Starting out again aged 50

Andy-W · Sep 27, 2013

Hi people,
I'm after some advice please but let me tell you my history.

Left school in '79 and served an electrician apprenticeship at a ship building company ( Vosper Thornycrofts, Southampton. Made redundant in '86 so worked installing wiring in vehicle 'fridge units (Petter Refrigeration)
Redundant again, started with BT as external maintenance on phone lines.

Left in 2007 and been repairing PCs from home ever since.

Business drying up so want to go back onto my tools in some way but feel that my C&G from apprenticeship will not count for anything.

Any advice would be most welcome

Regards
Andy
Salisbury, Wiltshire

Richard Burns · Sep 27, 2013

Difficult to be able to say anything as we do not know what qualifications or type of apprenticeship you have.

Try reading the information on this site that will give you the ideas on entry into the trade at various levels.
You can also have a look at the ECS website to get information on the levels of qualification required for obtaining your ECS card.

Andy-W · Sep 27, 2013

These were the ones that I took towards gaining my indentures

Southampton Technical College

City and Guilds
Part two certificate in Electrical and Electronic craft studies - 1982
Core studies Credit
Course work assessment Pass
Electronic Components and Circuitry Credit
Marine Electrical Plant Pass
City and Guilds
Part one certificate in Basic Engineering Craft Studies – 1980
Shipbuilding Credit
Electrical Credit

Richard Burns · Sep 28, 2013

I think those are the City and guilds 232 parts 1 and 2 certificates, I think they would still have validity but would be primarily geared to marine electrical work.

Depending on what area you want to start working in this will affect what pieces of paper you would need.
For starters you would need to be up to date with the current version of the wiring regulations (C&G 2382).

Thereafter you would have to be deciding which areas of work you wish to cover.
The standard electrical installation route would be the C&G 2330 and NVQ3 and AM2
or alternatively the 2357 which includes the NVQ3 and AM2, however
with your experience then the 2365 may be a better choice as you may not need the NVQ3, you would have to check with a training provider.

If you are looking to move onward then you are starting to look at ONC, HNC, HND qualifications suitable for the area that you wish to work in.

That is about the limit of my knowledge on training and I think unless someone else provides better information then reading the above websites or calling a training college to ask about the options available (once you have a goal in mind) would be your best bet.

Good luck