Dossier · 2026 intake
Electrical · Plumbing · HVAC · Welding
Toolbelt
Apprenticeship dossier
Choose a trade
Contents
412 employers hiring across 9 regions this quarter. Six minutes to apply.
01 — The offer
Earning at 18. Qualified at 22. No debt at any point.
Toolbelt matches you with a paid apprenticeship in electrical, plumbing, HVAC or welding. You are on a wage from week one, your training is paid for, and you finish with a qualification that nobody can offshore.
Year 1 wage
£16,800
Year 3 wage
£24,400
Year 5 qualified
£38k–46k
Student debt
£0
02 — Earnings curve
Apprentice versus graduate, year by year
Year 1: £16,800. Year 3: £24,400. Year 5 qualified: £38,000 to £46,000. A graduate on the median path is at £28,900 in year five with £48,000 of debt behind them.
Year
Apprentice
Graduate
Year 1
£16,800
Studying · debt +£16,000
Year 2
£20,100
Studying · debt +£16,000
Year 3
£24,400
Studying · debt +£16,000
Year 4
£29,600
£24,000 · first graduate role
Year 5
£42,000
£28,900 · median path
Apprentice, five years in
+£132,900
Earned, banked, nothing owed. Tools provided, training paid for by the employer and the government.
Graduate, five years in
+£4,900
£52,900 earned across years four and five, less £48,000 of debt still behind them and repaying at 9p in the pound.
03 — The four trades
What the work is actually like
Not the brochure version. Four trades, what you will physically be doing in year one, and what the ceiling looks like once you are qualified.
01
Electrical
Mostly domestic and commercial installation, some fault finding. You will be on your knees in lofts for two years and running your own board by year four.
Time to qualify
4 years to NVQ3 + AM2
Qualified pay
£38,000 – £46,000
Getting in
Competitive — apply early
02
Plumbing & heating
Domestic heating, bathrooms and commercial pipework. Emergency callouts pay a premium, and once you are out on your own around year six that rate is yours.
Time to qualify
3 to 4 years to NVQ3
Qualified pay
£34,000 – £44,000
Getting in
Steady intake all year
03
HVAC & refrigeration
Air conditioning, refrigeration and heat pumps. The newest of the four and the fastest growing. F-Gas certification is the ticket, and every new building needs one of you.
Time to qualify
4 years + F-Gas
Qualified pay
£36,000 – £48,000
Getting in
Easiest to get started
04
Welding & fabrication
Fabrication, pipework and structural. Hardest to get into, best paid at the top, and coded welders can name their rate offshore and in petrochem.
Time to qualify
3 years + coding tickets
Qualified pay
£38,000 – £70,000 coded
Getting in
Hardest — test before offer
04 — What it costs you
£0
It costs you nothing
The employer and the government fund the training. You do not pay fees, you do not take a loan, and your tools are usually provided in year one.
Course fees
£0 — funded
Student loan
£0 — none taken
Tools, year one
Usually provided
Your wage, week one
£323 per week
05 — Entry requirements
Honestly stated
Most employers want Maths and English at grade 4, a driving licence by year two, and someone who turns up at 7:20 for a 7:30 start. That last one is genuinely the main filter.
01
Maths and English at grade 4
Most employers want the two of them. A few will take a functional skills pass instead, and a handful will put you through it in year one if the rest of you is right.
02
A driving licence by year two
Not on day one. Vans go out at 7:30 and a mate who can drive one is worth more than a mate who cannot, so employers expect you to be working on it.
03
Someone who turns up at 7:20 for a 7:30 start
That last one is genuinely the main filter. More apprenticeships end over timekeeping than over ability, and every employer we place with says the same thing unprompted.
04
No GCSEs at all? Still worth applying
Sixty-one of our employers run their own entry test and ignore the paperwork entirely. We flag those on your matches so you are not applying into a wall.
06 — Employers hiring now
412 employers, 9 regions, this quarter
Applications take about six minutes and go to a person, not a portal.
North West
Hiring now
61
West Midlands
Hiring now
58
Yorkshire & Humber
Hiring now
49
South East
Hiring now
47
London
Hiring now
44
South West
Hiring now
41
East of England
Hiring now
39
Scotland
Hiring now
38
Wales
Hiring now
35
07 — For parents
The questions you are about to ask
Is it a real qualification?
Yes it is a real qualification. An NVQ Level 3 with AM2 is the same standard the person who wired your house holds, it is regulated, and it is recognised by every employer in the sector.
Can they go to university later?
Yes they can go to university later and many do. A Level 3 carries UCAS points, and the ones who go tend to go at 24 with savings, a trade to fall back on and a much clearer idea of why.
Is the trade disappearing?
No, the trade is not disappearing. There are 11,000 unfilled electrical vacancies right now, and a heat pump is not a thing you install from an office in another country.
What if they pick the wrong one?
The first two years overlap more than you would think. Moving between trades before the end of year two is common, costs nothing, and we handle the rematch rather than leaving them to it.
08 — Apply
Apply in six minutes
Pick a trade, tell us your postcode and what you have got, and we send you to the employers actually hiring near you. It goes to a person, not a portal.
1
Pick a trade
Or tell us you are undecided — half of applicants are.
2
Two minutes of details
Postcode, age, grades if you have them.
3
Matched in 48 hours
Named employers, real vacancies, your inbox.
412 employers hiring across 9 regions this quarter. No fees, ever.
Toolbelt
Paid apprenticeships in electrical, plumbing, HVAC and welding.