Stonemason

You could take a college course, which would teach you some of the skills needed to get a trainee job with a building company. Courses include:

• Level 1 Certificate in Construction Skills
• Level 2 Diploma in Stonemasonry

Entry requirements

You may need:

• 2 or fewer GCSEs at grades 3 to 1 (D to G), or equivalent, for a level 1 course
• 2 or more GCSEs at grades 9 to 3 (A* to D), or equivalent, for a level 2 course

More Information

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You could start as a construction labourer and take further training with your employer to get a qualification in stonemasonry.

Registration

• you'll need a Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) card or equivalent to train and work on a construction site

Career tips

You can do specialist training courses if you're interested in heritage and conservation skills in stonemasonry.

Further information

You'll find more on careers in stonemasonry from Go Construct and the Stone Federation.

You can also get more details about stonemasonary craft skills from the Crafts Council.

You'll need:

• knowledge of maths
• knowledge of building and construction
• ambition and a desire to succeed
• the ability to use your initiative
• persistence and determination
• leadership skills
• to be thorough and pay attention to detail
• the ability to work well with others
• to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device

You’ll be working with materials like sandstone, limestone, slate, marble and granite. In your day-to-day duties you may:

• build stone walls or fit cladding using mortar and specialist fixings
• repair damaged stonework on old buildings and monuments
• carve or repair statues or memorial headstones
• make and fit stonework like window frames, archways and ornamental garden pieces

You could work on a construction site or in a workshop.

Your working environment may be at height, outdoors some of the time, dusty, noisy and physically demanding.

You may need to wear safety clothing and use safety equipment.