Full Time Electrical Courses
Why would I study full time?
There could be a number of reasons why you would chose to do a full time course at college before you consider an apprenticeship. These could be:
- You are unable to get an apprentice placement
- You are not sure if it is the right career for you so you want a taster first
- You want to move into a related industry
- You prefer a practical level 2 course rather than something like a BTEC
- Employers are more likely to take on apprentices at age 17 or 18 (Source: The Wolf Report)
- You want to improve your Maths and English before you apply for apprentice placements
EQ Note: We always advise, as best as possible, that you exhaust all of the apprentice options first. Whilst a full time course is useful and can be of huge benefit when looking for a placement, it is not an apprenticeship and will not qualify you as an electrician at the end of the course. There are instances when you will benefit doing the full time route over an apprentice scheme, this is the reason we have mentioned the route here.
Qualifications to get on the course
Before you start your course, you would want to consider your GCSE grades. Often for Level 2 courses, colleges are looking for good grades (A-D) in English and Maths and some may ask for a Science qualification.
The C&G2330 full time route
Although initially given that the qualification would be closed as of April 2011, the qualification had a reprieve from the Secretary of State himself and continues to be offered by different providers. With this is mind, you can complete the following units at college:
Once you have the above, you can then seek an apprentice placement. You will also have the advantage (employer permitting) of using the units you have gained on the C&G2330 towards your C&G2357.
The C&G2251 PEO route
Often colleges offer a PEO qualification (Performing Engineering Operations) as an alternative to the C&G2330. This qualification has the added advantage of being used when moving in other career directions, particularly in the multi-disciplined field of engineering. It can be studied at Level 1 and Level 2 as a full time option at some colleges and is the combination of mandatory units and optional units.
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1. For the purpose of this site, a fully qualified electrician is considered to hold the ECS Gold card issued by the JIB. We understand there is no legal definition of qualified as of yet, but ascribe to the notion that an electrician holding the Gold card has sufficient competence and qualifications to be classed as an electrician.
2. Please contact the JIB direct about a grading card. They may ask for or require proof of training.
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