You can become an electrician if you're colour blind. It's legal, it's possible, and thousands of colour-blind electricians work successfully across the UK right now. But there are additional considerations, adaptations, and barriers you need to understand before pursuing this career. Here's the context that matters. Colour vision deficiency affects

The question comes up constantly from learners approaching the end of their electrical training: “Do I take AM2, AM2E, or AM2S?” Closely followed by: “What’s the difference?” and “Which one is harder?” Honestly, the confusion is understandable because all three are practical end-point assessments lasting 2.5 days, all test installation,

The question appears constantly across Reddit, ElectriciansForums, and training enquiries: "I've completed Level 3, am I qualified now?" Followed immediately by confusion when the answer is no. Then comes: "I've worked as a sparks for 8 years, can I start the NVQ?" Sometimes yes, sometimes no, depending on what that

In January 2025, thousands of JIB-graded electricians saw their hourly rates increase by 5%. That's the second step in a two-year pay deal agreed between the ECA, Unite the Union, and the JIB National Board back in 2023. The first uplift, a 7% increase, landed in January 2024. On paper,

Assessment visits confuse NVQ learners more than any other qualification component. You've uploaded 80+ photos showing installations across domestic and commercial projects. Your portfolio contains witness statements from qualified supervisors. Testing certificates document insulation resistance, continuity, and RCD verification across varied circuits. Then your training provider schedules "assessment visit" and

The new JIB wage agreement covering 2026 to 2028 has landed, and reactions across the electrical industry range from cautiously optimistic to openly frustrated. The headline figures look decent at first glance: a 3.95% increase from January 2026, followed by 4.6% in 2027 and 4.85% in 2028. That's roughly 14%

The question appears constantly in training enquiries and forum discussions: "I've got 4 years experience, should I do the standard NVQ or the Experienced Worker route?" Followed by confusion when providers give conflicting advice. One says you qualify for EWA 2346 because you're experienced. Another insists you need the standard

Changing careers at 40 can feel like standing at the edge of something significant. Maybe you’ve been made redundant. Maybe you’re exhausted by office politics. Maybe you’ve spent the last decade wondering what it’d be like to work with your hands instead of staring at spreadsheets. Whatever the reason, the

Yes. You can absolutely become a qualified electrician in the UK without completing a traditional apprenticeship. It's not only possible but increasingly common, especially for adults in their late 20s, 30s, and 40s who cannot access apprenticeship places or cannot afford apprentice wages. But let's be clear about what this

Yes. Absolutely yes. You can become an electrician with zero electrical experience, and it's not only possible but extremely common. If you're 28, 35, or 42 years old and wondering whether you've missed the boat, you haven't. Adult retraining is now the norm, not the exception. The UK construction industry

In the year to March 2025, 8,795 police officers left forces in England and Wales. That's 6.0% of the workforce walking away from policing. Nearly 4 in 10 of those leavers had less than five years of service. One in six left within their first year. At Elec Training, we've

The Office for National Statistics dropped its latest employment figures on 11 November 2025. UK unemployment has climbed to 5.0% for the three months ending September 2025—the highest since early 2021. That's 1.7 million people aged 16 and over now out of work, up from 1.6 million the quarter before.

Electrician Gadgets Worth Actually Buying in 2025: From Budget Kit to Professional Upgrades Electricians love gadgets. Always have, probably always will. Whether it’s the latest multifunction tester, a tool kit upgrade, or even something practical enough to count as a stocking filler, s parks are constantly looking for kit that

Where to Fit a Consumer Unit: Stop Hiding Them Behind Boxes and Actually Think About Access Finding the right spot for a consumer unit sounds basic, but you’d be surprised how many boards end up mounted next to the ceiling above a downstairs toilet where you can’t even get the

Are they actually Safe? Yes, But Not for the Reasons You Think Short answer: yes, electrician jobs are safe from robots. But not because the work is magically immune to automation. It’s safe because construction is chaos, sites are u npredictable, and every property throws curveballs that robots can’t handle

The Department for Education announced this week that it won’t rely on specific Ofsted grades to intervene with poorly-performing apprenticeship providers for the next 12 months. Instead, it’ll take a “case-by-case” approach during the transition to Ofsted’s new inspection regime, which scraps the old “inadequate,” “requires improvement,” “good,” and “outstanding”

China announced new export controls on lithium-ion battery technology in October 2025, effective 8th November. The restrictions cover high-performance batteries, cathode materials, graphite-based anode materials, and specialized manufacturing equipment. For the UK (and Europe), this is a wake-up call about just how dependent we’ve become on Chinese battery supply chains.

So on 16th October 2025, around 250 people were evacuated from the IKEA store in Wembley after approximately 100 solar panels on the roof caught fire. Five fire engines and around 30 firefighters from the London Fire Brigade tackled the blaze, which started just after 10:30am and was e xtinguished

So whilst we’ve been talking about green jobs rhetoric in England, Scotland has just opened something that’s actually pretty impressive. First Minister John Swinney officially opened Scotland’s largest energy transition skills hub in Aberdeen last month, and honestly, the scale and coordination of this project is worth paying attention to.

Right, so the government keeps talking about 400,000 new green jobs by 2030 to 2050 (the timeline seems to shift depending on who’s making the announcement). It sounds fantastic on paper. But here’s the thing: when you actually dig into the data, the picture gets a lot more complicated than

Right, so whilst we’ve been talking about the UK’s green jobs situation, it’s worth looking at what’s happening across the pond. Because honestly, some of the approaches in the US to renewable energy workforce development are pretty interesting, and there might be lessons here for how the UK could do

So, you’ve done your Level 2, Level 3 electrical installation, and 18th Edition, congrats, honestly. But now you’re looking at the 2357 NVQ and thinking, “Right, what’s actually needed to get fully qualified?” Let me break this down for you. If your one of the, I got no experience and

JIB Wage Deal 2026-2028: What It Actually Means for Your Pay Packet Right, so the Joint Industry Board (JIB) and Unite the Union have just agreed a three-year deal that’s going to lift graded-operative wage rates by almost 13% between January 2026 and January 2028. And honestly? It’s pretty significant

You're standing in your kitchen looking at a quote for £8,000 to rewire your house. The electrician has a Checkatrade badge, 147 five-star reviews, and a profile that says "fully vetted and approved." You feel reassured. You shouldn't. UK homeowners lose approximately £4 billion annually to rogue traders and substandard

This is electrician salary data for 2025, for electrician salary uk 2026 Look, electricians keep homes bright, factories humming, and the grid safe, and honestly, earnings can be just as varied as the jobs themselves. So we’ve pulled the latest figures into one place, including entry pay, regional u plifts,

Is the 19th Edition Wiring Regulations Coming in 2025? Let’s Talk About It Right, so rumours about a brand-new 19th Edition Wiring Regulations book have been doing the rounds on social media, WhatsApp groups, and even a few training-provider blogs. Some posts claim a 2025 release, others insist you should

This is an article from 2025, for the most up to date information How to Become an Electrician (2026): The Complete UK Guide Right, so this article sets out to answer pretty much every burning question you’ve got about how to become an electrician in the UK. Over the past

Right, so breaking through from improver to fully qualified electrician hinges on a single milestone: earning your NVQ Level 3 (2357) and then getting your AM2. If you’ve been Googling “how to get NVQ Level 3 electrical” but still feel lost in acronyms, logbooks, and AM2 nerves, this guide is