PAT Testing Course Birmingham (1 Day)

Course overview

Run by Skills Training Group, this one-day PAT testing course in Birmingham takes you from electrical safety theory in the morning to genuine hands-on testing in the afternoon, all in a single day. Working on professional PAT testing machines, you’ll learn to inspect, test, log and judge the safety of portable appliances the way it’s actually done on the job — and you’ll leave able to do it confidently in line with current UK requirements.

Morning in Birmingham – The Theory Behind Safe Testing

• What the Health & Safety Executive expects of anyone responsible for electrical equipment
• A plain-English walk through the current IET Code of Practice for in-service inspection and testing
• Where you stand under the Electricity at Work Regulations and what those duties mean day to day
• The different appliance classes you’ll come across and the right testing approach for each
• Carrying out thorough visual inspections, recognising faults early and keeping clear records

Afternoon in Birmingham – Testing for Real on the Machines

• Getting properly hands-on with professional PAT testing machines under tutor guidance
• Working through the correct test sequences across a mix of appliance types
• Picking up the faults that matter, both by eye and from the instrument readings
• Making sense of your results and turning them into accurate, defensible records
• Judging how often equipment should be retested based on its risk and where it’s used

Because the assessment is practical and runs throughout the day rather than ending in a written exam, you head back into your Birmingham workplace ready to put it straight to use.

Venue

The Birmingham PAT testing course is held at Tutors & Exams, Unit 1, Church Court, Cox Street, Birmingham, B3 1RD – in the Jewellery Quarter, on the edge of the city centre.

Getting to the venue

• By tram: St Paul’s (West Midlands Metro) is the nearest stop, just a few minutes’ walk away; the Jewellery Quarter stop is also nearby.
• By train: Birmingham Snow Hill is roughly a 12-minute walk, with New Street and Jewellery Quarter stations also within easy reach.
• By car: Ludgate Hill Car Park (open 24 hours) and the Jewellery Quarter multi-storey are close by. Please note that parking is chargeable — on-street parking is free only after 6pm, on Sundays and on bank holidays.

Duration

1 Day (9am – 4pm)

Entry Requirements

No electrical experience is needed.

The course is delivered in plain, accessible language, making it ideal for complete beginners — and equally useful as a refresher if you already test in your Birmingham workplace and want to brush up in line with current best practice.

PAT Testing Certification

Pass the practical assessment and you’ll be awarded the Skills Training Group PAT Testing Certificate — a certificate of competence confirming you’ve been trained and assessed as able to carry out portable appliance testing properly.

One point trips a lot of people up, so it’s worth saying plainly: you do not need a formal qualification such as City & Guilds 2377 to test portable appliances legally in Birmingham or anywhere else in the UK.

UK health and safety law sets no specific qualification or certificate as a legal requirement — what it does require is that the person doing the testing is competent. The Health and Safety Executive frames competence as the right combination of training, knowledge and practical experience, which is precisely the foundation this one-day course is built to give you, alongside the current IET Code of Practice.

Your certificate then stands as clear, recognised evidence of that competence whenever employers, clients, insurers or auditors ask to see it. It carries no fixed legal expiry, though a refresher every few years is a sensible way to stay current.