The Installation/Maintenance Electrician EWA is the assessment process to recognise occupational competence for people who have been working as an Installation or Maintenance Electrician for over five years, but haven’t been able to complete an apprenticeship, achieve an equivalent, recognised Level 3 vocational qualification or have qualifications from outside of the UK.
It’s available across England, Northern Ireland and Wales from EAL and City & Guilds training centres.
On 03 September 2023 an updated version of this EWA to mirror the updated Installation & Maintenance Electrician apprenticeship standard launched and now includes a mandatory minimum Level 2 qualification entry requirement*
Achievement of this Experienced Worker Assessment and its end assessment of competence—the AM2E—meets the criteria for an ECS gold card application. It’s also recognised in the Electrotechnical Assessment Specification as equivalent to an industry apprenticeship.
The EWA was developed by an industry group comprising ECA, JIB, NET, Unite, Certsure, ECS, NAPIT, City and Guilds, EAL and the IET.
* The requirement for a recognised Level 2 electrical theory qualification is to ensure that anyone undertaking EWA has an appropriate understanding of electrical theory and the required scientific principles. Qualifications in areas such as BS 7671:2018 and Inspection & Testing are specialised and do not cover this underpinning knowledge requirement.