SHORT ANSWER: Yes, plumbing can be a very good career indeed. The work is very rewarding, and plumbers are in constant demand, so there's no shortage of opportunities for someone with the right skills.
Plumbing pays very well indeed, and if you want to be your own boss, you can choose to strike out on your own as a self-employed plumber.
Plumbing is also future-proof. If you're looking for a career that can't be made obsolete by AI or computers, plumbing is a pretty safe bet.
Read on for more reasons why plumbing is such a good profession to get into, plus everything you'll need to kickstart your successful plumbing career!
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If you want to become a plumber, there are several different pathways that can get you there. Options include:
- Completing a college course or apprenticeship
- Training 'on the job' while working as a plumber's mate
- Learning your new trade at a training centre
The best option for you will depend on your personal circumstances and your career aspirations.
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When it comes to training to become a plumber, there are a number of different qualifications and training courses you can choose from to get qualified, each offering a different level of expertise and depth of training.
What qualifications do I need to be a plumber?
NVQ Level 2 (called an SVQ 2 in Scotland) is the qualification every plumber ultimately needs. Because it is assessed in the workplace and not in the classroom, it proves your competence and is based on your practical skills.
In order to gain this qualification, you will first need to achieve the Level 2 Diploma in Plumbing, as some fundamental practical skills and a basic prior knowledge of plumbing systems are required. Completing the Level 2 Diploma in Plumbing demonstrates that you have learned and retained the core skills required to become a plumber (you will receive a certificate as proof of this).
You will then need to go out into the workplace, where you will be assessed on various jobs that meet the specific criteria needed to gain your NVQ Level 2 Diploma in Plumbing.
So there are two qualifications you'll need to become a plumber...
Level 2 Diploma in Plumbing
- Level 2 Diploma in Plumbing Studies (City & Guilds 6035-02)
Level 2 will equip you with the relevant plumbing and heating knowledge and skills. Once you've got this qualification under your belt, you can carry out plumbing tasks - but you may have to be supervised depending on the task.
NVQ Level 2 Diploma in Plumbing
There are two choices for your NVQ:
- NVQ Level 2 Diploma in Plumbing and Heating
- NVQ Level 2 Diploma in Installing and Maintaining Domestic Heating Systems
Both of these options comprise mandatory units, including:
- Understand and carry out safe working practices in building services engineering
- Understand and apply domestic hot water system installation and maintenance
- Understand and apply domestic above-ground drainage system installation and maintenance techniques
- Install and maintain domestic heating systems
Are City & Guilds plumbing qualifications the best ones to have?
1878: City of London Corporation and 16 livery companies - the trade guilds - established The City and Guilds of London Institute to develop a national system of technical education. They were granted a Royal Charter by Queen Victoria in 1900.
City & Guilds plumbing qualifications have always been the traditional route for plumbers to become qualified, and to this day, they are still recognised internationally. NVQ qualifications were introduced after this, so the qualifications that plumbers attain nowadays are NVQs - which can be provided by awarding organisations other than City & Guilds (such as EAL, who offer plumbing courses at the same level).
These courses come under the title of BSE (Business Services Engineering) and therefore include an understanding and application of:
- Safe working practices
- Communicating with others
- Environmental protection measures
- Scientific principles
- Site preparation and pipework fabrication techniques
- Cold and hot domestic water system installation and maintenance techniques
- Central heating system installation and maintenance techniques
The assessments for NVQ Level 2 form part of the programme, along with practical and theory exams. These take place in a training centre as part of the plumbing course.
You will also have to submit a portfolio of work and pass performance assessments in your workplace to demonstrate your skills.
If you’d like to find out more about the range of plumbing qualifications and training courses offered by Access Training, why not reach out and contact us today? We’d be more than happy to talk you through the options available and help you find the right plumbing course for you.
Plumbing Courses Overview
Learn your trade. Get qualified. Make it happen.
Last updated 5th July 2022
Pictured: Leah Carney, a woman who started her own plumbing business after completing a course with Access Training. Read Leah's story here.
30-year-old Carly Gayle from Crewe recently made headlines after being dubbed 'The UK's Sexiest Plumber'. Her story (which was picked up by The Sun, the Daily Star and the Daily Mail, among others) highlighted some of the challenges that female plumbers tend to face in this male-dominated trade.
"Where's the man?"
Gayle, a fifteen-year veteran of the plumbing trade, is often asked "where's the man?" when she arrives on-site for a job. Sadly, it's a line that lots of tradeswomen are familiar with, and it goes to show that many members of the public still hold very stereotypical views about what a plumber should be.
While Gayle did go on to mention that she has used that dismissive comment as fuel to help her success, her story does bring to light the prejudices commonly encountered by women in plumbing.
How many female plumbers are there in the UK?
According to industry experts, only 1-2% of all UK plumbers are female. When Carly Gayle was learning her trade, she was one of only two women on a plumbing course of 200.
In an effort to address this vast gender gap, WaterSafe launched their 'Get Girls Plumbing' campaign back in 2014, aiming to promote the trade to female school leavers and women looking for a career change.
While the campaign has barely moved the needle in terms of overall figures, there is undoubtedly a market for female plumbers in the UK. In fact, WaterSafe also reported that 31% of women would prefer a female plumber to carry out work in their homes.
A number of all-female plumbing companies have begun to spring up in recent years; in fact, for many of these businesses, it's become a unique and lucrative selling point.
Gender equality is a hot topic in 21st-century Britain, and there's never been a better time for women to dive into the world of plumbing.
Becoming a Female Plumber - Our Plumbing Courses
Regardless of your gender, plumbing is a great skill to have and an even better career to jump into. Careers in plumbing are well-paid, challenging and always in demand.
If you’re a woman looking to join the ever-growing force of highly-skilled female plumbers in the UK, or are any other gender looking to become a qualified plumber, Access Training has a wide range of plumbing courses available at different levels.
No matter what level of qualification you’re looking to achieve, we’ve got a course perfectly suited to you.
Learn the basics needed to become a domestic plumber (no experience required).
A comprehensive course to help you become a fully-qualified plumber (no experience required).
Combined course allowing you to earn plumbing and gas qualifications simultaneously (no experience required).
This course will equip you with all the skills and knowledge needed to install bathrooms (no experience required).
If you're already a plumber or heating engineer, this course will teach you how to install and maintain unvented hot water storage systems
Completion of this course enables you to apply for 'approved contractor' status with your local water authority - a prerequisite for many employers.
This fast-track NVQ programme is designed for experienced plumbers looking to gain the NVQ Level 2 Diploma quickly and with minimal fuss.
Whether you're male or female, why not consider training to become a plumber with the help of Access Training UK? Our courses offer qualifications for a range of skill levels, allowing you to achieve your career aspirations within a relatively short time frame.
View Our Plumbing Courses >>
Last updated 5th July 2022
With 2016 fast approaching, now is the perfect time to consider a career change or think about learning some new skills. If you're looking for an area of industry that offers a steady stream of work and income, then why not train to become a plumber?
At Access Training, we offer a range of
plumbing courses, to suit both beginners as well as experienced plumbers:
- Our Essential Plumbing Course is great for people who want to learn the basics of the trade, setting a foundation on which to build a portfolio of plumbing skills in order to go on to further training.
- For a combination of practical and technical plumbing knowledge, our Professional Plumbing Course will equip you with all the skills you need to become a professional plumber. By the end of the course, you will have achieved the qualifications necessary to start your career in plumbing. While this course is designed with beginners in mind, it would also suit experienced candidates looking to update their skills.
- Candidates who are looking to become professional plumbers/heating engineers should consider our Premier Plumbing Course, which will allow you to also gain multiple gas and electrical qualifications, enabling you to join the Gas Safe Register and take on a wider variety of jobs.
If you're interested in enrolling on one of our courses or finding out more information, please feel free to
get in touch with us today.
For regular updates about Access Training, you can follow us on Twitter.
One thing they don’t teach you during plumber training is how to overcome the plumber stereotypes prevalent in British society. No matter how much plumber training you have undergone, no matter how hard you have worked or how considerate, cost-effective and industrious you are – chances are you’re going to be put in a little box marked “Inconsiderate, over-priced, lazy rip-off merchant’!
A new study has shown that British preconceptions of plumbers are not shifting – in fact they are stagnating. The survey asked homeowners a series of questions to gauge their attitude to those in the plumbing industry. The findings were pretty disappointing – especially in the 21st Century when stereotyping of any kind is out-dated and narrow-minded.
Only one in eight of those polled believed that plumbing training creates highly qualified professionals. Meanwhile, only one in six women said that they viewed plumbers as polite and 15% of respondents said that, yes, they still associated plumbers with an unsightly builders’ bum.
This research might be disheartening, but other facts revealed during the study are actually very good news for those embarking on plumbing training courses. For starters, the vast majority of those asked claimed that they had absolutely no idea how to fix basic plumbing issues in their homes. The need for plumbers, therefore, is great and no matter what preconceptions the public might have of those in the plumbing business, there is plenty of opportunity to change their minds!
If you’d like to be that plumber who challenges stereotypes and offers a great service which is of real value to clients, Access offer the plumbing training necessary to prepare you for a life in the plumbing profession. We offer flexible, thorough plumbing training courses to help you start your journey into a bright future. Call today for more information on 0800 345 7492.
A Norwegian resident has received a Christmas gift which would appear very close to the top of many plumber training students’ Christmas lists. Thanks to some careless plumbing work, Ms Gundersen of Kristiansund, West Norway, struck liquid gold when she turned on her taps only to find beer flowing generously through.
It seems maybe the standard of plumber training in Norway is not quite as high as it is here at Access, as a hapless plumber who had been called in to fix a leak, accidentally connected a beer barrel from the pub two floors below her apartment to Ms Gundersen’s water supply.
Needless to say, there were one or two unhappy faces in the Big Tower Bar downstairs, when they saw nothing but Ms Gundersen’s dish water flowing into their pint glasses.
Ms Gundersen told local news reporters: I turned on the tap to clean some knives and forks, and beer came out. We thought we were in heaven, although the beer was a little flat.”
The true joy of this plumbing training error was heightened by the fact that in Norway, the sale of alcohol is controlled by a state monopoly, with the price of a pint the highest anywhere in the world, close to 20 Euros a pint. This really was liquid gold!
Egil Myrvang, the local beer distributor, added: “The water and beer pipes do touch each other, but you have to be really creative to connect them together.”
However, Ms Gundersen bore no grudge after the incident, instead quipping that if it should happen again, she’d probably prefer a Baileys!
We hope this merry little tale of mishaps, beer and plumber training has left you in the mood to spread some Christmas cheer. For further plumber training information please browse the wide range of industry recognised plumber training courses on our site, or call 0800 345 7492.
Believe it or not, despite all the extensive media coverage at the time, many people are still unaware that the Corgi accreditation, which regulated the work carried out by gas fitters, has now been replaced by Gas Safe.
The Corgi Register changed to the Gas Safe Register back in September of 2008, after the HSE conducted a study which established the need for a new system to cope with the increase in the number of homes using gas in the UK (about 21 million). More importantly, it was designed to improve the statistics for death and injury resulting from gas installations. It was felt that a new Gas Safe Register would increase public awareness about the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Stephen Manley, an Inspector for the HSE, referred to the need for more people to be aware of the change from Corgi Registration to Gas Safe Registration: “It is illegal for an unregistered person to carry out work on a gas appliance. When unqualified workers try to bypass the law in this way they are not only putting themselves at risk of prosecution and a large fine, they are also putting their customers' lives at risk.
"Working with gas appliances requires a great deal of skill and knowledge, it is also potentially very dangerous. Only qualified and registered engineers should attempt it.
Paul Johnston, the Chief Executive of the Gas Safe Register, commented: "To fit, fix or service gas appliances… that person [needs to be] Gas Safe Registered [not Corgi Registered]. You shouldn't take any risks; badly fitted and poorly serviced gas appliances can cause fires, explosions, gas leaks and carbon monoxide poisoning".
So, if you are looking to become qualified as a gas fitter, you need to become Gas Safe Registered. Access Training offer the simplest way to get Gas Safe Registered quickly and safely; our gas training courses come with a guaranteed work placement with a reputable Gas Safe Registered company, giving you the skills and confidence to fit gas appliances safely. However, just remember that it’s the Gas Safe Register and not the Corgi Register you really need to be a part of.
For comprehensive training enabling you to become Gas Safe Registered, contact Access Training today on 0800 345 7492. We have an enormous range of industry accredited trades training courses, which will teach you everything you need to know.
How Can You Become a Plumber in Australia?
Our plumbing training courses are producing highly skilled individuals, which countries such as Australia are attempting to entice with lucrative offers.
However, becoming a plumber in Australia can be tricky as the opportunities to train and be recognised as a qualified plumber there are very different from the UK.
You'll need to obtain various licenses and certificates need to be issued prior to practicing as a plumber in Australia. So, if you want to appeal to potential employers, you should already hold recognised international qualifications such as a City & Guilds in plumbing or an NVQ2 in plumbing.
How to work as a plumber in Australia
Here at Access Training, we provide courses which will provide you with your plumbing qualifications in no time at all. These qualifications can then be used to become a plumber in Australia.
Browse Plumbing Courses
So if you have aspirations to work abroad as a plumber either now or in the future, get in contact with Access Training. Our beginner's training course in domestic plumbing will put you on your way to finding well-paid work in no time at all.