Apprenticeship Plate Welder (Standard) – Level 3

This advanced apprenticeship in welding is designed as a three-year programme. It equips your apprentice with a complex blend of skills, knowledge and occupational behaviours to produce good quality welds in pipe and/or plate using three welding process/material type combinations (TIG, PAW, MMA, MIG/MAG and FCAW and Carbon and Low Alloy Steel, High Alloy Ferritic/Martensitic Steel, Austenitic Stainless Steel, Nickel and Nickel Alloys, Aluminium and Aluminium Alloys) covering all welding positions (Downhand, Horizontal, Vertical, Overhead, Inclined).

Typically, the duration of this apprenticeship is 38 months. This may be reduced for a candidate with previous relevant experience or who is already part-qualified.

Individual employers will set the selection criteria for their apprenticeships. In order to optimise success, candidates will typically have four GCSEs at grade C/4 or equivalent, including Mathematics, English (grade 4 or above) and a Science.

Employers who recruit candidates without English or Maths at grade C/4 or above must ensure that the candidate achieves this standard prior to the completion of the apprenticeship.

Your apprentice will need access to work that covers a broad range of activities that include producing welds in plate or structural components using different materials such as carbon steel, low alloy steel, aluminium and aluminium alloys. Also the apprentice will need to produce welds in different positions including vertical and overhead. In addition they will need to demonstrate their competency in the knowledge, skills and behaviours outlined in the apprenticeship standard.

You will nominate a mentor to support the apprentice with their off-the-job training and will need to attend progress reviews with the apprentice and their mentor.

Personal responsibility, resilience and ethics. Your apprentice will need to comply with health and safety guidance and procedures, be disciplined and have a responsible approach to risk, work diligently at all times, accept responsibility for managing time and workload, and stay motivated and committed when facing challenges. They will also need to comply with any organisational policies/codes of conduct in relation to ethical compliance.

Work effectively in teams. Your apprentice will need to integrate with the team, support other people, and consider the implications of their actions on other people and the business.

Effective communication and interpersonal skills. Your apprentice will need to be an open and honest communicator, communicating clearly using appropriate methods, listening to others and having a positive and respectful attitude.

Focus on quality and problem solving. Your apprentice will need to follow instructions and guidance, demonstrate attention to detail, follow a logical approach to problem solving and seek opportunities to improve quality, speed and efficiency.

Continuous personal development. Your apprentice will need to reflect on their skills, knowledge and behaviours and seek opportunities to develop, adapt to different situations, environments or technologies, and have a positive attitude to feedback and advice.

Plate Welder Apprenticeship Standard

There will be two phases of training to ensure that apprentices meet this apprenticeship standard, in line with specified employer requirements.

The foundation phase will be intensive off-the-job training focused on developing the apprentice’s core skills, knowledge and behaviour, allowing them to work effectively with supervision in a largely simulated working environment. This stage will typically require 1,400 Vocational Guided Learning Hours, building up from the basics to more complex engineering operations and practices. The tasks will be aligned to the job role to develop a range of tailored core engineering techniques.  By the end of this phase, the apprentice will therefore be able to demonstrate, under independent test conditions, that they can deploy the relevant skills and occupational behaviours.

There will be an employer endorsement as part of the final assessment of this phase to ensure that the apprentice has demonstrated full competence against the knowledge, skills and behaviours in this standard. The employer will sign off that the apprentice is ‘job ready’ as a competent technician.

Your apprentice will need to be released to College one day per week. Attendance for the End Point Assessment will be required at the end of the apprenticeship.

Apprentices will only need the tools and equipment required for the tasks to complete the apprenticeship, including relevant PPE.

This apprenticeship standard will meet the professional standards of the Engineering Council for registration as an Engineering Technician (EngTech) by an appropriate professional engineering institution.

There is a high demand for Multi-Positional Welders in areas such as:

• power generation
• oil and gas
• marine
• transport
• nuclear
• processing
• aerospace
• pharmaceuticals
• construction

You may already have someone in your organisation or someone who has come to you directly asking for an apprenticeship. But, if you don’t, we have a free recruitment service to help you hire the best candidate for your organisation from our talent pool and can undertake external advertising through social media and the National Apprenticeship Service’s website.

If you are an employer and you would like to know more, please email businessenquiries@derby-college.ac.uk or call 01332 387421