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Career · Building and installation

Plumber

Installs, repairs and maintains water supply, heating and sewage systems in homes and buildings.

Career overview

What a day looks like

The plumber comes on a request: a tap is leaking, a pipe is blocked, a new sink or radiator needs installing. They find the cause, shut off the water, replace or fit the needed parts, then check that nothing leaks. The work is often in tight places, under a sink or in a basement, and with water. Tools, care and the habit of reading diagrams are needed. A good plumber explains to residents what happened and how to avoid it. Without plumbers, homes would be left without water and heat.

Try it yourself this week

  • 30 minutes

    Look closely at a mechanism and draw how it works

    1. Choose a simple thing at home: a door lock, a bike or a desk lamp. You don't need to take anything apart, just look.
    2. Draw the whole thing and label the main parts.
    3. Use arrows to show what passes movement to what: for example, where you press and what moves.
    4. Write down three questions you don't know the answer to, and find the answer to one of them.

    What you'll learn about yourself: Whether you're drawn to finding out how things work inside, and whether you have the patience to get to the cause.

  • 30 minutes

    Measure your room and draw a plan with the furniture

    1. Take a tape measure and measure the walls of the room and the width of the window and door.
    2. Draw a plan to scale on squared paper: one square equals a length you choose in advance.
    3. Measure the furniture and add it to the plan at the same scale.
    4. Try moving the furniture around on paper and find the most comfortable layout.

    What you'll learn about yourself: Whether you like working with exact measurements and picturing in your head how everything will fit.

What you can do next

  1. Next 3 months

    • Find out how water works in a home

      Draw a diagram: where the water in the home comes from and where it goes, for example tap, sink, toilet. Do not unscrew anything yourself.

  2. In six months

    • Understand why things break

      Read why a tap leaks or a pipe gets blocked and write down three reasons.

  3. In a year

    • Talk to a plumber

      Together with your parents, ask a plumber what calls they get most often and which sides of the work are hard.

What it pays

No verified information is available in this section yet.

Where to study

No verified information is available in this section yet.

How to get into college

College gets you a profession faster than university. You can apply after grade 9 or after grade 11.

  • Colleges accept students both after grade 9 and after grade 11. After grade 9 you study longer — about 3 years 10 months; after grade 11, about 2 years 10 months. The exact length depends on the college and the specialty.
    Source: kchk.edu.kz (opens in a new tab)
  • About 80% of students admitted to colleges in the 2024/25 school year study on a state order, which means in state-funded places (in 2023/24 it was about 70%). But each college and each specialty has its own number of state-funded places.
    Source: inbusiness.kz (opens in a new tab)
  • There are also paid colleges. For example, training as a nurse at ADILMED costs 450,000 ₸ per year. Check the price and conditions on the college's website.
    Source: adilmed.kz (opens in a new tab)
UNT: which subjects to take for university

The UNT (Unified National Testing) is Kazakhstan's national university entrance test. You need it to get into university after grade 11.

  • The UNT 2026 has three compulsory subjects: History of Kazakhstan, Reading Literacy and Mathematical Literacy. On top of these, you take two profile subjects, chosen to match your specialty.
    Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab)
  • In total, the test has 120 questions (maximum 140 points) and you get 4 hours. The format is the same as in 2025.
    Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab)
  • Profile subjects depend on the group of specialties. For example: information technology — Mathematics and Computer Science; nursing and veterinary medicine — Biology and Chemistry; electrical engineering — Mathematics and Physics; law — World History and Fundamentals of Law. The full list is published by the National Testing Center.
    Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab)
  • For creative specialties (for example, media and design), you take History of Kazakhstan and Reading Literacy through the UNT, and two creative exams at the university itself.
    Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab)
  • Some universities have their own admission rules. Nazarbayev University, for example, requires a UNT score of at least 85, a GPA of 4.0 and English at IELTS 6.0 level.
    Source: nu.edu.kz (opens in a new tab)

Courses and opportunities

Opportunities near this field

Can you work before you turn 18?

Under Kazakhstan's Labour Code, teenagers can work, but with limits.

History of the career

No verified information is available in this section yet.

Well-known people in this field

No verified information is available in this section yet.

Is this right for you?

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