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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. 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. 2

    Earn while you learn

    A carpentry apprenticeship pays you to train on real jobs.

    Unlocks: Carpentry and joinery apprenticeship

  3. 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.

  1. Level 2about the same as GCSEs at grade 4 to 9

    38 openings across the places we cover17 different apprenticeshipstypically £17,982 a year(middle of 37 advertised)
    • Supply chain warehouse operative (level 2)
    • Property maintenance operative (level 2)
    • Groundworker (level 2)
    • Carpentry and joinery (level 2)
    See the 38 open at Level 2

  2. Level 3about the same as A levels

    23 openings across the places we cover11 different apprenticeshipstypically £17,500 a year(middle of 23 advertised)
    • International freight forwarding specialist (level 3)
    • Installation and maintenance electrician (level 3)
    • Civil engineering technician (level 3)
    • Surveying technician (level 3)
    See the 23 open at Level 3

  3. Level 4about the same as an HNC

    7 openings across the places we cover4 different apprenticeshipstypically £16,640 a year(middle of 5 advertised)
    • Construction quantity surveying technician (level 4)
    • Civil engineering senior technician (level 4)
    • Construction design and build technician (level 4)
    • Construction site supervisor (level 4)
    See the 7 open at Level 4

  4. Level 6about the same as a bachelors degree

    8 openings across the places we cover5 different apprenticeshipstypically £20,000 a year(middle of 7 advertised)
    • Chartered surveyor (degree) (level 6)
    • Building services engineer (level 6)
    • Civil engineer (level 6)
    • Geospatial mapping and science specialist (degree) (level 6)
    See the 8 open at 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.

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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? Ask RORI in the chat at the bottom-right.

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