Welding Apprentice

Summary

Rittal is the world’s largest manufacturer of enclosures for the electrical, electronic and IT markets. We have numerous exciting opportunities for anyone wishing to kick-start their career with an apprenticeship in welding. Studying at City College Plymouth. You will be using automated and robotic welding systems.

Wage

£18,010 a year

Check minimum wage rates (opens in new tab)

After successful completion of the first year annual wage will increase.

Training course

Welder (level 2)

Hours

Monday - Friday 7am - 3pm

37 hours a week

Start date

Monday 15 September 2025

Duration

1 year 9 months

Positions available

8

Work

Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.

What you’ll do at work

Your day-to-day tasks for this role will consist of:

MIG/TIG, spot and injection welding of all aspects of structural steel
Using automated and robotic welding systems
Position, preparing and checking the welding equipment
Preparing, checking and protecting materials and work area ready for welding
Completing and checking the finished weld ready for inspection
Ensuring that health and safety requirements are fully accounted for in all the above

Where you’ll work

Broadley Industrial Park
Roborough
Plymouth
PL6 7EZ

Training

Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.

College or training organisation

CITY COLLEGE PLYMOUTH

Your training course

Welder (level 2)

Equal to GCSE

Course contents

Apply health and safety procedures including the use of personal protective equipment (PPE).
Collect and use information - text and data. For example, manufacturer's instructions, manuals, job instructions, drawings and quality control documentation.
Prepare welding materials and work area: sourcing, checking and protecting.
Prepare welding machines or equipment and safety protection measures, for example, check calibration and maintenance dates, inspection for cable damage.
Check and use or operate tools and equipment.
Set, modify and monitor welding controls, for example, current, arc voltage, wire feed speed, gas flow rates, polarity, mechanised tractor units.
Identify issues and actions required. Escalate issues or concerns.
Use manual processes and equipment to remove material before and after welding.
Weld using processes, for example, tungsten inert gas (TIG), plasma arc welding (PAW), manual metal arc (MMA), metal inert or metal active gas (MIG or MAG), flux cored arc welding (FCAW), submerged arc welding (SAW), tractor-mounted metal inert or metal active gas (MIG or MAG), tractor-mounted flux cored arc welding (FCAW), tractor-mounted or orbital tungsten inert gas (TIG), tractor-mounted or orbital plasma arc welding (PAW).
Adapt welding technique to weld different material groups, for example, carbon steel, low alloy steel (3-7% alloy content), high alloy ferritic or martensitic steel (>7% alloy content), austenitic stainless steel, duplex stainless steels, nickel and nickel alloys, aluminium and aluminium alloys, titanium and titanium alloys, copper and copper alloys.
Weld materials in different joint configurations, for example, butt, T-butt, fillet, cladding or buttering.
Adapt welding techniques to weld materials in different positions, for example, down-hand, horizontal-vertical, horizontal, vertical-up, vertical-down, overhead, inclined.
Identify surface defects.
Apply visual inspection, dimensional and alignment checks.
Restore the work area on completion of the welding activity, for example, clean equipment and machinery, tidy the work area, return excess resources and consumables.
Communicate verbally with others, for example, internal and external customers, colleagues, supervisors and managers.
Follow procedures in line with environmental and sustainability regulations, standards and guidance. Segregate resources for re-use, recycling and disposal.
Follow equity, diversity and inclusion procedures.
Follow work instructions - verbal or written.
Apply team working principles.
Apply health and safety procedures including the use of personal protective equipment (PPE).
Collect and use information - text and data. For example, manufacturer's instructions, manuals, job instructions, drawings and quality control documentation.
Prepare welding materials and work area: sourcing, checking and protecting.
Prepare welding machines or equipment and safety protection measures, for example, check calibration and maintenance dates, inspection for cable damage.
Check and use or operate tools and equipment.
Set, modify and monitor welding controls, for example, current, arc voltage, wire feed speed, gas flow rates, polarity, mechanised tractor units.
Identify issues and actions required. Escalate issues or concerns.
Use manual processes and equipment to remove material before and after welding.
Weld using processes, for example, tungsten inert gas (TIG), plasma arc welding (PAW), manual metal arc (MMA), metal inert or metal active gas (MIG or MAG), flux cored arc welding (FCAW), submerged arc welding (SAW), tractor-mounted metal inert or metal active gas (MIG or MAG), tractor-mounted flux cored arc welding (FCAW), tractor-mounted or orbital tungsten inert gas (TIG), tractor-mounted or orbital plasma arc welding (PAW).
Adapt welding technique to weld different material groups, for example, carbon steel, low alloy steel (3-7% alloy content), high alloy ferritic or martensitic steel (>7% alloy content), austenitic stainless steel, duplex stainless steels, nickel and nickel alloys, aluminium and aluminium alloys, titanium and titanium alloys, copper and copper alloys.
Weld materials in different joint configurations, for example, butt, T-butt, fillet, cladding or buttering.
Adapt welding techniques to weld materials in different positions, for example, down-hand, horizontal-vertical, horizontal, vertical-up, vertical-down, overhead, inclined.
Identify surface defects.
Apply visual inspection, dimensional and alignment checks.
Restore the work area on completion of the welding activity, for example, clean equipment and machinery, tidy the work area, return excess resources and consumables.
Communicate verbally with others, for example, internal and external customers, colleagues, supervisors and managers.
Follow procedures in line with environmental and sustainability regulations, standards and guidance. Segregate resources for re-use, recycling and disposal.
Follow equity, diversity and inclusion procedures.
Follow work instructions - verbal or written.
Apply team working principles.

Your training plan

You will be working toward achieving a Level 2 General Welder apprenticeship standard.

You will attend City College Plymouth one day a week, and your training will be shared between the College and the employer.

During the apprenticeship, you will learn how to:

Understand the common electric welding processes, joint types (fillet, lap, butt, etc.) and positions
Understand the major components of welding equipment and the essential parameters for welding
Understand the terminology, operation and controls for the selected welding processes, joint types and welding positions
Identify and understand the causes of typical welding defects and how their occurrence can be reduced, for the materials and welding processes selected
Understand and identify hazards and basic health, safety and quality requirements when welding
Know how to interpret and work to a welding procedure specification
Know the basics of welding quality documents and reporting systems

Requirements

Essential qualifications

GCSE in:

English (grade 4 or above)
Maths (grade 4 or above)

Let the company know about other relevant qualifications and industry experience you have. They can adjust the apprenticeship to reflect what you already know.

Skills

Communication skills
IT skills
Attention to detail
Team working
Initiative

Other requirements

These roles are located in Roborough, candidates will need to consider how they will travel to the workplace.

About this company

Rittal is the world’s largest manufacturer of enclosures for the electrical, electronic and IT markets. With dedicated, highly motivated and skilled staff the Company has achieved market dominance through a commitment to providing its customers with excellence in every respect. Rittal-CSM Ltd hold the prestigious Investors in People Gold award and are committed to the training and development of all their staff. As such this is an excellent opportunity for the successful candidate to build a long-term career with a Global Company.

https://www.rittal.com/uk-en/ (opens in new tab)

After this apprenticeship

The potential for permanent employment upon successful completion of the apprenticeship, for the right candidate.

There will also be an opportunity to continue your learning by progressing onto a level 3 or 4 apprenticeships afterwards.

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