Looking for UK qualification

[aBanga]

Hi everybody,
My name is Andrew
I work as an electrician in the UK for over 5 years, including industrial and commercial installations and currently am interested in gaining UK full qualification, I am a non-UK qualified, have finished Power engineering bachelor degree back in Latvia where I am originally from, in the UK I have managed BS 7671 wiring regulations certificate so far. Also, I have UK Naric statement of comparability if it can help.
The quesion is, can I be requalified according to the UK standards and gain JIB grade and ECS card from what exactly should I start?

As I am a new user of the forum maybe someone can advise in which section of the forum should I seek information and answers and could redirect me?

Thanks in Advance

 

[telectrix]

JIB do a mature candidate assessment scheme whereby you can get a JIB card with whatever grade they think you qualify for. you'd also need to do the H&S exam which is about £40.

 

[I2C]

Welcome Andrew!

Funny enough, I used to work with a Latvian colleague in the past and they where one of hardest workers I know and very friendly, so I have a lot of respect. You've got a great amount of experience behind you which helps, to be honest your experience is often more valuable than qualifications to most employers but there's a few things to consider...

ECS Card
ECS (Electrical Certification Scheme) cards are basically the same as a CSCS card, they allow you to work on site and show important information which includes your skill-level. The JIB judges your skill-level based on the qualifications you hold, and gives you a ECS card based on your qualifications and role, a full list of ECS card types can be found here for more information on their website.

Typically most electricians aim to achieve the 'gold card' status. The 'gold card' is given to qualified electricians who have completed the City & Guilds 2357 level 3 (which can be found here on their website) and the AM2 final assessment.

Routes to Becoming Fully Qualified
There are two main routes you can take in order to become 'fully-qualified' and entitled to the ECS gold-card which I've listed below:

Apprenticeship:

• Aimed at young-people who have just left school
• Qualification - City & Guilds 2357 Level 3 & AM2
• The apprenticeship will take 3-4 years to complete
• You must be employed full-time in the industry
• You will spend one day per week studying at college
• You will work on-site for the duration of your course

Adult Learning:

• Aimed at adults looking to change career or gain qualifications
• Qualification - City & Guilds 2365 Level 3 & bridging unit converting the qualification to City & Guilds 2357, later completing the portfolio & AM2
• The qualification will take 1-3 years to complete, depending on how quickly you are able to
• You don't need to be employed in the industry while completing the City & Guilds 2365 course (sometimes known as the 'knowledge-units' which is taught at college) but you must be employed in the industry while completing the portfolio and final AM2 assessment.

Other Information

• Make sure you research your college properly. I studied at "Trade Skills 4 U" which was expensive compared to others (over £7000) but my tutor was one of the authors of the City & Guilds official textbooks, who unsurprisingly held numerous degrees in electrical engineering and answered questions with regulation numbers from memory; while providing additional support before & after normal hours during his own time.
• Other qualifications are very useful when applying for jobs while being cheap and easy to complete - such as the 17th edition wiring-regulations qualification (Which you've done), the part-P building regulations, the fundamental inspection & testing qualification known as the City & Guilds 2392, and the PAT testing qualification known as the City & Guilds 2377.
• Study time - it's vital that you have enough time to study before exams and during assignments. During one of my assignments I had only 8 hours sleep over a whole weekend between finishing college on Friday and starting again on Monday (4 hours on Friday night, no sleep Saturday night, 4 hours on Sunday night).
• Prior study - Even before you start college I would recommend buying the course textbooks to gain an advantage. Even if you just understand the basics, you can spend your study-time more effectively on areas you're unsure of.
• Test yourself - By testing your own knowledge, you're able to understand which subjects you need to focus on and which subjects you're confident with, to plan you're study-time effectively.
  Independently, you could list questions you've found difficult. I've listed a few examples:
  - How do you calculate inductive-reactance?
  - Draw a diagram of a full-wave-bridge-rectifier?
  - Explain what an "Eddy-Current" is and how it's formed?
  - How do you calculate impedance?
  - Explain how a RCD operates?
  - Calculate the Zs: Ze = 0.27, R1 & R2 = 0.09?