Vocational.uk The route, drawn out

Construction & Building

Plasterer

Finish walls and ceilings with plaster and render — the trade that decides whether a room looks right.

Strong demand Can go self-employed Level 2 apprenticeship
Typical pay once qualified
£28,000 – £42,000
Training length
2 years
Apprenticeship standard
Plasterer
Where to train
242 providers listed

The route, drawn out

DWG 7DB4 · 5 stops · 2 years to qualify
  1. Day one Start as an apprentice from £15.6k
  2. Year 2 Training continues, pay rises min. £21.2k+
  3. 2 years Fully qualified around £28k
  4. +3–5 years Experienced up to £42k
  5. Then Your own business you set the rate

The first figures are legal minimums: the apprentice rate (£8.00/hr) and the National Minimum Wage for 18–20s and 21+ from April 2026, on a 37.5-hour week. Qualified and experienced pay are indicative UK ranges — most employers pay apprentices above the minimum.

What the job is

Plastering is a skill you can watch being learned: the first wall takes hours and looks terrible, and eighteen months later you are skimming a room before lunch. Solid plastering covers internal skimming, floating and rendering outside; fibrous plastering covers cornices and mouldings.

It is fast, physical work with short, intense jobs, and it pays well on price. External rendering and insulated render systems on retrofit projects have added a lot of work in recent years.

A typical day

  • Prepare surfaces and apply backing coats and finishing plaster
  • Skim plasterboard to a flat, ready-to-decorate finish
  • Apply sand and cement or through-coloured render externally
  • Form and finish angles, reveals and beading
  • Mix materials to the right consistency and work to time before they set

How you get in

  • No formal qualifications required for most level 2 apprenticeships
  • A decent head for heights for scaffold and render work
  • Stamina — it is arm and shoulder work all day
  • CSCS card for site work

Where it leads

  • Advanced plasterer (level 3), including fibrous and heritage work
  • External wall insulation and render systems specialist
  • Self-employed, working on price for house builders
  • Running a small plastering firm with a squad

Where to train for this

242 colleges and training providers on our list cover Plasterer training. Open your region to see them, then check current intakes with the provider directly.

East Midlands 15
East of England 18
London 17
North East 14
North West 29
South East 24
South West 18
UK-wide 22
West Midlands 21
Yorkshire and the Humber 20
East Scotland 6
North Scotland 7
West Scotland 9
North Wales 2
South Wales 8
West Wales 2
Northern Ireland 7
Channel Islands 2
Isle of Man 1

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