The Datum Report

Occupation 5241 · Skilled trades occupations

Electricians and electrical fitters

Half of full-time electricians and electrical fitters in the UK earn more than £39,647 a year, and half earn less.

Electricians and electrical fitters assemble parts in the manufacture of electrical and electronic equipment, and install, maintain, and repair electrical plant, machinery, appliances and wiring.

How people enter it

Academic qualifications may not be required, though some GCSEs/S grades or an equivalent qualification may be an advantage. Relevant NVQs/SVQs are available at levels 1, 2 and 3. Apprenticeships combining practical work experience and technical training are available at levels 2 and 3. Entrants must have good eyesight and normal colour vision.

What the work involves

• examines drawings, specifications and wiring diagrams to determine the method and sequence of operations
• selects, cuts and lays wires and connects to sockets, plugs or terminals by crimping, soldering, brazing or bolting
• cuts, bends and installs electrical conduit
• assembles parts and sub-assemblies using hand tools and by brazing, riveting or welding
• installs electrical plant, machinery and other electrical fixtures and appliances such as fuse boxes, generators, light sockets etc.
• examines electrical plant or machinery, domestic appliances and other electrical assembly for faults using test equipment and replaces worn parts and faulty wiring

Also called

Electrical contractor · Electrical engineer · Electrical fitter · Electrician

What it pays

How pay has changed

Median gross annual pay for electricians and electrical fitters, full-time employees, 2023 to 2025. Each point is that year's ASHE April snapshot as published — revisions are not backfilled into earlier years, and a year ONS withheld is a gap rather than a joined line.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Year-on-year change

The change from each year to the next, in per cent, computed from the figures in the chart above — so the two cannot disagree.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Pay by region

Median gross annual pay for full-time employees, ranked, against the UK figure. 11 of 11 regions are published: ONS withholds a cell where the survey sample cannot support it, and those are shown as gaps rather than dropped — an absent region is not a region without the work in it.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Period 2025. Table

Every regional figure

ONS does not publish occupational pay below region. Cells the survey could not support are shown as withheld, with its reason — adding a region split to a specific occupation leaves roughly a tenth of cells publishable.

Common questions

Classified alongside this

Computer system and equipment installers and servicers · Electrical and electronic trades n.e.c. · Electrical service and maintenance mechanics and repairers · Security system installers and repairers · Telecoms and related network installers and repairers · Tv, video and audio servicers and repairers