Do I Need GCSEs to Be an Electrician?

There are a wide number of reasons people seek to become an electrician – it’s pretty well known that electricians earn lucrative salaries (check out our blog on trade salaries here). Beyond earning a lucrative salary, electricians also have a lot more flexibility than most traditional careers can offer.

Once you have trained as an electrician, the career direction options are endless. Whether you’re looking for employment with a business or are hoping to find success in self-employment, training as an electrician gives you the freedom to choose your path.

If you’re interested in training to become an electrician and are looking for additional information on the qualifications required to become a sparky, keep reading!

Do I need GCSEs to become an electrician?

There are different avenues you can take when it comes to training to be an electrician, such as apprenticeships, college, or training centres. Some facilities will require an applicant to have obtained a number of GCSEs, including maths and English.

Here at Access Training, whether you’ve just finished school or are a mature student looking to train, you can train to become an electrician without GCSEs or equivalent qualifications.

What qualifications DO I need?

To become an electrician, there are some qualifications you’ll need to achieve to prove that you’ve trained and have acquired the necessary skills. Depending on the type of work you’re planning to do, there are different levels of training required.

The basic qualification you’ll need to obtain to prove you have the skills required to practice is a level 3 vocational qualification or diploma.

This qualification is the bare essential you need to be able to practice, and depending on what level of work you’d like to engage in past your training period, there are a number of further qualifications you can achieve.

Here at Access Training, we’ve broken it down into three courses– Essential Electrical Course, Professional Electrical Course, and Premier Electrical Course. Each course increases in complexity – the further you train the more qualifications you will achieve, which will enable you to take on a wider range of jobs in the future.

If you’d like to get a more in-depth comparison of the different courses side by side, take a peek at our electrical courses overview page. Here you can find more information about the different courses, the stages of training with Access Training, and course recommendations suited to your unique career goals.

Electrical Courses Overview

Our website has a lot of great information on the different courses we provide and their content. If you’re still not sure which course is right for you, reach out and contact us today. We’ll be more than happy to talk over the different options with you, and help you find the perfect fit for your career goals.

Read More: Electrician Qualifications: A Guide for Beginners