Search for a PAT testing course and you’ll be offered three things that sound similar and are not similar at all. One is a set of videos you watch at home for £30. One is a full day with a trainer and a tester in your hands. One is a Level 3 qualification pitched at working electricians. All three get called “a PAT testing course”, and the price range runs from about £25 to well over £400.
The question people usually ask us is “which one do I legally need?” It’s the wrong question, and the answer is a bit of a relief: none of them. What matters is whether you can show you’re competent. Here’s what each route actually gives you, and how to work out which one fits.
First, what the law actually asks for
There is no law that says you must PAT test, at any particular interval, or that you must hold any particular certificate to do it.
What there is, is the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, which require electrical systems to be maintained so far as is reasonably practicable to prevent danger. Inspection and testing of portable appliances is how most employers meet that duty for the plug-in equipment in their building. The Health and Safety Executive has been clear for years that a lot of workplaces over-test, and that a sensible risk-based approach beats testing everything every twelve months out of habit.
The recognised reference for how to actually do it is the IET Code of Practice for In-Service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment, currently the 5th Edition. Any course worth paying for follows it.
Where competence comes in is this: the person doing the inspecting and testing has to know enough to do it safely and to judge the results. Not “hold certificate X” — be competent. That’s a combination of training, understanding, and the ability to actually use the equipment and interpret what it tells you. Which is exactly why the three routes below are not interchangeable.
If you want the fuller picture on the duty itself, we’ve written it up separately in what PAT testing is and who it applies to.
Option one: self-study e-learning
The cheapest option, and the one that needs the most care.
A self-study e-learning course is a set of recorded videos or slides you work through in your own time, usually finishing with an online multiple-choice quiz. Prices typically run from around £25 to £60. You get a certificate at the end, often within minutes.
There are two things worth knowing before you buy one.
The first is what that certificate is. Many are certificates of completion — a record that you watched the material and answered some questions. That is not the same as an accredited certificate issued against an independent standard, and it is not the same as an assessment of your competence. Some e-learning is accredited; plenty isn’t. The word “accredited” on a sales page means nothing on its own, so ask who the accrediting body is and check they exist independently of the company selling you the course.
The second is what it can’t do. Nobody watches you carry out a test. Nobody checks whether you can set up a tester, choose the right test for a Class I versus a Class II appliance, spot a badly wired plug, or decide what a borderline insulation reading means. PAT testing is a practical skill with a judgement call at the end of it, and a video can teach you the theory but it cannot assess the practice. If you were ever asked to justify how you decided a piece of equipment was safe, “I watched a course” is a thinner answer than “I was trained and assessed doing it”.
None of which makes e-learning worthless. It’s a reasonable fit for awareness training across a team who won’t be doing the testing, for a refresher if you were properly trained years ago, or as background reading before a hands-on course. It’s a poor fit if it’s going to be the only training the person doing your testing ever gets.
One important distinction while we’re here: self-study e-learning is not the same as a live online course. Our own Zoom course is a full tutor-led day with a real trainer, practical work on your own tester, and an assessment at the end — it just happens to be delivered down a webcam instead of in a room. “Online” covers both, so read carefully which one you’re actually buying.
Option two: an accredited competency course
This is the route most people who are going to be doing the testing end up on.
A competency course is a full day, in a room or live online, with a trainer. You cover the legal framework and responsibilities, appliance classes I, II and III, earthing and insulation, what each test actually measures, earth continuity, insulation resistance, leakage and load tests, and how to record results so they’re worth something later. Then you do it — on real appliances, with a real PAT tester — and you’re assessed on the day.
Two things make it different from the e-learning route. It follows the IET Code of Practice 5th Edition, the same reference document the City & Guilds qualification is built on. And it ends with an accredited Certificate of Competence — ours is UKRS-accredited — issued because somebody watched you do the work, not because you finished a video.
It also assumes nothing. No electrical background is needed. That is the single biggest practical difference between this route and the 2377, and it’s why the day is built the way it is: the theory is pitched at people meeting it for the first time, and most of the day is hands-on.
It suits the facilities manager who has been handed responsibility for the building’s equipment, the office or school taking testing in-house to stop paying a contractor, the caretaker or IT lead who ends up doing it in practice, and anyone starting a PAT testing business from scratch. It’s one day, from £145 to £195 +VAT per person, and for a team it’s usually cheaper to have the course come to your premises.
Option three: City & Guilds 2377
The 2377 is a regulated Level 3 Award from City & Guilds — a qualification rather than a training certificate. It comes in a few variants: the in-service inspection and testing award (2377-22), a management-focused award covering the duty-holder side rather than the testing itself (2377-32), and a combined version (2377-77).
It is normally delivered over two days, and it is built on the same IET Code of Practice 5th Edition as a competency course — the underlying subject matter is not different.
What is different is the balance of the two days, and who they’re pitched at.
The assessment is a 50-question online multiple-choice exam sat under exam conditions, plus a short practical in which you test three appliances. There is a practical element, then — but three appliances is a box being ticked, not a course built around doing the job. Having taught the 2377 ourselves for years, we’d put it plainly: it is not focused on the practical application of testing. The weight of it sits on the exam.
It also assumes a level of electrical knowledge from the first hour. Candidates are expected to be comfortable with electrical theory, Ohm’s law included. City & Guilds’ own guidance expects familiarity with electrical systems and the hazards of electricity, and points to an ECS card, a JIB electrician grade or a Level 3 electrotechnical apprenticeship as the sort of background a candidate would typically have. Someone without that can sit it — but they’ll spend two days trying to keep up with theory the rest of the room already knows, and then sit an exam on it.
It costs more — typically £300 to £450 per person — and takes two or three days out instead of one.
So when is it the right answer? Three situations, really. A client or contract has specified City & Guilds 2377 in writing, and no substitute will do. You’re already a practising electrician and want a regulated Level 3 award on your record alongside your other qualifications. Or your employer’s competency matrix names it specifically.
Outside those, most people are buying a qualification aimed at a trade they’re not in.
We don’t run the 2377 ourselves. If it’s genuinely what you need, look for an approved City & Guilds centre — plenty run it. We’d rather tell you that than sell you something that isn’t the right fit.
The gap in the middle
Here’s the odd thing about all this, and it’s the reason our own course exists.
The 2377 is written for practising electricians. But most electricians don’t do PAT testing — it isn’t where the money or the interest is for someone who installs and maintains electrical systems for a living. Meanwhile the people who genuinely do end up doing the testing are facilities staff, caretakers, IT teams, landlords, small business owners and people running their own testing round. Almost none of them have the electrical theory the 2377 takes as a starting point.
So the qualification aimed squarely at the trade is largely bought by people outside it, and it assumes knowledge they were never expected to have. That mismatch is exactly why we built a one-day competency course years ago: same Code of Practice, same standard of testing, but starting from nothing and spending the day on the practical skill rather than on an exam.
The three routes side by side
| Self-study e-learning | Accredited competency course | City & Guilds 2377 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical length | 2–6 hours, your own pace | 1 day | 2 days |
| Typical cost | £25–£60 | £145–£195 +VAT | £300–£450 |
| Follows IET CoP 5th Edition | Sometimes | Yes | Yes |
| Hands-on with a real tester | No | Most of the day | Three appliances at assessment |
| Assessed by a person | No | Yes | Exam-led, plus short practical |
| Electrical theory assumed | No | No | Yes — Ohm’s law upwards |
| Certificate | Often completion only — check | Accredited Certificate of Competence | Regulated Level 3 Award |
| Best for | Awareness, refreshers | Anyone who’ll be doing the testing | Electricians, or where a contract names it |
Three questions that settle it
Has anyone told you, in writing, that you need the 2377? If yes, get the 2377 — nothing else will satisfy that contract. If it’s a vague “we need someone qualified”, it almost certainly isn’t asking for a specific City & Guilds award.
Are you comfortable with electrical theory — Ohm’s law and the rest? If you are, the 2377 is pitched at you and the two days will be comfortable. If you aren’t, a competency course will teach you more practical testing, in less time, for less money, because it starts where you are.
Will you personally be doing the testing? If yes, you need to have done it with someone watching. That rules out self-study on its own. If no — you’re managing the process rather than performing it — e-learning or the management-focused route may be all you need.
A few things people get wrong
“You have to be an electrician to PAT test.” You don’t. The requirement is competence, not a trade qualification. The HSE has said as much for years.
“PAT testing is a legal requirement.” The legal duty is to maintain equipment so it doesn’t cause danger. Inspection and testing is how most people meet it, and it’s the sensible approach — but no regulation names “PAT testing” or a twelve-month interval.
“An online certificate makes me qualified.” It makes you trained, at best. Competence is training plus demonstrated ability, and demonstrating ability means somebody watching you do it.
“The 2377 is the gold standard so it must be better for everyone.” It’s a well-respected qualification aimed at a specific audience — people already working in electrics. For someone with no electrical background who needs to test the equipment in one building, it’s an expensive, exam-heavy route with very little hands-on testing in it. Two days, three appliances.
Frequently asked questions
Is a UKRS-accredited certificate as good as City & Guilds? They’re different things rather than better or worse. The 2377 is a regulated Level 3 qualification; a UKRS-accredited Certificate of Competence records that you were trained and assessed as competent against the IET Code of Practice. For demonstrating competence to an employer, insurer or HSE inspector, the competency route does the job.
Do I need to be an electrician to do the competency course? No. It’s designed for people with little or no electrical experience, and most of the day is hands-on.
How long does certification last? Good practice is a refresher every three years or so, and sooner if the Code of Practice is updated or your equipment changes significantly.
Can I do a PAT course entirely online? You can do a live, tutor-led day online, with practical work on your own tester and an assessment — that’s our Zoom course. What you can’t sensibly do online is the self-study-only version, if you’re going to be the one doing the testing.
What if I’m not sure which one I need? Call us on 01793 497181 and describe the situation. If the honest answer is the 2377, we’ll say so.
Getting started
If you’re going to be doing the testing yourself, a hands-on assessed day is the route that leaves you able to actually do the job — and it’s the cheapest of the three anyway.
See upcoming course dates near you, or if you’ve got a team, get a price for training at your premises.
