What is an Apprenticeship? 

As an apprenticeship you are employed as full-time members of staff and typically work for an employer three to four days a week. One or two days a week is spent at college, studying for nationally-recognised qualifications in the same profession as the apprenticeship. 

• You must have secured an employer to undertake this apprenticeship and there are support links to assist with this process on our Apprenticeship page. 
• You work all year round, but your College classes run from September to July. 
• Employers pay for the day the apprentice is in college, meaning you will receive a full-time wage at least in accordance with the national minimum wage. 

Details and restriction 

• Apprentices must be aged 16 or above. There is no upper age limit, which means you can start an apprenticeship at any stage of your career. 
• Potential apprentices can be existing or new employees including graduates or about to take up a permanent paid employment offer.  An existing employee must be in a new job that requires a substantial amount of learning and skills development.  You must be employed by a company that has a base in Northern Ireland and is registered as an employer with HMRC and be contracted to work a minimum of 21 hours per week with one employer. 

The Electrotechnical Framework is offered under the ApprenticeshipsNI  scheme.  The course comprises Level 3 City & Guilds Electrotechnical Qualification (Installation) and City & Guilds Level 3 Award in the Fundamental Principles and Requirements of Environmental Technology Systems. These qualifications combine the practical hands-on experience of the workplace with the knowledge, skills and understanding gained in the College classroom and workshops, enabling you to become a fully qualified electrician on completion of the AM2S end-point assessment. 

Subjects include: 

• Apply Health, Safety and Environmental Considerations 
• Electrical Scientific Principles and Technologies 
• Understand Design and Installation Practices and Procedures 
• Understand How to Plan and Oversee Electrical Work Activities 
• Understand Inspection, Testing and Commissioning 
• Inspect, Test and Commission Electrical Systems 
• Understand Fault Diagnosis and Rectification 
• Apply Fault Diagnosis and Rectification 
• 18th Edition of the IEE Wiring Regulations 

Following successful completion of the Level 3 ApprenticeshipsNI you may be able to progress to higher education & Foundation Degree or Higher Level Apprenticeship. The College Careers Advisors and course delivery team will be able to provide further, detailed, advice and guidance over the duration of the Apprenticeship programme. 

• You must be aged 16 years on or before 1 July in the year of proposed entry to the course.  
• You must have attained a minimum of 4 GCSEs (grades A*-C) . These should include a minimum of: 
  GCSE Grade C qualification in English/English Literature or Essential Skills Level 2 in Communication/Literacy; 
  GCSE Grade C qualification in a science-related subject; and 
  GCSE Grade C qualification in Mathematics or Essential Skills Level 2 in Numeracy/Application of Number; and 
  Any other GCSE Grade C Qualification or equivalent. 
• You must meet all necessary health requirements that are required of the job role, have no colour vision defects and be able to work at heights in confined spaces. Verification of vision requirements must be obtained from your optician. Your optician will be asked to sign, date and apply the practice/surgery stamp to your verification. The vision verification form can be downloaded from our Apprenticeship page. It is strongly advised that you submit the verification form along with your application, or as soon as possible thereafter. 

All relevant paperwork should be uploaded to the admissions portal prior to being considered for an apprenticeship. This should include your: 

• Employer response form; 
• Vision verification form; 
• One form of official photographic ID; 
• Official proof of your National Insurance number e.g., letter from HMRC; and 
• GCSE results  

Your application will not be considered as complete until all of these documents have been uploaded to the admissions portal and verified by the College. 

Due to the high level of demand for this programme, attendance at a course information session at one of the College campuses will be required as part of the application process. You will receive further details and invitation to a mandatory information session following submission of your application.  

In addition, if you are an existing employee you must: 

• Be in permanent remunerative employment with a Northern Ireland-based company from day one of the apprenticeship; 
• Be contracted to work a minimum of 21 hours per week (including day release/off-the-job training) with one employer; and 
• Meet all the other eligibility criteria as set out above. 

To access the forms and for further details visit our Apprenticeship page. 

Additional Information 

In the event that the course is oversubscribed you may not be guaranteed a place on it. The College will be using the Admissions Policy to determine priority of application and reserves the right to enhance entry criteria to determine eligibility for enrolment. This enhancement will be based on grades achieved with selection allocated to those achieving the highest academic grades.