An electrical apprenticeship is completed over four years.

For the first three years, this is a combination of on-the-tools and trade school training.

For the fourth and final year, you work full-time with your employer to refine your skills.

Completing the Certificate III in Electrotechnology Electrician contributes to the successful outcome of an electrical apprenticeship. You attend trade school for this throughout the first three years of your apprenticeship.

After completing your 4-year apprenticeship, you then sit three licensing exams to be eligible to apply for your electrical licence.

Once you have passed the exams and have successfully applied for your licence, you will be a qualified electrical practitioner.

Beyond the apprenticeship, there are electrical specialisations you can study, such as renewables courses and business & management.

The first thing an electrical apprentice needs is a job. Employment can be with us at NECA E&C or directly with an electrical business.

You will sign an apprenticeship contract, which includes your training plan (education), and this contract must be lodged with an Apprentice Connect Australia Provider (ACAP).

If your employer agrees, you can nominate NECA as your preferred trade school.  Your Apprentice Connect Australia Provider will submit your application to us, and it will be processed.

Before enrolment, all applicants to the Certificate III in Electrotechnology Electrician (UEE30820) at our trade school complete a Language, Literacy & Numeracy (LLN) assessment and a maths aptitude test.  This helps us ensure you meet the basic requirements for the course. Anyone not achieving the basic requirement will be invited to participate in further discussions about their apprenticeship studies to determine suitability and identify how our LLN student support officer can help.

Read more about becoming an electrical apprentice.

One of the most common questions asked is about apprenticeship fees: Who pays for apprenticeship training?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but government funding is available to certain students wishing to complete an apprenticeship at the Certificate III level. To access this funding, you must be an Australian citizen, a New Zealand citizen, or an Australian Permanent Resident, and meet the relevant age and employment requirements.

There are fees associated with your studies, for which you will be invoiced and for which you are entitled to have reimbursed by your employer as part of the Victorian and Commonwealth Government funding, provided you are up-to-date with your profiling and studies.

If you become a NECA apprentice, you are provided with a toolkit at the start of your employment, which you pay off at a reduced rate over the first year of your apprenticeship. You’re also provided with uniform, boots and PPE that NECA will replace if they wear out.

Fees for apprentices

The average cost of apprenticeship tuition includes training hours, general resources and amenities fees.  At NECA Education & Careers, this fee is part of the overall tuition, while some Technical and Further Education (TAFE) providers may specify it as an additional cost. It’s also important to remember that prices can vary based on everything from regulatory changes to the overall duration of a course.

These costs are in addition to government funding, which makes up the remainder of the total tuition fees.  In addition to tuition fees, which cover hands-on training, classroom instruction and more, apprentices may also need to pay various other fees, which can include:

• Theory or practical assessment resits
• Tutoring fees (per hour)
• PPE, including cut-resistant gloves and safety glasses
• Copies of necessary information, e.g., AS/NZS 3000:2007 Wiring Rules, course textbooks, etc.

For direct assistance or advice, contact Student Services.

Whether you’re already a licensed electrician looking to specialise, or you’re working towards your electrical practitioners licence, we offer a range of courses to choose from. Training is for individuals and teams (please get in touch if you’d like to know more about the training we offer for teams) and can help move your career or business forward.  We deliver training in the following areas:

• Renewables 
• Business and Management 
• Safe work practices

We make recruitment more straightforward and less stressful by handling apprentice management, so you can focus on what you do best – running your business.

One of the main reasons outsourcing apprentice management benefits you is that it will save you a huge amount of time. By eliminating the paperwork and simply hosting a NECA Apprentice, you’ll be able to focus on the things that really matter.

You will be able to get your projects completed quicker, and in the electrical sector there’s always a struggle to find enough minutes in the day.