Electrical, Control and Instrumentation Craftsperson Apprenticeship

Babcock International

Seascale (CA20 1FB)

Closes on Thursday 12 March 2026

Posted on 3 December 2025

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Summary

Our Electrical, Control and Instrumentation Craftsperson Apprenticeship at Sellafield is a unique opportunity to start your engineering career in one of the UK's most specialist and safety-critical environments. You’ll play a vital part in maintaining the technology that helps detect and monitor radioactive contamination.

• Wage:

  £17,462 a year

  Check minimum wage rates (opens in new tab)

  Year 1: £17,462 ; Year 2: £21,787 ; Year 3: £24,948 ; Year 4: £28,526

• Training course: Maintenance and operations engineering technician (level 3)
• Hours: Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.

  35 hours a week

• Start date:

  Tuesday 1 September 2026

• Duration:

  4 years

• Positions available:

  4

Work

Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.

What you'll do at work

• This apprenticeship places you right at the heart of our Radiological Protection Instrument Services team at Sellafield, a highly specialist group responsible for maintaining the vital instruments that monitor radioactive contamination across the site. 
• It is a department unlike any other. With over 2,000 instruments in use, many in active or hazardous areas, we even build our own test rigs to make sure everything operates exactly as it should. 
• From your first weeks, you’ll be working with a wide range of equipment, including Personnel Contamination Monitors, Gamma and Air Activity Monitors, and the portable devices used by Health Physics teams. Some days you’ll carry out repairs onsite. Other times, you’ll be based in the workshop, stripping equipment down to the component level for detailed diagnostics and calibration. 
• Along the way, you’ll develop practical skills in electronics and fault finding, while building a strong understanding of how radiation is detected and measured. You will also be trained to handle radioactive materials, which allows for highly accurate calibration using real alpha, beta and gamma sources.
• It is a fascinating place to learn and a meaningful way to support safety on one of the UK’s most complex nuclear sites. 

Where you'll work

Cross Lanes Industrial Estate
Seascale
CA20 1FB

Training

Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.

Training provider

LAKES COLLEGE WEST CUMBRIA

Training course

Maintenance and operations engineering technician (level 3)

Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)

Training schedule

As part of your apprenticeship, you’ll study for the Level 3 Maintenance and Operations Engineering Technician (MOET) Apprenticeship Standard through Lakes College West Cumbria. 
This will provide you with both the theoretical knowledge and the practical skills you need to succeed as an EC&I Craftsperson in a nuclear environment. 

Requirements

Essential qualifications

GCSE in:

• Any subject (grade 4(C) and above)
• Any subject (grade 4(C) and above)
• English (grade 4(C) and above)
• Maths (grade 4(C) and above)
• Science (grade 4(C) and above)

Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.

Skills

• Communication skills
• Attention to detail
• Team working

Other requirements

Many of our apprenticeship programmes are subject to security clearance and trade control restrictions, which means that your place of birth, nationality, citizenship, or residency you hold or have held may impact which programmes you are eligible for. For this programme, you must be able to achieve Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) and Security Check (SC) clearance.

Further details are available at United Kingdom Security Vetting: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels/national-security-vetting-clearance-levels

About this employer

Babcock is an international defence company providing support and product solutions to enhance our customers’ defence capabilities and critical assets. We provide through-life technical and engineering support for our customers’ assets, delivering improvements in performance, availability and programme cost. Our c27,700 employees deliver these critical services to defence and civil customers, including engineering support to naval, land, air and nuclear operations, frontline support, specialist training and asset management. We also design and manufacture a range of defence and civil specialist equipment, from naval ship and weapons handling systems to liquid gas handling systems. We also provide integrated, technology-enabled solutions to our defence customers in areas such as secure communications, electronic warfare and air defence.

https://earlycareers.babcockinternational.com/apprenticeships/ (opens in new tab)

Company benefits

Fully funded qualification.
Personal development training and opportunities.
Minimum 28 days holiday allowance including bank holidays.
Competitive pension scheme.
Employee share scheme.
Flexible benefits including cycle2work scheme.

Disability Confident

A fair proportion of interviews for this apprenticeship will be offered to applicants with a disability or long-term health condition. This includes non-visible disabilities and conditions.

You can choose to be considered for an interview under the Disability Confident scheme. You’ll need to meet the essential requirements to be considered for an interview.

After this apprenticeship

By the end of your apprenticeship, you’ll be ready to take on roles such as EC&I Craftsperson – a vital position in maintaining the safety of nuclear operations at Sellafield. 
 
Upon programme completion, you can expect to earn a competitive salary exceeding £35,000. 
 
From there, your development doesn’t stop. Through the Babcock Role Framework, you’ll have a clear view of how your career can progress, with mapped-out pathways, development opportunities and the tools you need to get wherever you want to go. 

Ask a question

The contact for this apprenticeship is:

LAKES COLLEGE WEST CUMBRIA

The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC2000003089.

Apply now

Closes on Thursday 12 March 2026

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After signing in, you’ll apply for this apprenticeship on the company's website.