How to Become an Electrician in the UK: The 2026 Guide

Electrician is consistently one of the most in-demand trades in the UK, and the shortage of qualified electricians is getting worse, not better. If you’re considering a career change or starting out in work, this guide covers everything you need to know: qualifications, training routes, realistic earnings, and what it actually takes to run your own electrical business.

Why Electrical Work Is a Strong Career Choice Right Now

Before getting into the how, it’s worth understanding the scale of the opportunity.

The UK’s net zero commitments — EV charging infrastructure, heat pumps, solar panel installations, building fabric upgrades — represent a generational wave of electrical work that is only just beginning. At the same time, a significant proportion of the existing qualified workforce is approaching retirement age, with not enough new entrants coming through to replace them.

We’re already starting to see the first wave of late career changers entering the electrical trade — people who spent years in office environments, logistics, management, or retail, and who recognised that the skills gap and earning potential made electrical work worth the retraining investment. Many of them are now two or three years in, qualified, and doing extremely well. Not just because of their technical skills, but because they came in with professional habits around quoting, communication, and customer management that set them apart.

The demand picture for electricians in 2026 is straightforward:

• Consistent work — qualified electricians are rarely short of jobs
• Rising rates — shortage drives up day rates across the board
• Long-term growth — EV and heat pump rollout will generate significant additional demand over the next decade

What Qualifications Do You Need?

To work legally and safely as an electrician in the UK, you need to meet specific qualification requirements.

Core Qualifications

18th Edition Wiring Regulations (BS 7671) — the foundational regulation qualification. All electricians need to understand and work to BS 7671, and the qualification must be renewed when regulations update (typically every few years).

Level 3 NVQ Diploma in Electrotechnical Technology — the industry-standard practical qualification demonstrating your competency. Covers installation, testing, and inspection work.

2391 Inspection, Testing and Certification — essential if you want to sign off your own work, which is a requirement for self-employment. Without this, you can’t issue Electrical Installation Certificates.

Part P (Domestic Work)

For domestic electrical work, you’ll need registration with a Part P competent person scheme such as NAPIT or NICEIC. This allows you to self-certify your work without needing local authority building control sign-off for every job. Annual membership runs £400–£900 but is non-negotiable for domestic work.

Specialisations Worth Adding

• EV Charging Installation — City & Guilds 2919. High demand, premium pricing, and a growing market as EV adoption accelerates
• Solar PV — MCS accreditation for solar panel systems. Grants and incentives are driving strong domestic demand
• Fire Alarms and Emergency Lighting — FIA qualifications for commercial work

Training Routes

Route 1: Apprenticeship (Best for School Leavers and Under-25s)

A traditional electrical apprenticeship takes 3–4 years, combining on-the-job training with block-release college attendance. You earn while you learn, which makes it far more financially manageable than full-time study.

Apprenticeship wages start around £6–8/hour in year one, increasing year-on-year. To find apprenticeships:

• gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship — the official search
• ECITB (Engineering Construction Industry Training Board)
• Local electrical contractors — many prefer to train their own

Route 2: Full-Time College

If you’re making a career change and can fund a period of full-time study, attending college compresses the theory component significantly. You’ll still need supervised practical experience before working independently, but the academic side can be completed in 1–2 years.

Route 3: Adult Fast-Track Courses

Several providers offer accelerated routes specifically designed for career changers. These are intensive (typically 6–18 months of study) and expensive (£3,000–£10,000+), but allow you to qualify considerably faster than a traditional apprenticeship.

Quality varies significantly between providers. Ensure any course results in genuine NVQ qualifications, not just attendance certificates. Ask to speak to previous students before committing.

What Do Electricians Earn?

Employed electrician: £28,000–£45,000 depending on location and experience. London and South East rates are notably higher.

Self-employed sole trader (domestic): Day rates of £200–£350 are typical. A busy self-employed electrician earns £45,000–£75,000 per year.

Commercial and industrial: Day rates of £250–£400 for installation work on commercial sites. Higher for specialist roles.

Running a small electrical business (3–5 employees): Turnover of £300,000–£600,000 per year. Net profit of £60,000–£150,000+ for well-managed businesses.

That last bracket is where the numbers become genuinely significant — and it’s where career changers who bring professional business habits alongside their technical skills tend to land faster than those who learned the trade without any business background.

Starting Your Own Electrical Business

Most electricians who reach this point are thinking about self-employment at some stage. Here’s what you need beyond the qualifications:

Business registration — sole trader is simpler to set up; limited company is worth considering as turnover grows.

Insurance — public liability (minimum £2m, ideally £5m), employers’ liability if you take on staff, professional indemnity for design work.

Van and tools — realistic budget of £10,000–£20,000 for a decent setup. Second-hand equipment is perfectly viable to start.

The business management side — this is where skilled tradespeople most often leave money on the table. Quoting accurately, tracking material costs, managing job scheduling, and controlling cash flow are skills that take time to develop — and the mistakes are expensive.

The career changers who are doing well in the electrical trade share a common thread: they got the business infrastructure right from the start rather than learning by trial and error. They came in knowing how to use software, how to write a quote that covers all their costs, and how to manage a project without losing track of what was spent. Tools like EasyEstimate are a significant part of that — helping new electrical business owners quote accurately and track material costs without the years of experience that usually precede getting it right.

Is Becoming an Electrician Worth It in 2026?

Yes — with the honest caveat that it requires commitment, ongoing learning (regulations update regularly), and a genuine approach to the business side.

The demand is real. The shortage is real. The government’s own net zero targets make the long-term employment picture for qualified electricians as solid as anything in the UK economy.

For people who are prepared to invest in the training and treat it as a proper business from the outset, electrical work offers financial rewards that most office careers simply cannot match — and a degree of job security that most office careers can no longer honestly claim.