What is the difference between on-the-job and off-the-job training?

On-the-job training (OJT) is the practical work you do with your employer on real job sites and installations. It makes up most of your apprenticeship time. Off-the-job training (OTJ) is the structured learning that takes place away from your normal work duties, typically at college or with your training provider. For apprenticeships starting from 1 August 2025 it is a fixed minimum number of hours published on each standard, not a percentage (DfE funding rules 2026 to 2027, rules 85 to 86). Off-the-job training includes classroom teaching, workshops, online learning, and study activities that directly relate to the apprenticeship standard. Both types of training are mandatory under the apprenticeship funding rules. Your employer must allow you time for off-the-job training, and your training provider must ensure the content is relevant to the apprenticeship standard. The off-the-job hours on your standard are a minimum; some apprentices spend more time in training depending on their programme structure.

Does travel time or routine work count as OJT?

Travel time to and from job sites does not count as OJT. Routine work that you carry out competently and that does not involve new learning also does not count as structured OJT for evidence purposes, although it still counts as part of your 80% on-the-job time. What counts as evidenceable OJT is work where you are developing new skills, applying new knowledge, or working under guidance to build competence in an area you have not yet mastered. For example, if you have already demonstrated competence in single-phase consumer unit installations, doing another identical installation does not generate new OJT evidence. However, if you encounter a specific challenge during that installation (such as an unusual earthing arrangement or a non-standard circuit configuration), documenting that challenge and what you learned from it does count as valuable OJT evidence.

How many OJT hours do I need to complete?

The total number of OJT hours depends on the length of your apprenticeship. For the Installation Electrician / Maintenance Electrician standard (ST0152), the typical duration is 42 to 48 months, so most of several thousand working hours are on the job. However, the focus is on demonstrating competence against the apprenticeship standard, not on accumulating a specific number of hours. Your training provider and employer will track your progress against the standard criteria. You need to demonstrate competence across all knowledge, skills, and behaviours defined in the standard, regardless of how many hours it takes. Some apprentices achieve competence in certain areas faster than others, and the programme should be adapted to focus on areas where additional development is needed.

What if my employer does not give me varied enough work for OJT?

This is a common challenge, particularly for apprentices who work for specialist contractors (for example, a company that only does domestic rewires or only does commercial maintenance). If your employer cannot provide the range of work needed to cover all areas of the apprenticeship standard, there are several options. First, speak to your training provider. They have a duty to ensure your OJT covers the full standard and can work with your employer to identify opportunities. Second, your employer may arrange for you to spend time with partner companies or on different types of projects to broaden your experience. Third, your training provider may offer additional workshop or simulated practical sessions to cover areas that are not available on your employer's job sites. The key is communication: if you feel you are missing out on important experiences, raise it early with your employer and training provider.

Do I need to keep a daily log of my OJT activities?

While there is no strict requirement to complete a daily log, it is strongly recommended. A daily record of your OJT activities provides the raw material for your portfolio, feeds into your progress reviews, and gives you rich examples to discuss in your professional discussion at EPA. The best approach is to spend 5 to 10 minutes at the end of each working day recording what you did, what skills you used or developed, any challenges you faced, and what you learned. Include photos of your work wherever possible. Over the course of a 4-year apprenticeship, this daily habit builds an incredibly comprehensive record of your development. Elec-Mate's site diary feature is designed for exactly this purpose, with prompts to help you capture the right information and automatic mapping to the apprenticeship standard criteria.

Can OJT evidence be used in my EPA professional discussion?

Yes, absolutely. Your OJT evidence forms the foundation of your portfolio, and the portfolio is the basis for the professional discussion component of the End Point Assessment. The EPAO assessor will review your portfolio before the professional discussion and select specific entries to ask questions about. Strong OJT evidence — detailed work logs, clear photos, thoughtful reflective accounts, and supervisor witness testimonies — gives the assessor confidence in your competence and provides rich starting points for discussion. Weak or sparse OJT evidence makes the professional discussion harder because the assessor has less to work with. The quality of your OJT evidence directly influences the quality of your professional discussion, which in turn influences your overall EPA grade.

APPRENTICE GUIDE

On-the-Job Training Guide: Making Every Day on Site Count

On-the-job training makes up most of your electrical apprenticeship. This guide explains what counts as OJT, the evidence you need to collect, how skills sign-off works, the role of your supervisor, and how to track your progress so you reach the gateway fully prepared.

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10 min readUpdated 2026-10-10Andrew Moore, Founder of Elec-Mate

Written and reviewed by Andrew Moore, founder of Elec-Mate, against BS 7671:2018+A4:2026, IET Guidance Note 3 and the IET On-Site Guide.

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Key takeaways

01On-the-job training (OJT) is most of your apprenticeship time. Alongside it you must complete at least the off-the-job training hours published on your apprenticeship standard, at college or with your training provider (DfE funding rules 2026 to 2027, rules 85 to 86). It is no longer a 20% share for starts from August 2025.
02OJT includes any productive work activity where you are developing the knowledge, skills, and behaviours defined in the apprenticeship standard (ST0152).
03You need a mix of evidence types: photos of completed work, work logs, witness testimonies from supervisors, reflective accounts, and signed skills observation records.
04Your supervisor or employer plays a critical role in OJT by providing structured work opportunities, observing your progress, and signing off completed skills.
05Elec-Mate provides a dedicated OJT tracker that maps your daily work to the apprenticeship standard criteria, so you always know what skills you have covered and what gaps remain.

01 · Apprentice Guide

What Is On-the-Job Training?

On-the-job training (OJT) is the practical, workplace-based learning that makes up the majority of your electrical apprenticeship. It is the time you spend working on real job sites with your employer, developing the hands-on skills and practical knowledge that classroom learning alone cannot provide.

OJT makes up most of your apprenticeship time. For a typical 4-year electrical apprenticeship, that is roughly 3 to 4 days per week on site with your employer. The rest is off-the-job training, usually at college or with an independent training provider, covering the theoretical knowledge and formal qualifications. For starts from 1 August 2025 the off-the-job minimum is a fixed number of hours published on each standard, not a percentage (DfE funding rules 2026 to 2027, rules 85 to 86).

OJT is not just "being at work." It is structured development where you are actively building the knowledge, skills, and behaviours defined in the apprenticeship standard (ST0152). Every task you carry out on site is an opportunity to develop competence, and the evidence you collect during OJT forms the foundation of your portfolio.

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02 · Apprentice Guide

What Counts as OJT

Not every minute at work generates OJT evidence. Understanding what counts helps you identify the learning opportunities in your daily work and capture them properly.

First-time installations — the first time you install a consumer unit, wire a ring circuit, install containment, or fit accessories under supervision. Document everything.
Inspection and testing — carrying out continuity tests, insulation resistance tests, earth loop impedance tests, and RCD tests on real installations.
Fault finding — diagnosing electrical faults using logical methods and test equipment, identifying the cause, and carrying out the repair.
Safe isolation — performing safe isolation procedures before working on circuits, demonstrating competence with a voltage indicator and proving dead.
Health and safety — completing risk assessments, method statements, toolbox talks, and demonstrating safe working practices on site.
Customer communication — explaining work to customers, discussing options, and handling queries. This covers the behaviours element of the standard.

The key principle is that OJT evidence should show development and learning. Repeating a task you have already mastered is productive work, but it does not generate new OJT evidence unless you encounter something new or apply your skills in a different context.

03 · Apprentice Guide

Evidence Types for OJT

Strong OJT evidence uses a mix of formats to demonstrate your competence from different angles. The more varied your evidence, the more convincing your portfolio.

Photographs — before, during, and after photos of installations. Show containment runs, cable terminations, consumer units, and finished work. Date and annotate every photo with what it shows and which skills it demonstrates.
Work logs — daily records of what you did, what skills you applied, and what you learned. Keep these specific: "Installed 6-way Hager consumer unit with split-load RCD configuration, connected 4 radial circuits" is far better than "Worked on consumer unit."
Witness testimonies — written statements from your supervisor or employer confirming that they observed you carrying out specific tasks to a competent standard. These carry significant weight with EPAO assessors.
Reflective accounts — your own written reflection on what you learned from a specific experience, what went well, what you would do differently, and how you will apply the learning in the future.
Completed certificates — EICs, Minor Works certificates, and test result schedules from real installations you contributed to. These demonstrate your inspection and testing competence.

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04 · Apprentice Guide

Skills Sign-Off Process

Skills sign-off is the formal process where your supervisor or employer confirms that you have demonstrated competence in a specific area of the apprenticeship standard. It is one of the most important forms of OJT evidence because it carries the weight of a qualified professional's judgement.

The sign-off process typically works like this:

You carry out a task on site — for example, installing a ring circuit, performing an insulation resistance test, or carrying out a safe isolation procedure.
Your supervisor observes your work — they watch you carry out the task, checking that you follow correct procedures, work safely, and produce a professional result.
The supervisor records the observation — using a skills observation record or competence sign-off sheet that references the specific apprenticeship standard criteria being demonstrated.
You both sign the record — confirming that the observation took place, the task was completed to a satisfactory standard, and the relevant skills have been demonstrated.

Some skills require multiple sign-offs to demonstrate consistent competence. For example, your training provider may require three separate observations of safe isolation before signing off that skill as fully achieved. The number of required observations varies by training provider and by the complexity of the skill.

Keep your sign-off records organised and up to date. At the gateway meeting, your training provider and employer will review these records to determine whether you have demonstrated competence across all areas of the standard.

05 · Apprentice Guide

The Supervisor Role in OJT

Your supervisor (or workplace mentor) is one of the most important people in your apprenticeship. They control the work you are exposed to, observe your development, provide feedback, and ultimately sign off your skills. A good supervisor-apprentice relationship can accelerate your learning significantly.

Structured work allocation — a good supervisor plans your work to ensure you get exposure to a range of tasks that cover the apprenticeship standard. They do not just give you the same job every day.
Progressive responsibility — they gradually increase the complexity and responsibility of the work you do, from assisting on tasks to carrying them out independently under observation.
Regular feedback — they tell you what you did well and what you need to improve, on a daily basis. Good feedback is specific: "Your cable terminations in the consumer unit were neat and well-torqued" rather than "Good job."
Skills observation and sign-off — they observe you carrying out tasks and formally record your competence against the apprenticeship standard criteria.
Progress review participation — they attend your regular progress reviews with the training provider and contribute their assessment of your development.

If your supervisor is not providing the structure and feedback you need, raise it with your training provider. They have a duty to ensure your OJT is effective and can work with your employer to improve the supervisory arrangement.

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06 · Apprentice Guide

Tracking Your OJT Progress

Tracking your OJT progress is essential. Without a clear picture of what skills you have covered and what gaps remain, you risk reaching the gateway with incomplete evidence or missing competence in key areas.

Effective OJT tracking covers three things:

Skills Coverage

Which skills in the apprenticeship standard have you demonstrated? Which ones still need evidence? A skills coverage tracker shows you the gaps so you can target specific work opportunities.

Evidence Quality

Is your evidence strong enough? Do you have a mix of photos, work logs, witness testimonies, and reflective accounts? A single photo is weaker than a photo with a detailed work log and a supervisor witness testimony.

Timeline

Are you on track to complete all OJT requirements before the gateway? If you are halfway through the apprenticeship but have only covered 30% of the skills, you need to accelerate.

Many apprentices use paper-based tracking sheets provided by their training provider. These work, but they are easy to lose, hard to update on site, and provide no automatic gap analysis. Digital tracking tools are significantly more effective, especially when they integrate with your portfolio and site diary.

07 · Apprentice Guide

Common OJT Mistakes to Avoid

These are the most common mistakes apprentices make with OJT. Avoiding them will save you time and stress later in the apprenticeship.

Leaving evidence collection to the end — the biggest mistake. If you do not capture evidence as you work, you cannot recreate it later. A photo you forgot to take 6 months ago is gone forever.
Vague work logs — "Did wiring" tells the assessor nothing. "Installed twin and earth 2.5mm cables from consumer unit to 6 double socket outlets on a radial circuit, tested insulation resistance at 200 megohms" tells them everything.
Not requesting witness testimonies — supervisors are busy. If you do not ask them to observe your work and sign it off, it probably will not happen. Take the initiative and ask.
Ignoring behaviours evidence — the apprenticeship standard includes behaviours (professionalism, communication, teamwork). Many apprentices focus only on technical skills and forget to collect evidence of behaviours.
Not mapping evidence to the standard — if your evidence is not linked to specific apprenticeship standard criteria, it is harder to demonstrate coverage at the gateway and during the EPA professional discussion.

08 · Apprentice Guide

OJT Tracking with Elec-Mate

Elec-Mate's apprentice hub includes dedicated OJT tracking tools designed to make evidence collection effortless and ensure nothing falls through the gaps.

OJT Progress Dashboard

See your skills coverage at a glance. The dashboard maps your evidence to every criterion in the apprenticeship standard and highlights gaps that need attention. Traffic-light indicators show which skills are fully evidenced, partially evidenced, or still missing.

Integrated Site Diary

The site diary captures your daily work activities with guided prompts. Each entry automatically feeds into your OJT tracker and portfolio, so a single daily log covers three requirements at once.

Portfolio Builder

Your OJT evidence feeds directly into the portfolio builder. Photos, work logs, and reflective accounts are automatically organised and mapped to the apprenticeship standard criteria. When you reach the gateway, your portfolio is already complete.

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Frequently Asked Questions About On-the-Job Training

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On-the-Job Training Guide: Making Every Day on Site Count

Key takeaways

What Is On-the-Job Training?

Get the BS 7671 A4:2026 Cheat Sheet — free

What Counts as OJT

Evidence Types for OJT

Capture OJT evidence on site with Elec-Mate

Skills Sign-Off Process

The Supervisor Role in OJT

Practise with unlimited mock exams

Tracking Your OJT Progress

Skills Coverage

Evidence Quality

Timeline

Common OJT Mistakes to Avoid

OJT Tracking with Elec-Mate

OJT Progress Dashboard

Integrated Site Diary

Portfolio Builder

AI Tutor Support

Start tracking your OJT today

Frequently Asked Questions About On-the-Job Training

What is the difference between on-the-job and off-the-job training?

Does travel time or routine work count as OJT?

How many OJT hours do I need to complete?

What if my employer does not give me varied enough work for OJT?

Do I need to keep a daily log of my OJT activities?

Can OJT evidence be used in my EPA professional discussion?

Continue reading

Portfolio Building Guide

Site Diary Guide

Assessment Guide

Electrical Apprenticeship Guide

EPA Preparation Guide

Mental Health for Apprentices

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