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3 Month apprenticeship

Posted by geoff the bonnie <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=geoff+the+bonnie' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 8, 2026, 10:53 pm

Now what an idea. I did 3 years college, 5 years training and another 2 years to get approved status.
About 15 years ago they tried this 3 months training to be an electrician and i happened to be at the training centre for an upgrade.
So i asked the class of trainees, how would you wire 1 lamp, switchable at any one of 4 switch locations. Off at any one and on at any one in any order. Not one had any idea about basic intermediate switching.
At about 2 years into my training i was getting quite confident but still a lot to learn. At 3 years i could happily wire a house alone.
The reason for the 5 year training was to learn all the cable types and various reasons for doing certain jobs.
I learnt the steel conduits and trunking, the armoured cables, fireproof mineral cables, PVC twin and earth etc. Asking the 3 month trainees, they asked what mineral cable was. Its the copper sheathed fireproof wire used in churches and often in thatched roofs where there may be rodents.
I have 3 Nephews that are long term trained electricians so the fires these new boys create should keep them busy.
I would love to watch a new trainee finish his course then try and wire a 3 storey house with all its wiring for stair lighting and large circuit breaker boards followed by the computerised testing at the end of the job.
Be very wary if employing the very young as they really need 10 years experience to be very competent.

Re: 3 Month apprenticeship

Posted by nek <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=nek' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 9, 2026, 9:36 am, in reply to "3 Month apprenticeship"

This is because our lords and masters have absolutely no concept of actual work. They live in a bubble of theory and dogma and have no respect for a tradesman.
work till 70 they decree, they have no concept of physical work.

bunch of expletives the lot of them.

Re: 3 Month apprenticeship

Posted by Nigel B <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Nigel+B' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 9, 2026, 10:20 am, in reply to "3 Month apprenticeship"

I completed the late '70s standard UK engineering apprenticeship in Electrical & Electronic Engineering as a basis for a career working with CNC machine tools. This comprised a first year "off the job" at an apprentice training school, with one day being "Day Release" at college (long days, those - 8.30am through to 8 pm). Then two years of on-the-job training, working through two training modules, having to write up assignements & get these assesed by the GTB examiners - the Day Release college continued. Then another experience year under supervision (along with the seemingly never ending Day Release). At that point I was "signed off" and deemed comptent enough to start doing the job without being a danger to others ! The learning never stopped over the next 40-odd years until I retired.

The scheme under which I was trained was administed by the local Group Training Asscociation (GTB) of the Engineering Industry Training Board (EITB). AFAIK all gone now, with appreticeships dumbed down to being little more than limited training schemes run to the narrow requirements of employers & completed in many cases in under a year. This has worked (after a fashion) for the last 20 or so years as employers were happy to take trained European (often East European) workers rather than invest in training their own workers - always seems to be someone else's job to invest in training workers, not theirs. The ready supply of "trained by others" imported labour has largely dried up, yet our remaining industries still don't want to do anything more than complain about the lack of suitable employees without wanting to invest in the training themselves.

Until we get MPs & others in Govenment wwho actually have experience of working in a business environment there is probably little chance that things will get turned around. They politicos may well have good intentions with their various "schemes" but every time they throw lots of (our) money at the training problem they get bamboozled by the scheme recipients who take the money but don't provide the broad-based training required to benefit the trainees & the country in the long run i.e. Universities changing the job description of existing (ofter older) employees to "apprentices" to get Government apprentice training subsidies.

Rant over !

Nigel B.

Re: 3 Month apprenticeship

Posted by Andy C <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Andy+C' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 9, 2026, 1:41 pm, in reply to "Re: 3 Month apprenticeship"

Nigel - EITB remember that well, seems like I probably did the same course as you. I can remember the endless hours at College as well - "night school" was the hardest after a days work !

I rewired most of the bungalow where we live, but I am lucky enough to have a certified electrician in the family. So gave he me all the guidance I needed.

Once finished he did the safety checks and deemed it to be OK.

He could not formally certify it as I am not a qualified sparky but he could assure me that from a safety perspective it was OK.

Who needs a signature anyway......

Re: 3 Month apprenticeship

Posted by ChazzyB <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=ChazzyB' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 9, 2026, 12:24 pm, in reply to "3 Month apprenticeship"

God's teeth! And to think I rewired my first house from top to bottom without even the benefit of 3 hours training, let alone 3 months. Luxury

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Re: 3 Month apprenticeship

Posted by Nigel B <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Nigel+B' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 9, 2026, 12:47 pm, in reply to "Re: 3 Month apprenticeship"

And to think I rewired my first house from top to bottom without even the benefit of 3 hours training, let alone 3 months. Luxury

But what edition of the "Regs" did you work to Chazzy ?

IIRC it was the 14th Edition that was current when I started - a brown cover A5 paperback book about 20mm thick that I still have somewhere. Now on the 18th Edition, which is 2 or 3 A4 books each over 20mm thick + there is another "Explanations" manual that explains how to interpret the others !

Anything beyond very basic maintenance (like swapping a duff socket for switch) is "notifiable work " now - you can still DIY, but your work has to be signed off by an approved "professional" or by Building Standards at your local authority.

Glad I wasn't directly involved very often in installations, but had to have an understanding of the requirements. Also did a HV course at the local electricity supplier as first workplace had a substation - not allowed to work in there as an apprentice, though.

Nigel B.

Re: 3 Month apprenticeship

Posted by ChazzyB <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=ChazzyB' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 9, 2026, 1:33 pm, in reply to "Re: 3 Month apprenticeship"

<<But what edition of the "Regs" did you work to Chazzy ???

You what?

When done, a bloke from SEEBAORD came along with a megger. That's all I remember.

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Re: 3 Month apprenticeship

Posted by Lannis <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Lannis' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 9, 2026, 5:53 pm, in reply to "Re: 3 Month apprenticeship"

I did the same here, to our National Electrical Code edition of 1990.

As opposed to working 42 feet in the air to top our chimneys or build our roof on our 3-story house, I decided I could learn how to wire a house, like I learned to lay block and brick and pour concrete and excavate the foundations.

I got a textbook and learned the basics, then went to our county building inspector and told him what I intended to do. He supported me and told me the points at which he had to come out and inspect the work; he was a big help actually.

I used 12-gauge wiring for the basic 15 amp circuits, although 14-gauge would have done. That was a lot of extra work, as 12-gauge is MUCH harder to work into tight boxes, or 3- and 4-way lighting circuits.

I wired two 200-amp boxes in, as I didn't want to run out of capacity. The house I grew up in had 60-amp two-wire service with 3 glass fuses, and you had to be careful how many things you had turned on at once! I didn't want that ...

It all came out very well, with 15 and 20-amp outlets every few feet along the walls, and plenty of 20, 30, and 50-amp circuits for the heavy stuff (heat pumps, jacuzzi, dryer, electric oven, water pump, etc).

I could wire a house for someone today. The thing that takes 10 years to learn is how to do it quickly and efficiently enough to make a living at it. If I wired a house for someone at the speed I wired mine, we'd all fall asleep before I was done, and I'd starve to death trying it ....

Lannis

No Matter how Kind you are, German Kids are Kinder.

Re: 3 Month apprenticeship

Posted by ChazzyB <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=ChazzyB' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 9, 2026, 6:16 pm, in reply to "Re: 3 Month apprenticeship"

Oh, ROFLMAO!! My house has a 50 amp supply to it.

Bag pardon. It's 60 amp.

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Re: 3 Month apprenticeship

Posted by geoff the bonnie <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=geoff+the+bonnie' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 9, 2026, 9:47 pm, in reply to "Re: 3 Month apprenticeship"

I trained on 14th edition then in 1983 went back to college for 3 months for the 15th edition. 16th edition was about 3 days college as was 17th which i took in 2008.
Worst for me was learning all the imperial cable sizes then it all went metric 1/044 became 1mm. 3/029 became 1.5mm. 7/029 became 2.5mm. 7/036 became 4mm. 7/044 became 6mm. 7/064 became 16mm.
Strictly, i am no longer allowed to touch house electricals now but i know 3 Nephews who can. The testers certificate is hardest and not many achieve it. One Nephew with that ticket earns a basic 50k.
When i worked at the new schools for 3 years in Exeter, they had been wired by some Europeans so i spent a lot of that time rewiring their work. Considering the size of those buildings, it was not too bad.
I enjoyed the job which earned me enough to buy a house aged 20. New motorbike at 21. Always had cars and a brand new one when i reached 29.
Lucky to get my current house and that car from the insurer of the car that smashed my leg.
I was also lucky to be involved in a lot of plumbing so i learnt that but not every bit of plumbing. Brother was the Plumber and he had a nice Jaguar S type at age 19

.
Brother who started the business did very well but sometimes had to pay a tax bill when it appeared he had not earned anything in one year.

Re: 3 Month apprenticeship

Posted by Jimbo <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Jimbo' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 13, 2026, 11:34 am, in reply to "Re: 3 Month apprenticeship"

Most could probably learn to rewire a house, and the theory would probably take no more than a day. The learning and experience comes when the light doesn't come on when you throw the switch, or the fuse or breaker trips intermittently, or which cable should be used in which application, etc etc. I could paint the Mona Lisa; after all, it's only some silly oil paint and a brush..

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