Level 2 Welder Apprentice
WHALE TANKERS LIMITED
West Midlands (B91 2SU)
Closes in 14 days (Friday 27 March 2026)
Posted on 10 March 2026
Contents
Summary
An excellent opportunity to join Whale Tankers who are looking
to recruit hard-working people, willing and able to learn and looking for a rewarding and fulfilling career in manufacturing engineering. Invaluable free training at college and at work.
Manually weld plates and structural components to high standards of quality.
- Wage
-
£17,400 a year
Check minimum wage rates (opens in new tab)
Annual Wage: £17,400 per year
Salary Review: Salary will be reviewed annually
Bonus Schemes: Holiday bonus and PRP bonus available - Training course
- Welder (level 2)
- Hours
-
Working Hours: Monday to Friday, 37.5 hours per week
(Shift times may vary by department)
Week 1: 06:00 – 14:00.
Week 2: 14:00 – 22:30 (Monday – Thursday).
14:00 – 19:30 (Friday).
Duration: 54 months to complete Levels 2 & 3.
37 hours 30 minutes a week
- Start date
-
Monday 7 September 2026
- Duration
-
1 year 6 months
- 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
Are you ready to embark on an exciting career with one of Europe’s largest manufacturers of liquid waste vacuum tankers and jetting equipment? Whale Tankers is offering a fantastic opportunity for motivated individuals to join our Whale Family and become part of our ever-expanding team. We are committed to developing our employees and providing the highest quality training to ensure you achieve your full potential in manufacturing engineering.
About the Apprenticeship
This apprenticeship begins at Level 2 General Welder, progressing onto Level 3 Plate Welder. It is designed for hard-working, eager-to-learn candidates looking for a rewarding and fulfilling career. You will receive invaluable free training both at work and at college, gaining hands-on experience and working alongside seasoned professionals.
What You’ll Do
- Work collaboratively in a team to complete the tanker
build process - Understand and apply relevant legislation and procedures to ensure weld quality
- Weld mild and stainless steel at various thicknesses
- Follow standard operating procedures and engineering
data sheets for welding tasks - Maintain a safe working environment in line with Whale
Health & Safety policy - Keep your work area clean, organised, and productive
- Communicate effectively with team members to ensure smooth operations
This role requires rotation through different departments and
participation in production activities from build to completion.
Where you'll work
Ravenshaw Way
Solihull
West Midlands
B91 2SU
Training
Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.
Training provider
WARWICKSHIRE COLLEGE
Training course
Welder (level 2)
Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)
What you'll learn
Course contents
- 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.
- 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.
Training schedule
This apprenticeship begins at Level 2 General Welder,
progressing onto Level 3 Plate Welder.
54 months in total for level 2 & level 3 training.
Day Release Training at WCG Royal Leamington Spa College.
Requirements
Essential qualifications
GCSE in:
Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.
Skills
- Communication skills
- IT skills
- Attention to detail
- Problem solving skills
- Logical
- Team working
- Physical fitness
- Positive attitude
- Willingness to learn
Other requirements
Work Location: Ravenshaw Way, Solihull, West
Midlands, B91 2SU
College Location: Warwickshire College (must be able to travel to both sites)
About this employer
Whale Tankers care about quality across all aspects of our business, it is a word that characterises the company. Our Ravenshaw site, located in Solihull, has been the home of Whale Tankers. The site set in more than 40 acres of land, is a stunning example of how an industrial concern can successfully operate alongside a natural environment. Whale has a truly modern manufacturing facility at Ravenshaw, with all the key processes carried out in-house.
All aspects of the manufacturing process, from technical specification to quality control, all takes place on site.Our “in-house” product philosophy gives Whale the ability to control quality at every stage and ensure that every product is engineered and built to deliver uptime and value throughout its working life.Whale customer promise is one “reliability, service and value for life”, It takes a combination of significant resources and unique culture to deliver that promise – something that Whale Tankers has been delivering over the last five decades.
https://whale.co.uk/ (opens in new tab)
Company benefits
Holiday: 25 days holiday plus bank holidays.
Other Benefits: Employee Assistance Programme; Cycle to work scheme; Employee discount scheme; Long service awards; Free onsite parking.
After this apprenticeship
Successful completion of the apprenticeship programme may
lead to a full-time position within Whale Tankers, opening the
door to a long-term career in a thriving industry.
Ask a question
The contact for this apprenticeship is:
WARWICKSHIRE COLLEGE
Mrs Jamie-Leigh Keating
Jamie-Leigh.Keating@whale.co.uk
0121 827 6455
The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC2000020237.
Apply now
Closes in 14 days (Friday 27 March 2026)
After signing in, you’ll apply for this apprenticeship on the company's website.