You’ll develop the skills and knowledge you need to enter the carpentry and joinery trade in the construction industry. Covering both practical and theoretical aspects of the trade, this course offers an ideal introduction to the sector and gives you the opportunity to progress to higher levels.
Offers of a place on this course are dependent on qualifications and practical aptitude. Following a successful interview and initial assessment results, you will be allocated a place to study the practical and theoretical elements of carpentry and joinery. Parents and carers are welcome to attend the interview but not the initial assessment.
Assessment is via observation of practical work. You may be required to undertake real trade projects on which you will also be assessed. Your maths and English skills will be assessed through a controlled assessment or final exam.
You will need to supply your own safety footwear. A small charge may be made for other Personal Protective Equipment required to complete the course.
Former joinery apprentice Joe Evans says the "sky's the limit" after gaining a First Class Honours degree in Quantity Surveying. Twenty-seven-year old Joe, from Belper, now heads a team for Barratt Homes while running four housing projects across the East Midlands. He started with Barratt as a joinery apprentice on day release to Derby College but switched to the National Certificate in Construction while working as a trainee quantity surveyor.
Joe then went on to take the college's Foundation Degree in Quantity Surveying, gaining distinctions for both his construction and foundation course. Moving on to Nottingham Trent University, he was one of just three part-time students – two of whom were also from Derby College – to be awarded First Class Honours Degrees.
Joe said his Derby college lecturers were excellent and praised the depth and variety of the courses which "set me up" for the future. Now a senior quantity surveyor, Joe said:
Currently, I'm running four housing developments, in Derby, Leicester, Nottingham and Worksop. The sky's the limit really and the foundations came from Derby College.