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 find your own employer.
• Some employers may require GCSEs on entry.
• It might be possible to do an apprenticeship with a current employer.
• 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 restrictions

• 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 plumbing course is designed to meet industry standards and provides a good grounding for you to go out into the workplace.

Units include:

• Safety in plumbing activities
• Key plumbing principles
• Common plumbing processes
• Cold water systems
• Domestic hot water systems
• Sanitation Systems
• Rain Water Systems
• Central heating systems/pipework
• Environmental protection measures

Meet the Apprentice

Abigail shares her experiences on what it is like to work, earn and learn with an apprenticeship.

Following successful completion of the Level 2 Apprenticeship you may be able to progress to the Level 3 Apprenticeship or to full-time employment as a Plumber’s mate.

Over 90% of students who completed this course in the last three years have progressed to the Level 3 Apprenticeship in Plumbing.

You must:

• Be aged 16 years on or before 1 July in the year of proposed entry to the course;
• Have attained a minimum of 4 GCSE’s A-G.  These should include a minimum of: 
  GCSE Grade C qualification in Mathematics or Essential Skills Level 2 in Numeracy/Application of Number. 
  GCSE Grade D qualification in English/English Literature or Essential Skills Level 1 in Communication/Literacy. 
  However, if we have a large number of applicants, we may enhance the criteria in Mathematics and English.

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

• Employer response form;
• One form of official photographic ID;
• Official proof of your National Insurance number eg Letter from HMRC; and
• GCSEs.

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 those achieving the highest academic grades.