Electrician Qualifications and Accreditations

To become an Electrician in the UK, you are required to obtain certain qualifications. In recent years, the qualifications have been a bit of a minefield due to the upheaval in the qualification system, which has led to some confusion for those who are aspiring to become electricians.

There are different qualifications needed to carry out different tasks as an electrician.  One electrician can be more qualified than the next, purely because they have a wider range of qualifications and therefore can carry out more jobs. For example, if you wish to become an electrician who specialises (and only operates in) domestic properties than you only need to qualify as a domestic electrician or domestic installer. But if you have wider plans and want to work in domestic, industrial and commercial environments you need to obtain more qualifications to do so.

Electrician Apprenticeship Schemes

If you are under the age of 25, then you are likely to be able to get work on an apprenticeship scheme. In an apprenticeship scheme, you will typically work alongside an experienced electrician part time, whilst attending a local college to study the theory aspects the other portion of your time.

In most cases, an apprenticeship scheme will take anywhere from 2 years to 4 years to complete.  Once completed, you will gain a NVQ level III. Be aware that apprenticeships can be very competitive and it can be extremely hard to get someone to take you on as an apprentice, so do not simply approach one electrician, you should cast your net as far afield as you reasonably can.

Level I and Level II Diplomas

If you are under the age of 25, then you are likely to be able to get work on an apprenticeship scheme. In an apprenticeship scheme, you will typically work alongside an experienced electrician part time, whilst attending a local college to study the theory aspects the other portion of your time.

In most cases, an apprenticeship scheme will take anywhere from 2 years to 4 years to complete.  Once completed, you will gain a NVQ level III. Be aware that apprenticeships can be very competitive and it can be extremely hard to get someone to take you on as an apprentice, so do not simply approach one electrician, you should cast your net as far afield as you reasonably can.

Level I and Level II Diplomas

As of 2014, this new pathway became available to people who solely want to work as an electrician in a domestic environment. The reason this was introduced was because there was such high demand for quicker courses which allowed people to carry out domestic work. Completing a DEQ qualification means that you can start earning income without having to qualify for skills you are not going to use if you are working in people’s homes; rather than working in industrial or commercial properties for example.

This kind of qualification also gives you the flexibility to focus on domestic installation for the time being whilst earning an income from your work. Then you have the option to go back and qualify for other skills if you wish to progress and become more knowledgeable without having to re-do the level I and II again.

National Vocational Qualifications

An NVQ is a practical assessment which gets you a qualification rather than a training course. After you have completed a technical course which taches you the theory of electrical skills, you will then be moved onto the practical assessments in a real, workplace environment.

However you go about becoming an electrician though, it is necessary that you complete the NVQ assessment. Each assessment acts to build up your portfolio of work which you have completed which is called evidence. Photos will be taken of all of your work and added to this portfolio.

The time it will take to obtain the NVQ is dependent on how quickly you can complete your work and how much you get done in order to build up your portfolio.

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