This is a formal agreement between the Board and the apprentice and his parents. Training then continues until the apprentice's 21st birthday, by which time he should be a skilled craftsman.

Basic workshop training
     Initially, the apprentice is instructed in the care and use of various tools, and how to use marking-out and fine-measurement instruments. He is also given instruction in turning, shaping, drilling, milling and grinding with machine tools, and forging, welding and sheet metal work. This training takes place in a power station or technical college workshop or at one of the Board’s apprentice schools and normally lasts from six to ten months. As there are some 231 power stations up and down the country and 15 apprentice schools, it is often possible for apprentices to be located near their homes.

Subsequent practical training
     The apprentice continues his practical training in a power station under the guidance of skilled mechanical fitters. With them he gains experience in boiler and turbine house maintenance and repairs. In the boiler house he works on the coal and ash handling plant, on joints in steam and feed water ranges, boiler mountings and fittings and general auxiliary equipment, besides taking part in general boiler overhaul. In the turbine house he works on the turbine equipment, condensers and cooling-water system.

Further education
     From the beginning of his training the apprentice is given one-day release each week to attend a course of study at technical college. In some areas release may be given for a series of short full-time attendances at a college. The course usually taken by apprentice mechanical fitters, besides supplementing their practical training, prepares them to sit for a City and Guilds of London Institute Certificate No. 63 in Machine Shop Engineering or No. 193 in Mechanical Engineering Craft Practice. Course No. 63 comprises workshop technique, science, calculations and drawing, and practical work; Course No. 193, craft theory and practice and social studies. Occasionally an apprentice attempts an Ordinary National Certificate in mechanical engineering.

Pay
     Pay during training ranges from almost £3 a week at the age of 15 to nearly £9 a week at the age of 20; there are annual increments on birthdays. A craftsman receives about £11 15s. 0d. a week; promotional