" or "I've got 8 years experience but no NVQ, what are my options?" The answer is the Experienced Worker Assessment, but the confusion around what it actually involves is massive. Here's the thing. The City & Guilds 2346-03 Level 3 Electrotechnical Experienced Worker Assessment is not a training course.

The question comes up constantly from learners researching electrical training: "Do I need Level 2 before Level 3?" Followed immediately by: "Can I skip Level 2 and go straight to Level 3?" and "What's actually different between them?" Honestly, the confusion makes sense because training providers market courses with varying claims about prerequisites, fast-track routes, and recognition of prior learning that blur the lines between what's required and what's flexible. Here's the thing. Level 2 and Level 3 are not interchangeable. They're sequential qualifications building on each other. Level 2 (City & Guilds 2365-02) establishes foundational electrical knowledge covering single-phase domestic systems, basic calculations, safe isolation, and dead testing principles.