PLC Training in the UK: Apprenticeships, Vendor Courses and What 'Accredited' Means

The right PLC training in the UK depends on where you start. Newcomers can take an engineering apprenticeship; working engineers usually combine vendor or short hands-on courses with online self-study. Before you pay, check what "CPD accredited" and "UKRLP registered" mean: neither makes a course a regulated qualification.

This PLC training UK guide was checked on 5 October 2026. Facts about apprenticeships, registers and vendor training below come from the official pages listed in the sources. We do not rank UK providers, because there is no public data that would make a ranking honest.

PLC training UK options: five routes in

Apprenticeships

For someone starting out, an apprenticeship pays you while you learn and ends with a recognised standard. The level 3 Engineering technician standard (ST0457) is one example. Its Technical Support Technician option refers to producing programs for programmable logic control equipment, and its Mechatronics Maintenance Technician option covers maintaining process control equipment. It typically takes 42 to 48 months, according to Skills England.

Apprenticeships are employer-led: you need an employer to take you on. Look at larger manufacturers, utilities and systems integrators near you, and ask colleges which employers they place apprentices with.

College courses

Part-time college courses in electrical and electronic engineering often include PLCs and control. If a course leads to a qualification, you can check that the qualification is regulated on Ofqual's register of regulated qualifications. That tells you it is a recognised qualification; it does not tell you how much time you will spend on real controllers, so ask.

Vendor training

The manufacturers run their own training. Siemens' SITRAIN says you can attend courses at its training centres, at your company or in a virtual classroom. Rockwell Automation's UK training page lists in-person, online and virtual courses, including self-paced e-learning. Vendor courses are the most authoritative source for one platform and are usually paid for by employers. They teach that vendor's way of doing things, which is exactly what you want if your plant runs it.

Private short courses

Private training companies run courses of a few days, usually on rigs with real controllers. They suit engineers who need hands-on time on a particular platform quickly. Quality varies, so use the questions in our guide to choosing a PLC training provider: hours per learner on a rig, named hardware, who teaches, how you are assessed.

Free online courses

For trying the subject, or for self-study around a job, free online courses with simulators cover the programming side well. They do not replace wiring and commissioning on real hardware, but they mean any paid course you take later can concentrate on those. See online vs classroom PLC training.

What the words on UK course pages mean

UK providers often describe themselves with terms that sound like approval. Some are; some are not.

CPD accredited. CPD, continuing professional development, is the ongoing learning professionals do throughout their careers. The CPD Certification Service describes its symbols as reassurance that learning has been through its assessment process. That is useful to know. It is not the same as a regulated qualification, and it says nothing specific about hands-on time.

UKRLP registered. The UK Register of Learning Providers is an online register of learning providers, and registration gives a provider a UK Provider Reference Number (UKPRN). The UKRLP states plainly that registration does not represent quality assurance or accreditation of a provider's learning provision by the Department for Education. It is a listing, not an endorsement.

Regulated qualification. Qualifications regulated by Ofqual appear on its public register, where anyone can check them. If a provider says a course leads to a qualification, search for it there.

Vendor certified. Only the vendor can certify you on its products. A private provider's certificate after a Siemens-based course is that provider's certificate, not a Siemens one.

Which platforms to learn for UK jobs

Read the job adverts in your area rather than any national claim; our guide to automation jobs by country shows how to search UK and international boards efficiently. Siemens and Rockwell (Allen-Bradley) platforms appear often in UK manufacturing adverts, and machine builders also use Mitsubishi, Omron, Beckhoff and others. Many adverts also ask for functional safety awareness, industrial networks and SCADA. Pick one PLC platform, learn it well, then add the others; the concepts carry over.

Questions to ask a UK provider

Beyond the general questions on hands-on time and trainers, UK buyers should ask:

• Is the price shown with or without VAT? Business-facing course pages often quote prices excluding VAT.
• What exactly is accredited, and by whom? A CPD symbol on the provider's website does not necessarily cover every course it sells.
• Does the course lead to a regulated qualification? If yes, ask for its title and number and look it up on Ofqual's register.
• Which controllers and software versions will I use? Name them, so you can match them to the adverts you are applying for.
• Is there a practical assessment? Wiring, fault finding or a program you write alone, marked by the trainer.
• Can my employer fund it? Many engineers get short courses paid for by their employer as part of their development; a clear syllabus and outcomes make that easier to approve.

A practical plan for a working engineer

1. Learn to program one platform online, on its simulator, in your own time. Free PLC simulators compared lists the options.
2. Build and document one complete simulated project you can show.
3. Ask your employer about vendor training or a short hands-on course for wiring, commissioning and fault finding.
4. Log everything as CPD if your professional body asks for it.

Where EDWartens fits

The courses on edwartens.com are the online side of UK PLC training, and they pair well with a college or vendor course for the hardware: Siemens TIA Portal, Allen-Bradley Studio 5000, Siemens Safety Integrated and Industrial Communication, among the free courses in the catalogue. Learning is free in full, with video lessons by independent creators, written notes, practice tasks and one final assessment. The optional EDWartens Certificate of Completion is a small one-off fee, US$8.99 for a beginner course. It carries a verification code anyone can check at edwartens.com/verification. It is not CPD accredited, not an Ofqual-regulated qualification and not a vendor certification; describe it as a completion certificate and it will stand up.

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