Free for jobseekers and employers: post a job, find vetted engineers.Free for jobseekers and employers. See howSee how
Skip to content

Free course · Instrumentation

Instrument Calibration, Loop Checks and Commissioning

This free course teaches how to calibrate pressure, temperature, level and flow transmitters to a written procedure and run the cold and hot loop checks that hand a plant over: test uncertainty ratio, the five-point as-found and as-left test, DP flow and level, RTDs and thermocouples, 4-20 mA and HART, valve stroke checks and loop folders. It suits UK instrument technicians, apprentices and commissioning staff. It helps with instrument and commissioning technician roles. Every task can be done on paper.

See the modules

Free to learn. Verifiable certificate £19 when you pass the final exam (optional, VAT included).

Level
Beginner
Modules
13
Video
13 hours
Price
Free

Outcome

What you will be able to do

Use calibration vocabulary correctly and check a reference with a test uncertainty ratio; run a 5-point as-found and as-left calibration and decide pass or fail; calibrate pressure, DP flow, temperature and DP level transmitters, including square-root, wet-leg and suppressed ranges; work the 4-20 mA loop maths and a loop voltage budget; choose between a HART re-range and a trim; test switches and trips for set point and deadband; stroke-check a control valve; run cold and hot loop checks and fill in the records; and set calibration intervals and keep a register an auditor can follow.

  • Calculate span, percent-of-span error and a test uncertainty ratio, and judge whether a reference is good enough
  • Run a 5-point as-found and as-left calibration and write a record someone can sign
  • Calibrate pressure and DP flow transmitters, including square-root flow
  • Check RTDs and thermocouples, with lead resistance and cold-junction compensation
  • Work out DP level ranges with wet legs, suppression and elevation, and set up guided-wave radar
  • Do the 4-20 mA arithmetic and a loop voltage budget, and use a loop calibrator in the right mode
  • Choose between a HART sensor trim, output trim and re-range
  • Run cold and hot loop checks, raise punch items and set calibration intervals

Software

A spreadsheet (Excel, Google Sheets or LibreOffice Calc) for the calibration sheets and register. No calibration software is needed.

Hardware

None required. A loop calibrator or process meter, a hand pump and a spare transmitter make the practice tasks real, but every task can be done on paper.

Syllabus

13 modules

Each module has video lessons, notes and a short quiz. The final exam closes the course.

  1. 1Calibration vocabulary: range, span, accuracy, uncertainty and TUR4 lessons
  2. 2The 5-point as-found and as-left calibration and the certificate3 lessonsLab
  3. 3Pressure and DP transmitters: hand pump, reference gauge and square-root flow3 lessonsLab
  4. 4Temperature: RTD and thermocouple checks, dry blocks and cold-junction compensation4 lessons
  5. 5Level: DP level with wet and dry legs, suppression, elevation and guided-wave radar4 lessons
  6. 64-20 mA loop maths, loop power, the 250 ohm resistor and loop calibrators3 lessons
  7. 7HART: what it carries, trim versus re-range, communicators and DD tools4 lessons
  8. 8Switches and trips: set point, deadband and alarm testing3 lessons
  9. 9Control valve stroke check and positioner calibration3 lessonsLab
  10. 10Cold loop check: tag to junction box to marshalling to I/O card3 lessonsLab
  11. 11Hot loop check, pre-commissioning and handover records3 lessonsLab
  12. 12Calibration management: intervals, ISO/IEC 17025 and records3 lessons
  13. 13Final Assessment1 lesson

How it works

How this course works

  1. Watch the video lessonsOne module at a time, at your own pace.
  2. Take the module quizA short quiz at the end of each module shows what stuck.
  3. Keep your notesWrite in My notes beside each module and ask the trainer if you are stuck.
  4. Practise in the labOptionalTry a task from the module in the EDWartens Lab, in your browser.
  5. Sit the final examPass it once you have been through the modules.
  6. Certificate, if you want oneOptionalPaid, and only after you pass. Anyone can check it online.

EDWartens Lab

Practise this in the EDWartens Lab

Calibrate a 4 to 20 mA transmitter, tune a level or flow loop and read the trend in the Lab's process simulator.

Works alongside Instrument Calibration, Loop Checks and Commissioning. The Lab is process control practice in your browser: no install, no hardware, free to use. Sign in as a learner and it opens with your account.

Open the free lab See the Lab
Process control: Tune a real process loop.

Levels to try with this course

Optional. Skip it whenever you like: it never blocks your progress or your certificate.

Why practise in a lab

Technical work is judged on what you can do: wiring, commissioning, finding a fault. Doing a task yourself teaches more than watching it a second time, and a lab lets you try it safely before you meet real equipment. It does not replace working on real hardware.

  • Practise safely, so a mistake costs nothing.
  • The lab checks your work like a site test, so you know when it is right.
  • Free, in your browser, with nothing to install.

Certificate

An optional certificate when you pass

Learning is free. Pass the final exam and you can have a certificate for £19, including VAT, with a number employers can check online. It records that you completed a free online course; it is not a regulated qualification or a CPD certificate.

  • Your name, the course, its study time and your final exam score
  • A unique certificate number and a QR code to its verification page
  • Issued by Wartens Ltd; add it to your LinkedIn profile in one click
  • Pay now or after you pass: it is issued the moment you pass the final

How the certificate works

Sample certificate for Instrument Calibration, Loop Checks and Commissioning

Credits

Who made the lessons

The video lessons belong to their creators. EDWartens wrote the study plan, notes, quizzes and the final exam.

  • Beamex

    the calibration lessons: pressure transmitters and a pressure loop, HART pressure transmitters, RTD temperature transmitters and Pt100 sensors, pressure and temperature switches, a HART valve linearity test, the long lesson on calibrating and trimming HART transmitters, and the webinar on how often instruments should be calibrated

  • Instrumentation & Control

    the introduction to instrumentation calibration, the guided-wave radar echo curve, sourcing and simulating 4-20 mA with a process meter, the pressure transmitter re-range workshop, reading a loop diagram and common 4-20 mA loop faults

  • RealPars

    the lessons on what an instrument calibrator is and what the HART protocol is

  • Calibration Academy

    DP flow transmitter zero and span, thermocouple cold-junction compensation and loop resistance, sensor trim against current trim, and an analog loop test on a Rosemount 3051

  • Precision Digital

    the full lesson on the fundamentals of 4-20 mA current loops

  • Fisher Valves & Instruments (Emerson)

    zero and span calibration of a Fisher 3582 positioner

  • Siemens Knowledge Hub

    configuring the SIPART PS2 valve positioner

  • Endress+Hauser

    commissioning Levelflex and Micropilot radar level instruments, and calibration interval optimisation

  • Spartan Controls

    configuring a Rosemount 5300 guided-wave radar level transmitter

  • ECAS

    the wet-leg level transmitter's purpose and set-up, and how to read and navigate loop diagrams

  • Morehouse Instrument Company

    the lessons on test uncertainty ratio and on accuracy against uncertainty

  • Mensor

    what k = 2 means on a calibration certificate

  • RJ Quality Consulting

    the ISO/IEC 17025 calibration certificate requirements

  • Analog Devices

    the short lesson on thermocouple cold-junction compensation

  • Tim Wilborne

    how to measure a 4-20 mA circuit without blowing the meter's fuse

  • Ashcroft

    the calibration procedure for single set point pressure switches

  • ICxA

    the difference between pre-commissioning and commissioning

  • IIQA

    instrument commissioning questions from pre-commissioning to handover

  • Kistler Group

    setting the initial calibration interval and adjusting it

Jobs

Jobs this course can lead to

The skills in this course are used in instrumentation and process control work, for example as an instrument technician and a commissioning technician. No course can promise a job, and employers also look for experience, so read what live adverts ask for.

Pay: Production and process engineers (SOC 2125, which includes control and instrumentation engineers) had a median of £48,700 a year, full-time, in April 2026. Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2026 (provisional). Checked 28 Oct 2026.

Questions

About this course

Last reviewed 28 October 2026.

Does this prepare me for the ISA CCST?
It covers a good part of the ground the ISA Certified Control Systems Technician Level I exam covers, such as calibration, loop checking and commissioning, but it is not ISA preparation material and does not award the CCST. The £19 inc VAT certificate is a certificate of completion.
Which standards does the calibration course follow?
It works to common plant practice and names standards where they apply: IEC 60751 for Pt100 sensors, NAMUR NE 43 for failure currents, ISO/IEC 17025 for calibration laboratories and traceability, and the HART protocol. UK sites often ask for calibration traceable to UKAS laboratories as well.
Do I need calibration equipment or software?
No. A spreadsheet covers the calibration sheets and register, and no calibration software is needed. A loop calibrator, hand pump and spare transmitter make the tasks real, but every task can be done on paper. Real instruments in a live plant must only be touched by authorised, competent people.
Who is this course for?
Instrument technicians, diploma and engineering graduates in instrumentation, electrical or electronics, and plant and E&I staff moving into commissioning, in the Gulf, Asia, Europe and elsewhere. You should know what a transmitter is; arithmetic with a calculator is enough.
How long does the course take?
About 10.8 hours of video lessons, notes and practice, taken at your own pace, leaving out three long optional videos; the videos alone are about 7.3 hours, or about 4.7 hours without those three. The optional project, calibrating five transmitters and loop-checking a level loop on a gas plant unit, takes about 10 hours more.
Is the course really free?
Yes. Every module, the notes, the project and the final assessment. The only paid item is the certificate, if you want it.
What certificate do I get?
An EDWartens Certificate of Completion, issued when you pass the final assessment, with a number anyone can verify on our site. It is not an ISA certificate or a calibration laboratory accreditation.
What jobs does it lead to?
Instrument technician, calibration technician and E&I commissioning technician roles in oil and gas, power, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and water, including the many commissioning and maintenance roles in the Gulf. Go on to Industrial Instrumentation and Process Control, or Safety Instrumented Systems and SIL to IEC 61511.

Want a live class and career support?

The Professional Module is five live days of Siemens PLC, HMI and SCADA with an instructor, then a resume session and a CPD certificate.

See the Professional Module
Engineers talking beside an automation test rig, one looking up and smiling