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Free courses · Career change

Free engineering courses for career changers and jobseekers (UK and Ireland)

Can I learn engineering skills free and start tonight? Yes. Three routes lead into automation, maintenance or electrical work, and the courses are free with no eligibility check. Expect about 40 to 60 focused hours to reach basic ladder logic. Government-funded courses exist too, but they need eligibility and an application. The certificate is optional (£19).

See the 5 courses

Start here

Good first courses

No experience assumed in any of these. Pick the one nearest the work you want.

  1. Siemens TIA Portal in Three Hours Beginner 6 hoursAn evening or two: what a PLC is, and your first ladder program running in simulation.
  2. Electrical Fundamentals for Technicians: Volts to Multimeter to Drawings Beginner 14 hoursVolts, ohms, the multimeter, earthing, RCDs and safe isolation.
  3. Multi-Skilled Maintenance Engineer (UK) BeginnerThe UK maintenance role: safe working, fault finding, motors, sensors, pneumatics and PLC basics.
  4. Industrial Motor Control Beginner 25 hoursContactors, starters and reversing circuits. It comes before PLCs.
  5. Siemens TIA Portal Beginner 28 hoursThe full beginner PLC course when you are ready to commit.

Free engineering courses for career changers and jobseekers (UK and Ireland): guide

Three routes into engineering work

Pick a starting path. Each is a short list of free courses in a sensible order:

Not sure how long it takes? Read How long does it take to learn PLC programming and Electrician to PLC engineer: a UK career switch guide.

Funded routes you may qualify for

Checked 24 October 2026

Government-funded routes can cover longer courses, but each has eligibility rules and an application. Rules change, so follow the official links.

Checked 24 October 2026

Funded routes into engineering for adults in England and Ireland, checked 24 October 2026
RouteWho it is forWhat it coversWhere to check
Free Courses for Jobs (England)Adults aged 19 or over in England who earn under £25,750 or are unemployedLevel 3 courses, plus Level 2 in engineering and manufacturing. 72 new Level 2 engineering and manufacturing qualifications from 1 August 2026, with at least 180 guided hoursgov.uk guidance (updated 29 July 2025) and the engineering expansion list
Skills BootcampsEligible adults; regional, and eligibility variesUp to 16 weeks, Level 3 to 5, free to eligible adultsNational Careers Service course finder
ApprenticeshipsAnyone eligible who finds an employerPaid work with training. Maintenance engineer apprenticeships are listed on gov.ukFind an apprenticeship
Springboard+ (Ireland)Jobseekers on eligible paymentsFree for jobseekers on eligible payments; course by coursespringboardcourses.ie
Skillnet (Ireland)Employers and their staff, not individualsEmployer part-funded trainingAsk your employer

From gov.uk pages, a Department for Education notice and Irish government releases, checked on 24 October 2026. Eligibility rules change, so confirm on the official page before you apply.

While you wait, or while you apply

  • Start a free course today. Lessons, quizzes and the final exam cost nothing, and you do not need to be eligible for anything.
  • Practise in the EDWartens Lab, with free browser simulators for PLCs, wiring and motor control.
  • Try a job simulation: days 1 to 5 are free with no card, and it is practice, not employment.
  • Read the UK jobs board, refreshed daily, with a filter for visa sponsors, to see which skills employers ask for.

If you claim Universal Credit

Checked 24 October 2026

Talk to your work coach before you start any full-time course. gov.uk says many claimants can do up to 16 weeks of full-time training. Our courses are part-time self-study, but tell your work coach what you are studying.

Leaving the forces?

The free courses are online and self-paced, so you can start before you leave and carry on after. We make no claim about resettlement funding, so ask your resettlement adviser what applies to you.

In Ireland

The free courses are online and open to learners in Ireland. Some content, such as BS 7671, is UK-specific. Funding options for Irish residents are in the table above. Note that in Ireland a "PLC course" often means a Post Leaving Certificate course; our PLC courses are about programmable logic controllers.

Routes that cost money

If you want a live class with an instructor, the Professional Module is a five-day live online course at £2,568 including VAT. You do not need it to start. Read Funded PLC training in England first to see what funding exists.

Next steps

Practise, then apply

Job simulations (practice, not employment)

UK jobs

Free simulators in the EDWartens Lab

Guides

Also useful

Questions

Common questions

Can I do this while claiming Universal Credit?
Talk to your work coach first. gov.uk says many claimants can do up to 16 weeks of full-time training (checked 24 October 2026). Our courses are part-time self-study, but tell your work coach what you are studying.
Is there a government-funded PLC course?
There are funded routes into engineering, including Free Courses for Jobs and Skills Bootcamps, but each has eligibility rules and an application. Our blog explains what exists: Funded PLC training in England. These free courses need no eligibility check.
Do I need experience?
No. The starter courses assume none. Some courses, such as BS 7671 Wiring Regulations in Practice, assume electrical knowledge, and say so on the course page.
Will employers value a £19 certificate?
Honestly, it shows you finished a course and passed its final exam, and an employer can verify it. Employers usually care more about what you have built or done, so pair it with Lab practice or a job simulation.
Is this open to people in Ireland?
Yes. The courses are online and open to learners anywhere. Some content, such as BS 7671, is UK-specific. Springboard+ and Skillnet are Irish funding routes, covered in the table above.
What can I learn in a month?
A month of steady evenings is about the 40 to 60 hours it takes to reach basic ladder logic, according to our beginner guide. A short course such as TIA Portal in Three Hours fits in a weekend.