Gas engineer courses for Gloucester

Start with plumbing

Gloucestershire College runs a one-year, full-time Level 2 Plumbing course at its Gloucester and Cheltenham campuses. It covers central heating, hot and cold water and regulations, and leads on to a Level 3 apprenticeship or work in the trade. It does not on its own qualify you for gas work.

Gas apprenticeships

The Level 3 Gas Engineering Operative apprenticeship is the formal route into gas. We found it listed on the government's Find apprenticeship training service by South West Construction Academy in Bristol, with day release one day a week. Search the same service for other providers that serve Gloucester.

Apprentices must be employed throughout. Heating firms that do landlord safety checks and boiler installs are a good place to ask about vacancies, and some advertise apprenticeship places on the government's Find an apprenticeship service.

Where the work comes from

Gloucester has around 43,600 households heating with mains gas alone, plus thousands of rented homes that need a gas safety check every year. Boiler servicing, repairs and replacements in its many semis keep local engineers busy year round, with peaks in the first cold weeks of autumn.

Registration and renewal

After passing ACS assessments, you register with Gas Safe for each type of appliance you are qualified to work on. Certificates last five years, so you will reassess periodically.