How to Become an Electrician: 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 few year, we’ve seen these questions pop up constantly in forums, and honestly, we get asked the same things by hundreds of students weekly at Elec Training. So let’s cover it all in one place. 

I’m going to stay as impartial as I can to cover the main ways to become an electrician in the UK. Whether you’re aged between 16 and 150 years old, male, female, a career changer, single parent, colour blind, non-UK resident, someone with 20 years’ experience or no experience, have a PhD in electrical engineering, ex-police, ex-forces, unemployed, employed, wanting to join the RAF – I’ll try to cover as many different situations as possible. 

First Things First: Myth Busting 

Let’s get some misconceptions out of the way before we dive into the actual routes. 

“Being an electrician is easy” 

Honestly, it’s not. Like any trade, you take years becoming an expert. Even after qualifying, you’re still learning every day up until the point you retire. And sometimes it can take its toll on your health – 20 years running cable, your knees will hurt, your back will hurt. But one thing I can say is it will provide you with a trade for life. 

“I can make millions as an electrician” 

Yes, there are positions where you’re making £80k+ in employment (offshore, data centres, etc.), but like any job, it comes with high pressure and stress. Can you make millions if you set up your own company and do well? Then yes. But how many sparks actually set up and go on to employ 10+ people is a small percentage. 

“The only way you can become an electrician is doing a 4-year apprenticeship” 

Speak to most sparks with more than 10 years’ experience on the tools who are fully qualified, and they’ll most likely give you the above advice. The only issue is it’s outdated. Like most i ndustries and the education system, it has moved on. 

“I can become a fully qualified electrician in 6 weeks” 

Simply, you can’t. I’m not even going to entertain it. Yes, you can do a fast-track course (2365-02, 18th Edition, etc.), but the most you’ll be able to do is electrician’s mate or improver work. 

“I have an electrical engineering degree, I don’t need to do my Level 2” 

The amount of times we hear at Elec Training: “I have a PhD in mechanical engineering,” “I have a master’s in engineering,” “I have a Level 7 in construction.” With all due respect, yes, you have some amazing qualifications, but none of them count. You will still need to do your 2365-02. Ask anyone that’s trying to do their C&G 2346 or 2347 – yes, some modules can count towards certain modules of your Level 2 or Level 3 (I’ll go into more details later), but this comes down to the discretion of the awarding body and training provider. 

“I have been a practising electrician for 20 years in country X, I just need a licence” 

I’m sorry, the UK does not work like that. First, contact UK ENIC for your statement of comparability. Then send it to your potential training provider. Secondly, depending on what you’re going for, you might want to send it off to an electrical competency scheme in the UK, such as NICEIC or NAPIT. The reason being, I’ve seen UK ENIC say one thing, and an electrical competency scheme and awarding body say something different. 

Case study: A student was a qualified electrician with 10 years’ non-UK experience. UK ENIC informed the student they should go for their 2357 NVQ. The first awarding body rejected it. He went with another awarding body and training provider who said yes, just to come back to us two years later because all electrical competency scheme providers rejected his route. 

Do your research first. 

What Does “Fully Qualified” Actually Mean? 

Students and learners become increasingly confused when trying to pick the right electrician course for them. Forget the students being confused – there’s confusion within the industry when a definition is needed of what a “fully qualified electrician” actually is. 

In my view, it’s someone who is authorised to carry out and certify both domestic and industrial installations independently. You’ll often see advertisements claiming you can become “fully qualified” in just six weeks, but the route most widely recognised by employers (and supported by job-board data from Reed and Monster) involves the following steps: 

1. City & Guilds 2365-02 Certificate (Level 2 Diploma in Electrical Installations)
2. City & Guilds 2365-03 Certificate (Level 3 Diploma in Electrotechnical Technology)
3. 18th Edition IET Wiring Regulations (BS 7671:2018 qualification)
4. City & Guilds 2357 NVQ Level 3 (Competence-based practical qualification)
5. AM2 Assessment (Independent end-point practical and written test)
6. Apply for Your ECS JIB Gold Card (competency scheme needed)
7. City & Guilds 2391 Certificate (Inspection and Testing) – this is an addon. 

Completing these elements establishes you as an electrician who can both perform and sign off work across domestic and industrial settings – exactly the standard most employers seek and, most importantly, the standards that Elec Training’s working partners expect when we place students into placement. 

Why the ECS JIB Gold Card Matters 

Right now, there are four main ways to become a fully qualified ECS JIB Gold Card holder.

Here’s where the issues arise – there’s a fairly even split when you speak to older sparks about the value of this. Some will s wear by it and say yes, that’s what you need. Others will say, “Well, I’ve got 20 years and I don’t need to sign off my own work, so I don’t need an ECS JIB Gold Card.” 

Both have their merits, but if you’re reading this, you’re most likely new to the industry, so the second part doesn’t count. And most of the time, the reason they don’t have the ECS JIB Gold Card is because they don’t want to renew it and pay fees to a competency scheme. 

Why is the ECS JIB Gold Card so important? 

Simply put, go onto any major job site and type in “electrician jobs.” 90% or more will state they recognise or require an ECS JIB Gold Card. So why try and reinvent the wheel when the path to employment is clear? 

A Quick Word on Awarding Bodies 

Whilst on this subject of employment, the UK has three major bodies for electrical training: City & Guilds, EAL, and LCL. Most will say it doesn’t matter who your awarding body is as long as you get fully qualified. Now this is true. What they fail to say in that statement is you need employment to become fully qualified. So when you’re applying for electrician’s mate or improver jobs, it matters. 

Go on any major job site and type in “electrician’s mate” – have a look at what’s required. It normally says something like “2365-02 or equivalent.” If you can, go for a City & Guilds qualification. 

The Four Main Routes to Becoming an Electrician 

Right, so as of writing this, there are four main routes in the UK (excluding Scotland). I’m not going to cover Scotland for two reasons: one, we don’t have any training centres in Scotland; secondly, over the years we’ve had a very small number of students that enrolled with us from Scotland, so we don’t actively speak to employers from Scotland unless we have to place a student. In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, we regularly speak to employers to keep up with training demands and place students into work. 

Route 1: The Apprenticeship Route 

The apprenticeship route – the golden oldie, as I would say. It’s changed its name a few times, but in essence, it’s still the same thing. 

Of writing this, there are two apprenticeships being offered: 

5357-03 – Installation & Maintenance Electrician Apprenticeship 

5393 – Domestic Electrician Apprenticeship Standard 

Simply put, if this is the route you’re going down, do the first one: 5357-03 Installation & Maintenance Electrician Apprenticeship. The reason being, this covers both industrial and domestic. 

The amount of times I hear potential students say, “I’m not going to work in a factory, I only want to do houses,” or “I can’t be arsed going into a factory, it’s going to be cold and harder than doing houses.” I will say one thing: grow up. 

Speak to any spark that’s been house bashing for more than 5 years and they’ll tell you the same thing. This is not about the next 5-10 years of your life. This is about having a skill for life. And yes, the world is changing at a quick pace, so have the ability to work in as many roles as possible. 

With that said, yes, it’s my opinion, but if you want to do 5393 Domestic Electrician Apprenticeship Standard or the domestic installer route (my pet hate), then this post is not for you. I will not give credibility to a path that I believe is fundamentally flawed in the long run. (Please feel free to prove me wrong in the comments.) 

Positives of 5357-03 Installation & Maintenance Electrician Apprenticeship: 

Regardless of what any training provider says, it is the favoured path by employers when recruiting for electrician’s mate or labourer jobs – but not for the reason you think. Please understand the distinction between the different roles of employment: electrician’s mate/labourer jobs and ECS JIB Gold Card jobs. 

So why would an employer favour someone that’s done an apprenticeship? Here’s the hard, cold fact: A Parliamentary research briefing notes that in 2022/23, 47% of people doing construction apprenticeships did not complete. (Yes, it’s construction – they don’t have solid figures for electrical apprenticeships specifically.) 

Here are the common reasons we hear at Elec Training from students who did not complete: “My employer went bust,” “My college was [insert word here],” “My tutor was [insert whichever word you want],” “I had personal problems.” But let’s be frank, 47% is an insanely high amount. So why is the dropout rate so bad? 

This is what a normal apprenticeship entails: 

• 4 years of working, 5 days a week 

• 1 day at college (please be aware sometimes employers will not release you, so you have to do that 1 day of college online) 

The biggest reason why they drop out: 

Under-19 apprentice minimum wage is £7.55 per hour. After completing their first year, apprentices aged 19 or over are entitled to the standard National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage for their age, which is £10.00 per hour for those aged 18-20 and £12.21 per hour for those 21 and over. 

This is what happens: They’ve been working for two years, 16-18, getting paid £7.55 an hour, whilst their friends working at McDonald’s in the warmth get paid reportedly around £8.50 to over £10.00 per hour. 

So why do employers like apprenticeship dropouts? Simply put, they know you’re going to be happy with a wage increase from £7.55 per hour to minimum wage. They know they’ve got you for a few years, as without any qualifications you can’t become fully qualified (experienced workers route applies here). And the sad fact is, let’s acknowledge some of the horror stories we hear about how apprenticeship students are treated. 

As a dropout, you will not struggle to get work as an electrician’s mate or labourer. Here’s the other issue: trying to transfer your part qualifications over to another training provider because you didn’t like your college, teacher, or the teacher’s cat is really difficult. Trying to transfer employment over because you didn’t like your site manager or manager’s cat? Near impossible. 

But now… let’s talk about the positives: 

If you’re the 53% that sticks it out, after 4 years you’re a fully qualified ECS JIB Gold Card holder and the world is your oyster. You have become fully qualified without spending any money as such, as the company you’re working for should cover your AM2 costs. 

Here’s the kicker: you would have done the 4 years in 2 years on a fast-track course. In the end, the demand for fully qualified electricians is so high that how you get there kind of gets thrown out the window (unless you go down the experienced workers route). 

Who would I recommend the 5357-03 Installation & Maintenance Electrician Apprenticeship for: 

• Aged 16-20 (who have financial support to survive on third-world wages) 

• After 20, it gets really difficult to get an employer to take you on as an apprentice 

Route 2: The College Route (Full-Time Classroom Option) 

A lot of colleges have pivoted towards this route, and the reason is it’s easier for them to teach it. 2365-02, 2365-03 – each one takes a year, but some colleges make the 2365-03 two years long. 

If you’re going to spend three years doing this, do the 5357-03 Installation & Maintenance Electrician Apprenticeship instead. I really struggle to see the positives of this path for this duration, apart from the fact it’s free. If you have to pay for this route, then, as I would say, give your head a shake. 

Here are the drawbacks: 

Up to three years in the classroom without any real experience. Then the college lets you into the wild and tells you to go get a job to complete your 2357 NVQ. And what happens next? Nothing. You can’t find a job. No one wants to employ you. And you’ve just wasted 3 years of your life. 

If this is you, reach out – we might be able to help you get into work with our 2357 NVQ programme. 

Route 3: Fast-Track Adult Learner Route 

Fast-track is more targeted at adult learners and career changers. Who’s this good for? Anyone that wants to become an electrician, has responsibilities, and needs to be snappy about it because they can’t afford to be on minimum wage for 4 years. 

The pathway: 2365-02, 2365-03, 18th Edition, 2357 NVQ, AM2. 

Just Google and you’ll find hundreds of training providers telling you this is the best thing since sliced bread. But like any route, it has its positives and negatives. 

Target Outcome: 

A “fully qualified electrician” able to wire domestic and commercial installs, test, certify, and appear as a “Qualified Supervisor” on a Competent Persons Scheme. 

Who is it for? 

Career changers aged 19+ who need to keep earning, maybe parents returning to work or ex-forces engineers. 

Step-by-Step Path Most Centres Follow: