Apprenticeship training course

Welder (level 2)

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Information about Welder (level 2)

Welding of metals in two welding positions, using at least 1 arc welding process, passing surface inspection.

• Knowledge, skills and behaviours:
  View knowledge, skills and behaviours

  Knowledge

  • Awareness of health and safety regulations, standards and guidance and impact on role. Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (CoSHH). Fire safety. Health and Safety at Work Act. Safety equipment: guards, signage, fire extinguishers. Safety signage. Slips, trips, and falls. Working in confined spaces. Working at height. Manual handling.
  • Safe systems of work, hazards and risks, isolation and emergency stop procedures, situational awareness.
  • Material properties for welded materials: carbon steels, austenitic stainless steels, duplex stainless steels, nickel and nickel alloys, aluminium and aluminium alloys, titanium and titanium alloys, copper and copper alloys and associated heat treatments.
  • Welding power sources: invertor, rectifier, transformer, alternating and direct currents and positive and negative polarities.
  • Ancillary equipment: cabling and their assembly, interconnecting communications cables, torches and tongs.
  • Welding gases and equipment: cylinder colours, regulators, storage.
  • Manual and mechanised welding processes and techniques.
  • Welding positions and progressions.
  • Welded joints: types, preparation, permanent and temporary backing.
  • Technical documentation requirements. Job specifications, drawings, manufacturer's instructions and manuals, quality documents.
  • Material preparation and removal methods using both powered and non-powered tools.
  • Control of weld settings.
  • Weld visual inspection, dimensional tolerances and alignment of the welded component.
  • Causes and prevention of welding defects and distortion.
  • Common faults and issues within the welding environment. Problem solving techniques.
  • Verbal communication techniques.
  • Equity, diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
  • Impact of the activity on the environment. Efficient use of resources. Recycling, re-use and efficient disposal of waste.
  • Principles of good team working.
  • Non-destructive testing (NDT).
  • Personal protective equipment (PPE).
  • Principles and practices of restoring the work area on completion of welding.

  Skills

  • 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.

  Behaviours

  • Puts health and safety first.
  • Considers the impact on the environment when using resources and carrying out work.
  • Takes ownership of given work.
  • Adapts to changing requests.
• Apprenticeship category (sector): Engineering and manufacturing
• Qualification level: 2; Equal to GCSE
• Course duration: 18 months
• Maximum funding: £13,000 ; Maximum government funding for ; apprenticeship training and assessment costs.
• Job titles include:
  • General welder
  • Weld setter
  • Welding fabricator

View more information about Welder (level 2) from the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education.