Plate Welder (Welder) Level 3 Apprenticeship

WILTON ENGINEERING SERVICES LIMITED

Middlesbrough (TS2 1RZ)

Closes on Friday 24 April 2026

Posted on 4 March 2026

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Contents

Summary

Wilton has a proven track record of developing apprentices. As an apprentice you will develop specialist skills, which will lead to you working on some of the most prestigious fabrication projects in the UK. With our long-term customer, we offer an apprenticeship which could lead to a lifelong career with progression routes available.

Wage

£15,600 a year

Check minimum wage rates (opens in new tab)

Rate of Pay • £8.00 hr during 6-month probationary period  Completion of probationary period £12.71 hr Annually Thereafter: £15.65 hr /£18.61 hr/£22.56 hr (Plater)

Training course
Plate welder (level 3)
Hours
Initially you will attend Hartlepool College, based on their learning hours. Once on site at the company you will be working Monday - Friday, 07.00 - 15.00.

37 hours 30 minutes a week

Start date

Tuesday 1 September 2026

Duration

3 years 6 months

Positions available

10

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

  • Adhering to all company health, safety and quality policies and procedures
  • Developing an understanding of how to read and work from engineering drawings
  • Marking out processes and procedures
  • Reading and understanding Weld Procedures relevant to the task.
  • Ensuring all Welds are within the limits of the verified procedure.
    Cleaning the Weld, ready for inspection.
  • Maintaining the Housekeeping of your working area.
  • Undertaking additional training such as operating overhead cranes & confined space entry in later stages

Where you'll work

Wilton Group Head Office
Port Clarence Offshore Base
Port Clarence Road
Middlesbrough
TS2 1RZ

Training

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

Training provider

HARTLEPOOL COLLEGE OF FURTHER EDUCATION

Training course

Plate welder (level 3)

Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)

What you'll learn

Course contents
  • Work safely at all times, comply with health, safety and environmental legislation, regulations and organisational requirements.
  • Can obtain, check and use appropriate documentation (such as job instructions, drawings, quality control documentation).
  • Plan and prepare welding activities before commencing the work.
  • Obtain, position and assemble welding equipment and associated safety protection needed for activity.
  • Prepare, check and protect materials and work areas ready for welding.
  • Inspect assembly to be welded and undertake remedial work to comply with specification, or implement quality steps if rejected.
  • Receive, inspect, condition and maintain consumables.
  • Set, test and monitor key welding parameters as detailed within the Welding Procedure Specification.
  • Deal promptly and effectively with problems within the limits of their responsibility using approved diagnostic methods and techniques and report those which cannot be resolved to the appropriate personnel.
  • Use manual processes and equipment to remove material (powered and non‐powered).
  • Achieves a quality of work to meet international standards e.g. ISO5817, ISO9606, ASME IX, AWS D1.1 for dimensional, surface inspection (e.g. Visual, Magnetic Particle, Dye Penetrant) and volumetric inspection (e.g. Radiography, Ultrasonic inspection).
  • Complete progressive and final checks on the weld prior to release for formal inspection and report into the production control system at the appropriate stages of the work activity.
  • Restore the work area on completion of the activity and where applicable return any resources and consumables to the appropriate location.
  • Produce welds in plate and/or structural components using two welding processes from TIG, PAW, MMA, MIG/MAG, FCAW.
  • Produce welds in plate and/or structural components using two materials from Carbon Steel, Low Alloy Steel, High Alloy Ferritic/Martensitic Steel, Austenitic Stainless Steel, Nickel & Nickel Alloys, Aluminium & Aluminium alloys, Titanium & Titanium Alloys, Copper & Copper Alloys.
  • Produce welds in plate and/or structural components covering three plate welding positions which must include Vertical (either upward or downward progression) and overhead.
  • Produce plate welds in 3 main joint configurations (Single or Double Sided Butt, Single or Double Sided T‐Butt & Fillet)
  • Work safely at all times, comply with health, safety and environmental legislation, regulations and organisational requirements.
  • Can obtain, check and use appropriate documentation (such as job instructions, drawings, quality control documentation).
  • Plan and prepare welding activities before commencing the work.
  • Obtain, position and assemble welding equipment and associated safety protection needed for activity.
  • Prepare, check and protect materials and work areas ready for welding.
  • Inspect assembly to be welded and undertake remedial work to comply with specification, or implement quality steps if rejected.
  • Receive, inspect, condition and maintain consumables.
  • Set, test and monitor key welding parameters as detailed within the Welding Procedure Specification.
  • Deal promptly and effectively with problems within the limits of their responsibility using approved diagnostic methods and techniques and report those which cannot be resolved to the appropriate personnel.
  • Use manual processes and equipment to remove material (powered and non‐powered).
  • Achieves a quality of work to meet international standards e.g. ISO5817, ISO9606, ASME IX, AWS D1.1 for dimensional, surface inspection (e.g. Visual, Magnetic Particle, Dye Penetrant) and volumetric inspection (e.g. Radiography, Ultrasonic inspection).
  • Complete progressive and final checks on the weld prior to release for formal inspection and report into the production control system at the appropriate stages of the work activity.
  • Restore the work area on completion of the activity and where applicable return any resources and consumables to the appropriate location.
  • Produce welds in plate and/or structural components using two welding processes from TIG, PAW, MMA, MIG/MAG, FCAW.
  • Produce welds in plate and/or structural components using two materials from Carbon Steel, Low Alloy Steel, High Alloy Ferritic/Martensitic Steel, Austenitic Stainless Steel, Nickel & Nickel Alloys, Aluminium & Aluminium alloys, Titanium & Titanium Alloys, Copper & Copper Alloys.
  • Produce welds in plate and/or structural components covering three plate welding positions which must include Vertical (either upward or downward progression) and overhead.
  • Produce plate welds in 3 main joint configurations (Single or Double Sided Butt, Single or Double Sided T‐Butt & Fillet)

Training schedule

Plate Welder Level 3. 

Successful applicants will enrol at Hartlepool College of Further Education to start fulltime in September 2026. Overall, the apprenticeship is a 42-month programme. At college you will study theory and practical elements in the college's purpose-built Training Facility to give you the basic skills to set you on a path to success.

Thereafter you will complete a 20-week programme within the Wilton Training Academy. There you will develop your fabrication skills further and learn techniques specific to our customer requirements on one of the current most advanced fabrication project

Depending on progress you will transfer to Wilton Engineering's Training Academy while continuing day release at college. Normally this would be after 5-8 months. 

We will give you support throughout this programme, once 20 weeks are complete in the academy you will be transferred to production where you will gradually be introduced to live projects to enable you to put your skills to the test.

Additional Training:

We want to ensure you have all the tools to not only complete your apprenticeship but gain employment with us in your chosen trade. Within the environment you work health and safety is paramount.  You will be trained in many areas ranging from manual handling, the correct use of PPE, Working at Height, Working in Confined Space and more.

You will also be trained to operate specialist equipment such as Welding Equipment, Overhead Cranes, Mobile Elevated Platforms and specialist inspection equipment.

Requirements

Essential qualifications

GCSE in:

  • English Language (grade 4)
  • Mathematics (grade 4)

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
  • Organisation skills
  • Problem solving skills
  • Number skills
  • Team working
  • Initiative
  • Physical fitness

About this employer

Established in 1994, Wilton have achieved unparalleled success specialising in designing, manufacturing, coating and loading out large complicated structures for the Offshore Oil & Gas, Subsea, Marine and Offshore Wind Industries. We’re based adjacent to the River Tees having some of the largest construction halls in the UK which are supported with equally impressive loadout capabilities giving rise to the fact that Wilton is the go to company for “World Class” fabrications.

http://wiltonengineering.co.uk (opens in new tab)

Company benefits

  • 23 days holiday plus statutory days
  • Rising to 25 days with length of service
  • Company pension scheme
  • Contractual sick pay based on length of service
  • Health cashback scheme
  • Boostworks retail discount scheme

After this apprenticeship

On successful completion of apprenticeship, the learner will have the opportunity for employment and career progression as a Welder. Current salary for a plater being £43,992 plus opportunity for overtime.

During the apprenticeship and if successful thereafter there is continuous development within you trade to meet the specific needs of our customer. For some there will be opportunity to progress on other career paths within the business.

Ask a question

The contact for this apprenticeship is:

WILTON ENGINEERING SERVICES LIMITED

JOHN PRICE

john.price@wiltonengineering.co.uk

01642540021

The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC2000018985.

Apply now

Closes on Friday 24 April 2026