Carpentry and joinery
Make things with your hands, on the sites changing your borough.
Apprentice rates to start, rising with each qualification.
The route
How people get in and grow
One of the most direct routes onto a construction site. Start with a site-ready card and an apprenticeship, build toward a recognised NVQ.
- 1
Get site-ready
A CSCS card and basic site safety let you set foot on a real site.
Unlocks: CSCS card, site safety awareness
- 2
Earn while you learn
A carpentry apprenticeship pays you to train on real jobs.
Unlocks: Carpentry and joinery apprenticeship
- 3
Qualify
An NVQ Level 2 then Level 3 marks you out as a skilled tradesperson.
Unlocks: NVQ Level 2, then Level 3 Carpentry
Where this goes
Skilled trades and construction across the places we cover runs from Level 2 (about GCSEs at grade 4 to 9) up to Level 6 (about a bachelors degree). These are the levels people move through, and what is open right now at each one.
Level 2about the same as GCSEs at grade 4 to 9
30 openings across the places we cover14 different apprenticeshipstypically £16,640 a year(middle of 28 advertised)- Supply chain warehouse operative (level 2)
- Property maintenance operative (level 2)
- Carpentry and joinery (level 2)
- Painter and decorator (level 2)
Level 3about the same as A levels
21 openings across the places we cover9 different apprenticeshipstypically £17,680 a year(middle of 17 advertised)- International freight forwarding specialist (level 3)
- Installation and maintenance electrician (level 3)
- Refrigeration air conditioning and heat pump engineering technician (level 3)
- Plumbing and domestic heating technician (level 3)
Level 4about the same as an HNC
1 opening across the places we cover1 apprenticeship- Construction site supervisor (level 4)
Level 6about the same as a bachelors degree
4 openings across the places we cover2 different apprenticeshipstypically £20,000 a year(middle of 4 advertised)- Chartered surveyor (degree) (level 6)
- Supply chain leadership professional (integrated degree) (level 6)
Levels and apprenticeship standards from the Department for Education Find an apprenticeship service, counted from vacancies open today. Wages are the middle of what employers actually advertised, not a promise about any one job, and they do not always rise with the level: pay depends on the employer and the year as much as the qualification. These are the levels within this line of work, not a guarantee that one apprenticeship leads to the next.
Start here
Routes near you
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Take the first step
Register and we will match you to local routes into carpentry and joinery and tell you exactly which step you are ready for. Want to think it through first? Sign in and ask RORY in the chat at the bottom-right.