Training As An Electrician

[CUDABOY]

totally agree! spot on!

 

[Mosdwt]

Hello everyone,

first of all firstly I joined this forum to try and solicit some help not for sarcastic comments from people such Ian Settle1. Thank you for all the other comments. I grew up and trained as an electrician in England but have lived and worked in South Africa for over 30 years now. My son has indicated to me that he would like to move to England to live and work. When I trained in England the age was 15 -21 years to serve an apprenticeship but as he is now 25 years old I said that I would try and find out for him whether he could still receive training as an electrician (or any other trade for that matter) at his age in England.
The decision rests with him as to what he would like to do but as I would likely be paying the costs (at least initiallly) then I have a personal interest in finding out what training is available and of the quality of the training. I would then expect him to follow up on the outcomes.
Do companies in the UK accept people over 21 for apprentice training or is there some other means learning a trade ?

 

[ian.settle1]

Hello everyone,

first of all firstly I joined this forum to try and solicit some help not for sarcastic comments from people such Ian Settle1. Thank you for all the other comments. I grew up and trained as an electrician in England but have lived and worked in South Africa for over 30 years now. My son has indicated to me that he would like to move to England to live and work. When I trained in England the age was 15 -21 years to serve an apprenticeship but as he is now 25 years old I said that I would try and find out for him whether he could still receive training as an electrician (or any other trade for that matter) at his age in England.
The decision rests with him as to what he would like to do but as I would likely be paying the costs (at least initiallly) then I have a personal interest in finding out what training is available and of the quality of the training. I would then expect him to follow up on the outcomes.
Do companies in the UK accept people over 21 for apprentice training or is there some other means learning a trade ?

If you had explained yourself a little bit clearer at the start you may not have got the comment I passed in the first place

 

[Bane]

Hi Mosdwt.

You say you'll be helping to fund your son. To what extent? If your son has any electrical experience and you have a spare £6,000 then an intensive course may be the way to go for him.

This would cover him for Domestic installations

>>>> *Please place your input on the ins and outs Shakey* <<<<
(He's a member on here that teaches these courses Mosdwt)

If not, then he's going to have to look at going to college for 3yrs minimum.
He'd want to enrol on the City and Guilds 2330 Level 2 (2yrs) followed by
City and Guilds 2330 Level 3 (1yr). Costs could be £3,000 max for all 3yrs (£1,000 per yr).

These would be his 'base' foundation courses that would cover him for commercial/industrial and domestic installations and are more or less a minimum requirement here now. Let's leave at that for now regarding courses.

Employment opportunities regarding apprenticeships...That's a different matter. Especially if you don't know somebody who can help out.
Think of it from the employers point of view. He can pay a school leaving apprentice a LOT less than a 25yr old apprentice. BUT, if the employer has half a brain, he should realise that a 25yr old generally has a better aptitude towards work and is more mentally mature (generally).
Basically he's going to need to ask around, phone, visit, e-mail, etc. It's a hard graft, age isn't necessarily against him (I'm 29 and just started an apprenticeship, VERY LUCKY) but a good attitude and the fact that he's enrolled/enrolling at college will/can help.

(He will have missed the enrolment for this year and will have to enrol around June/July 2009 now, to start in Sept)

Erm...I can't think of anything else to add at the moment. Sure I've missed some things out but no doubt people on here will help fill you in.

Hope I've helped to clarify some matters for you? Any more queries, please don't hesitate to ask.

 

[ian.settle1]

Hello everyone,

first of all firstly I joined this forum to try and solicit some help not for sarcastic comments from people such Ian Settle1. Thank you for all the other comments. I grew up and trained as an electrician in England but have lived and worked in South Africa for over 30 years now. My son has indicated to me that he would like to move to England to live and work. When I trained in England the age was 15 -21 years to serve an apprenticeship but as he is now 25 years old I said that I would try and find out for him whether he could still receive training as an electrician (or any other trade for that matter) at his age in England.
The decision rests with him as to what he would like to do but as I would likely be paying the costs (at least initiallly) then I have a personal interest in finding out what training is available and of the quality of the training. I would then expect him to follow up on the outcomes.
Do companies in the UK accept people over 21 for apprentice training or is there some other means learning a trade ?

If your son was born in South Africa you may need to check on whether he can work in this country as the government are changing the goalposts for overseas people not born in the EU.

 

[Mosdwt]

If your son was born in South Africa you may need to check on whether he can work in this country as the government are changing the goalposts for overseas people not born in the EU.

He has a full British Passport with "right of abode" so no problem whatsoever there. My wife is the only one who has to go through the "Non-British" line when we go through immigration control at Heathrow Airport.

 

[RAJ]

Hi Moswtd

Option 1) Pay 6k and your son tries to gain work after he has completed the courses.

Option 2) Go to college part time C&g 2330 l2,l3 and try and get work as an apprentice or mate while doing the course in the evening.

Option 3) Go to college full time and try and gain weekend work in the trade to gain experience for a full time position at the end of your course.

Option 4) Stratford-upon-Avon College do a distance learning course i think its 900 quid for the l2 and l3 and try and get work in the trade while finishing the course.

There may be other options some of the guys on the site may have other ideas, but just by looking at the options i think your son will have to be as determined as Bane has shown on previous posts to gain access into the trade, at the end of the day it is down to him.

cheers.

 

[Shakey]

Ok here is a typical option, with my company Access Training:

4 weeks training spread over 4 seperate weeks covering:

Introduction to Electricity
EAL Domestic Electric Installer VRQ
C&G 2382-10 17th Edition wiring regs
C&G 2392 Fundamental Inspection & Testing of Electrical Installations
C&G 2391 Inspection & Testing of Electrical Installations

The EAL is based on domestic installations, but the other three quals are commercial, industrial & domestic.

Our students often find employment after the first two weeks of training, and we have placed them in all three sectors of the industry.

Prices vary, but I can generally do a good deal for forum members at under 5k.

Once working in the industry and earning, the next logical option would be to enrol on a day release 2330 course, it is the ideal solution, as he would be using the initial training to get his foot in the door.

It is worth bearing in mind as well, that certainly the 2382 and 2391 are generally quals that would be completed AFTER 2330, your son would allready have a very good head start

PM me if you want more details, you may click on our sponsors link, but you may not get such favourable rates as I can give to forum members

good luck

 

[Dinosaur]

Shakey:- Does that mean I may have to brush up on my Afrikaans!

 

[mum]

Hi, I too am a mum and I would like info on Trade skills 4 U. My son does want to do a course, he already is an electricians mate but struggles with exams. The comapny that he works for cannot fault his skills, just his mental blcok at exams. As i shall be paying for the course, not becuase i am fussing (only a little bit) i would like some feed back.

 

[AliC]

Well it must be interfering Mum day today then...........you can't blame us really, we can't help ourselves! My son is 20, managed to get himself some temp mate work but it only lasted 5 weeks.......and it was the first job he has done since leaving school which he loved, even though he was squashed in cupboards and lofts! That was 3 weeks ago and he is trying to fins another job. He is determined on that front I am surfing the net to see what I can find course wise too as he knows he needs to do that aswell.

Anyway it's all new ground for him and I am being a supportive Mum, although he has no idea I am on here and would be seriously unimpressed if I started touting for work for him - but I'll deal with that if anything comes up - I am sure he wouldn't turn it down if I came up with something before him!

Shakey - I will pm you to find out more course info from you too - thanks

 

[ian.settle1]

Hi, I too am a mum and I would like info on Trade skills 4 U. My son does want to do a course, he already is an electricians mate but struggles with exams. The comapny that he works for cannot fault his skills, just his mental blcok at exams. As i shall be paying for the course, not becuase i am fussing (only a little bit) i would like some feed back.

If he struggles with exams, you can pay for an electricians course but if he fails the exams will it be money well spent?