Trades Courses

Trades is a career like no other and one of the country’s biggest employers.

When you decide to start a career in Trades, you are deciding to work in an industry with huge potential. The sector employs 2.69 million workers nationwide and currently has 45,000 vacancies with predictions for further growth.

There are no limits to what you can become once you’ve covered the basics. With experience, you could move into design engineering, site supervision or project management, consultancy work, or training.

So which trade will you choose to specialise in?

If Carpentry is more your thing, you’ll be cutting and shaping timber for floorboards, doors, skirting boards, and window frames. You’ll be making and fitting wooden structures like staircases, door frames, roof timbers, and partition walls; making and assembling fitted and free-standing furniture; installing kitchens, cupboards, and shelving; making and fitting interiors in shops, bars, restaurants, offices, and public buildings; or even constructing stage sets for theatre, film, and TV productions.

If you go into Painting & Decorating, you’ll be mixing paint to the right shade – often using computerised colour-matching equipment, applying coats of paint, hanging wallpaper, and adding special finishes like glazes or marbling.

If you choose Plastering as a trade, you could be solid plastering (applying wet finishes to surfaces and putting protective coverings like pebble-dash on outside walls), fibrous plastering (creating ornamental plasterwork like ceiling roses, cornices, and architraves), or dry lining (fixing internal plasterboard or wallboard partitions). You’ll have a good level of fitness and be able to cope with working at height.

If Plumber is your preferred occupation, you’ll fit and service hot and cold water systems, heating systems, and drainage networks. You’ll give time and cost estimates for jobs; cut, shape, and join pipes and fittings; find and fix faults; service gas and oil-fired central heating systems and radiators; complete shower and wet room installations or repair domestic appliances; and respond to emergency call-outs, like blocked drains or boiler breakdowns.

If Wall & Floor Tiling is your ideal career choice, you’ll be thorough and pay attention to detail. You may be working on new builds or private and commercial renovations, cutting tiles to size and shape with hand-cutters or bench-mounted tools; preparing surfaces by levelling off with plaster, sand, or cement; fixing floor and ceramic tiles and applying grout; laying intricate mosaic tiles; and decorating and protecting floors and walls using ceramic, clay, slate, marble, or glass tiles.

Our qualifications are designed to give you the very best grounding to reach your career goals in Trades. Each course will prepare you for working well with others on-site or on your own at business premises. If you’re self-employed, you could find yourself advising clients about the design, construction, maintenance, and repair of buildings.

Salaries you can expect will be in line with your level of responsibility and experience. Quantity Surveyors overseeing trade projects, managing risks, and controlling costs, and Civil Engineers designing and managing projects – from bridges and buildings to transport links and sports stadiums – can earn up to £80,000.

With thousands more jobs created in the sector, this is an excellent time to choose opportunities in Trades!

Here’s why you should apply now for Trades:

• State-of-the-art training workshops with purpose-built bays and rooms
• Use of the latest trade methods and tools
• 10,000 more jobs created in the sector in the last 5 years
• Excellent opportunities to go into self-employment and management – ideal if you want to be your own boss
• Learn to build what matters to people in your community, whether it’s a road, a home, or a school
• Loads of opportunities to gain work experience and visit trade sites