Employers who offer electrical apprenticeships UK have an employment contract with their apprentices, but off-the-job training and assessment is completely funded by the state for apprentices aged between 16 and 18. The Government only contributes 50% of the cost of training for apprentices aged 19 and over in the UK.
Government funding agencies contract with learning providers to deliver electrical apprenticeships, and may accredit them as a Centre of Vocational Excellence or National Skills Academy. Providers are usually private training companies, Further Education colleges, voluntary sector organisations, Chambers of Commerce or employers themselves.
Each Apprentice chooses an area of specialisation – Signal reception, consumer/commercial electronics or domestic electrical appliances. Whichever area is chosen, installation, servicing and maintenance procedures will be covered. You could learn how to build control panels for lighting, heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems or you could focus on finding faults and fixing them in a range of machinery.
Alternatively, you may specialise in operating and maintaining the equipment that produces electricity in power stations. Diagnosing and repairing faults on machinery, testing equipment and handling the materials that the power plant uses to generate electricity. On the advanced electrical apprenticeships UK, you can complete additional courses in water supply, building regulations and a certificate in engineering. Once you qualify you can expect a basic salary of £17k.
The basic framework (in England and Wales) electrical apprenticeships UK follows is: NVQ(s), Key Skills, Technical Certificate(s), Practical Performance Assessment and Employment rights and responsibilities work. While in Scotland the framework consists of SVQ and Core Skills.
Apprenticeships deliver real returns to the bottom line. In a recent survey, conducted by Populus on behalf of the Learning and Skills Council, the majority of employers said that Apprenticeships helped them to improve productivity and to be more competitive. They also said that training apprentices is more cost effective than hiring skilled staff, leading to lower overall training and recruitment costs.
Electrical apprenticeships UK deliver skills designed around business needs. They also help develop the specialist skills needed to keep up with the latest technology and working practices in this sector. Employers in the Populus survey said they relied on their electrical apprenticeships programmes to provide the skilled workers they need for the future.
