How to become a funeral director
You can get into this job by doing an apprenticeship or working your way up.
Apprenticeship
You can start by taking a funeral team member intermediate apprenticeship.
Once you have one year of experience, you can do a funeral director advanced apprenticeship.
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship
- 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
More Information
Work
You could get a job at a funeral home, supporting funeral directors. You would then get experience as you learn on the job.
To do this, you usually need:
- customer service experience
- to use a computer well
- administration skills
Qualifications while you work
While you work, you could take a diploma in funeral arranging and administration or a certificate in funeral service.
As you take on more responsibilities, you could do the diploma in funeral directing or the diploma in funeral service.
More information
You can get more advice about training to work in the funeral service from the British Institute of Funeral Directors and the National Association of Funeral Directors.