The Assessment Process

The main benefit of the Installation & Maintenance Electrician EWA is that any relevant qualifications and skills you have can count towards the Experienced Worker qualification criteria, so you’ll only need to fill in any gaps.

Qualifications

The Installation & Maintenance Electrician Skills Scan self-assessment lists the qualifications that have been agreed as meeting, or contributing towards, demonstrating the Level 3 technical knowledge requirement.

Take a look at the Skills Scan to see whether any qualifications you hold are recognised, and which elements they cover.

You’ll need at least a Level 2 electrical qualification to be eligible for the Installation & Maintenance Electrician EWA.

The requirement for a recognised Level 2 electrical theory qualification is to ensure that anyone undertaking EWA has an appropriate understanding of electrical theory and the required scientific principles. Qualifications in areas such as BS 7671:2018 and Inspection & Testing are specialised and do not cover this underpinning knowledge requirement.

Experience

You need a minimum of 5 years’ work experience as a practising electrician to enrol on the EWA. This does not include time spent while on full or part time training programmes.

You’ll also need to be working day-to-day as a practising electrician in order to generate evidence for the performance assessments. Only evidence that is generated after you enrol on the EWA is permitted. You may have evidence from past work that will confirm that you’re a suitable candidate for EWA, but you’d still need to be currently working as an electrician in order to create evidence for the practical units.

Skills

There are no exemptions from the practical, work-based assessments. To ensure you’ll be able to complete these, use the Skills Scan to carry out an honest assessment of your skills, paying attention to the range of activity where evidence and experience is required.

To complete the whole Experienced Worker Assessment process, you’ll need to gain the Experienced Worker Qualification, and also take the AM2E Assessment, which mirrors the AM2S assessment taken by apprentices at the end of their training.

If you’ve already completed some elements, for instance if you already hold the BS 7671 and Initial Verification qualifications, you won’t need to repeat these, making for a shorter overall assessment process.

Assessment Journey

Take a look at our assessment journey steps below

You’ll need to have worked in the industry for five years or more, not including time spent in full or part-time training. You’ll also need to hold at least a Level 2 electrical qualification.

You must also be currently working as a practising electrician to generate evidence for the performance units.

The first step is to complete a Skills Scan which is essentially a self-assessment process to help you determine if the assessment is right for you. You’ll need to demonstrate you have knowledge, understanding and experience which is equivalent to the Level 3 electrotechnical apprenticeship.

The information you submit in the Skills Scan will be audited and verified by your training provider, you will need to show your certificates and will be asked to carry out a technical interview.

If the Skills Scan reveals significant gaps in your technical knowledge, understanding or experience, contact your local City & Guilds or EAL training provider to look at the best options for filling the gaps.

If you proceed with the EWA, the provider will undertake a process called ‘Recognition of Prior Learning’. This will assess and verify your existing qualifications and experience against the Experienced Worker qualification criteria.

You’ll only need to complete the assessment elements that remain once the RPL process has checked off what you have proven already. You will fill in the gaps working with your chosen training provider via a combination of on-site assessment and portfolio building (and BS 7671 and Initial Verification qualifications if required). The price and duration of the Experience Worker Assessment should be adjusted to reflect the elements you require.

Once you’ve gained the Experienced Worker qualification, you’ll need to undertake the AM2E Assessment at an independent NET centre. Once you successfully gain the AM2E, your Experienced Worker Assessment process is complete.