.Electrician Apprenticeship Guide: How It Works, What You Earn and the Maths You Need

This guide covers electrician apprenticeships in England. The rules are different in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but the maths applies wherever you train.

An electrician apprenticeship is the main route into the electrical trade. You get paid while you learn, you build real experience on site, and at the end you have a recognised Level 3 qualification. This guide explains how an electrical apprenticeship works, how long it takes, what apprentices are paid, whether you can start as an adult, and the part most people underestimate: the maths.

I am a time-served electrician with more than 40 years in the trade, and for over five years I lectured and assessed City & Guilds Level 3 Electrical Installation in further education, teaching apprentice groups and nearly 200 full-time learners. What follows is what I would tell anyone thinking of becoming an apprentice electrician.

What is an electrician apprenticeship?

An apprenticeship is a job with training built in. You are employed by an electrical contractor or another employer, you work alongside qualified electricians, and you spend part of your time at a college or training provider learning the theory. Most electrical installation apprenticeships use day release (one day a week at college) or block release (a few weeks at a time).

The main route is the Level 3 Installation and Maintenance Electrician apprenticeship. Apprentices choose an installation or a maintenance pathway and work towards the Level 3 Electrotechnical Qualification. There is also a separate Level 3 Domestic Electrician apprenticeship for those working in homes.

At the end comes the end-point assessment, the AM2S. This is an independent practical and knowledge assessment covering installation, inspection and testing, fault finding and safe isolation. Pass it, and you have completed your apprenticeship.

How long does an electrical apprenticeship take?

Expect around four years. Colleges and training providers typically quote 42 to 48 months of training, plus a few months for the end-point assessment. That sounds like a long time, but you are earning throughout, and you finish with experience as well as a qualification.

You can do a full-time college course in electrical installation instead, but on its own that won’t make you a fully qualified electrician. College courses teach the theory and basic practical skills, while qualifying also needs on-site experience assessed in the workplace and the AM2 or AM2S. That is why the apprenticeship is the main route.

What does an apprentice electrician earn?

From 1 April 2026, the apprentice minimum wage is £8.00 an hour. It applies if you are under 19, or if you are 19 or over and in the first year of your apprenticeship. After that, you move up to the National Minimum Wage for your age: £10.85 an hour for 18 to 20 year olds and £12.71 an hour if you are 21 or over.

These are legal minimums. Many electrical employers pay apprentices more, and pay usually rises as you progress, so ask about pay rates when you apply. Your employer must also pay you for your time at college.

Electrician apprenticeship for adults

There is no upper age limit on apprenticeships, and plenty of electrician apprentices are adults changing career. Employers often value the work habits and reliability adults bring.

One change makes this route easier for adults. Since February 2025, apprentices who are 19 or over when they start no longer have to achieve Level 2 English and maths qualifications to complete their apprenticeship, although an employer can still ask for them. Apprentices aged 16 to 18 still have to work towards them.

Don’t read that as “no maths needed”. The change removed a separate maths exam. It did not remove the electrical calculations that are part of the Level 3 qualification and the AM2S. Those still have to be passed, at any age.

How to get an electrician apprenticeship

Most apprentices find their place in one of four ways. You can search the government’s Find an apprenticeship service, which lists vacancies across England. You can contact the colleges and training providers near you, because many of them help match learners with employers. You can apply to specialist electrical training organisations such as JTL, which recruits apprentices for electrical employers. Or you can approach local electrical contractors directly, which works better than many people expect, especially if you can show you are reliable and keen.

Entry requirements vary. Many colleges and employers ask for GCSE maths at grade 4 or above, or an equivalent, so check before you apply. Being able to show you are comfortable with numbers will strengthen any application.

Do electrical apprentices need maths? Yes, and here is why

When I was teaching, the theory exams and the calculations held back far more apprentices than the practical work did. Many were good with their hands and slow to forgive themselves for struggling at school maths. The maths you need is not advanced, but you have to be able to use it accurately. It includes:

• Ohm’s law and the power formulas, to work out current, resistance and power
• Rearranging formulas (transposition), which almost every calculation depends on
• Percentages, for voltage drop limits
• Voltage drop and cable size calculations, using the tables in BS 7671
• Expected test results, such as R1 + R2 values, so you know when a reading is wrong
• Unit conversions between milli, kilo and mega

A taste of apprentice maths: voltage drop

A circuit uses 2.5 mm² twin and earth cable (18 mV/A/m), carries 20 A and is 25 m long. The voltage drop limit for a power circuit on a 230 V supply is 5%, which is 11.5 V. Is the cable acceptable?

Voltage drop = (18 × 20 × 25) ÷ 1000 = 9.0 V

9.0 V is under 11.5 V, so it passes. That one question uses multiplication, division, unit conversion and percentages. Calculations like this appear in your college exams and underpin the design and testing work you will do for the rest of your career. For more worked examples, see our guide to the calculations every electrical student has to master.

Get ahead on the maths before you start

The best thing you can do before or during an electrician apprenticeship is get comfortable with the maths, in the way electricians actually use it. That is what the Practical Maths for Electrical Installation Students & Apprentices paperback is for.

It is written for electrical students and apprentices and teaches the maths through electrical work, with step-by-step worked examples like the one above. Use it to brush up before you apply, to keep up with your college course, and to revise before your exams. If you are an adult who hasn’t done any maths for years, it gives you a way back in at your own pace.

The paperback is available now on Amazon.

The bottom line

An electrician apprenticeship takes around four years, pays you while you learn and leads to a Level 3 qualification and a skilled trade for life. You can start as a school leaver or as an adult. Whatever your age, the calculations are part of the job and part of the qualification, so getting confident with the maths early is one of the best investments you can make in your apprenticeship.