PLC certification: what it is, and do you need it?

PLC certification is one of those things that sounds simple until you start looking. Search for it and you'll find vendor exams, college qualifications, apprenticeships and a long tail of online courses that hand out a certificate at the end. They aren't the same thing, and they don't carry the same weight.

So here's the short answer first. There's no single PLC certification that every employer asks for. What counts depends on the job, the brand of equipment the company uses and how much proof of skill they want to see. This guide walks through the main options in the UK, what each one actually tells an employer, and when it's worth paying for.

One thing to be clear about before we start. PLC Gym is a place to learn and practise. It doesn't issue a recognised qualification, and I'd be wary of anyone who sells you a course certificate as if it were one.

The three kinds of PLC certification

Almost everything you'll come across falls into one of three groups.

None of these is automatically better than the others. A vendor certificate is great if the employer runs that brand. An apprenticeship is the strongest route into the trade for someone starting out. A course certificate is fine as a record of learning, as long as nobody, including you, mistakes it for more than that.

Siemens certification

Siemens runs its training through SITRAIN. In the UK, its main programming credential is the Siemens Certified Programmer in TIA Portal. It's a three day module at Siemens' Manchester training centre: two days of theory, then a practical exam on the third day that lasts five and a half hours. In the exam you build and commission a complete PLC program. It's open book, but Siemens is clear that it won't hand out the course documentation to people who haven't taken its programming courses.

To enrol, you need to have done Siemens' TIA Portal Programming 3 course, which itself follows Programming 1 and 2. So in practice this is the top of a ladder of paid courses, not a test you can walk in and sit. When I looked in October 2026, SITRAIN UK listed the three day module at £1,810, with some dates already full. Prices and dates change, so check before you plan around them.

Because it's a long practical exam on the real software, it's a credible signal. It's also a big commitment, and most people taking it are sent by an employer that already uses Siemens.

Rockwell Automation certificates

Rockwell Automation, the company behind Allen-Bradley, runs certificate programmes rather than a single exam. The main ones for PLC work are the Logix Programmer and Logix Maintainer certificates, built around its Studio 5000 Logix Designer software.

The traditional path is a set of Rockwell training courses, typically a fundamentals course, a ladder programming course and a project development course, plus an elective. Once the courses are done, you book an online assessment. Pass it and you receive a Certificate of Achievement. On Rockwell's US page, all the courses and the test have to be completed within 18 months. There are also faster routes: an accelerated five day course with the assessment included, and an advanced certificate that builds on the first.

Like the Siemens route, the value comes from the hands on courses behind it. And like the Siemens route, it's usually employer funded, because the courses themselves are the main cost.

UK qualifications and apprenticeships

If you're in the UK and building a career rather than adding one skill, recognised qualifications usually matter more than any vendor badge.

Short PLC qualifications. The best known is the EAL Level 3 Award in Programmable Logic Controllers. It's a vocationally related qualification covering PLC hardware and software, how PLCs control manufacturing processes, and how they're programmed. Training providers usually run it as a short, intensive course. Availability changes over time, so ask the provider which awarding body sits behind their course and whether it's still current.

Apprenticeships in England. Two standards are worth knowing about.

• Engineering maintenance technician, single discipline (Level 3). One of its options is the control and instrumentation engineering maintenance technician, whose work is described as including programmable logic controllers, flow meters, heat exchangers and safety controls. The typical duration is 42 months.
• Automation and controls engineering technician (Level 4). This one covers work on PLCs, HMIs, robots and industrial networks, takes around 48 months, and lines up with professional registration as an Engineering Technician through bodies such as the IET.

Apprenticeships in Scotland. The Modern Apprenticeship in Engineering: Asset Lifecycle and Maintenance runs at SCQF Level 7 and supports roles including instrumentation and control technician.

Apprenticeships are paid jobs with college study built in, which is why they're such a strong route. We cover them in more detail in our guide to PLC technician training.

Online course certificates

There are lots of online PLC courses, and many of them are genuinely useful. Some give you a certificate when you finish. That's nice to have, and there's nothing wrong with putting it on your CV.

Just be honest with yourself about what it shows. A completion certificate tells someone you watched the lessons. It doesn't tell them you can fault find a pump that won't start, or that you'll keep a machine safe when you change its code. That's what employers are really trying to find out, and it's why some of them test candidates in person.

What employers are really looking for

I'm a marketer, not a hiring manager in a controls team, so take this as an outsider's read rather than gospel. But when you look at what the apprenticeship standards and vendor programmes actually assess, the same few things come up again and again.

• Can you read and change existing code safely? A lot of jobs involve working on someone else's program, often in ladder.
• Can you find a fault? Working out why a machine has stopped, from the symptoms, the inputs and the code.
• Do you know the brand they use? Siemens TIA Portal or Rockwell Studio 5000, or both.
• Do you understand the basics of the plant? Sensors, valves, motors, interlocks, and why a fault on one part of a process affects another.
• Can you explain what you did? Talking a supervisor through your change is half the job.

Notice that none of those is "holds a certificate". A certificate helps you get noticed. These skills are what keep you in the job. It's also why we built PLC Gym's hiring tests around a practical task and a fault to investigate, with an engineer in the room, rather than a multiple choice quiz.

When is a PLC certification worth paying for?

Here's how I'd think about it, depending on where you are.

1. You're new and want a career in controls. Look at apprenticeships first. They're paid, they're recognised, and they include the electrical grounding you'll need anyway.
2. You're an electrician or maintenance technician moving into PLC work. A short recognised course such as a Level 3 PLC award can be a sensible step, especially if your employer pays. Practise the logic before you go so you get more out of the days.
3. Your employer uses one brand heavily. Vendor courses and certificates make sense, and the company will often fund them because they want you productive on their kit.
4. You're learning on your own and money's tight. Don't spend thousands up front. Learn the ideas, practise on a simulator, and build up evidence of what you can do. Then pay for a formal course once you know it's the right path.

How to prove your skills without a certificate

If you can't afford a formal course yet, you can still give an employer something solid to look at.

• Work through real practice problems and be ready to talk about them. For example, a seal in circuit for a pump, a Stop button that doesn't stop the machine, or bringing in a standby pump when the duty pump fails.
• Learn both big brands at a basic level. Being able to say you've written logic in Siemens SCL and in Rockwell Structured Text is a useful thing to say in an interview.
• Keep a record of what you've done. PLC Gym can produce a print out of your progress for a supervisor or tutor, and the PLC programming course gives you the work to put on it.
• Be ready for a practical test. If an employer sits you in front of a machine with a hidden fault, the work you've put in shows straight away.

A PLC certification can open a door. What you can actually do is what keeps it open. If you're starting from zero, our guide to how PLC code works is a good next read.

Sources

• Siemens Certified Programmer in TIA Portal, SITRAIN UK, Siemens
• Certificate Programs, Rockwell Automation
• EAL Level 3 Award in Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC), EAL
• Engineering maintenance technician, single discipline, Skills England
• Automation and controls engineering technician, Skills England
• Engineering: Asset Lifecycle and Maintenance, Apprenticeships.scot