Why you need an NVQ to work as a Bricklayer...

Becoming a Bricklayer may seem a great idea and that you will earn loads straight away, however, without the correct qualifications you’ll not be getting very far. To become a Bricklayer and work on a building site, it takes more than just rocking up and laying bricks. It takes hard work and dedication to learn the trade and getting the necessary NVQ qualifications that will allow you on-site.

When starting the journey to a new career you will need to make sure you are training at the right centre and achieving the right qualifications. To work on-site you will HAVE to achieve an NVQ in Bricklaying. With an NVQ you’ll not gain a CSCS Skilled Workers card and without that you’ll not gain access to site work.

Here at Able Skills, we offer City & Guilds Bricklaying qualifications and NVQs. City & Guilds Qualifications are recognised worldwide and getting the NVQ as well allows you to carry out so many tasks on sites everywhere. For new starters into the industry we offer an 8-week programme, which is the NVQ Level 2 Bricklaying Course, this starts you from a complete beginner to a bricklayer. Once 8 weeks of training are complete, you will then begin your portfolio of work evidence as you look to achieve your NVQ. The NVQ is achieved on a building site environment and will involve two on-site assessments by our NVQ assessors.

Along, with the new starters there are also a lot of Bricklayers out there that do not have an NVQ and this is limiting their workload. However, doing a full course will be pointless for them, so here at Able Skills we offer two different routes for experienced Bricklayers that need to gain an NVQ. No matter how skilled you are, you will not get on-site without a CSCS Card.

The EWPA (Experienced Worker Practical Assessment) which is for the time-served Bricklayers that have worked in the industry for over five years but are now looking at gaining a Bricklaying NVQ. In order to qualify for this route, you will need to give at least five years’ worth of evidence showing you have worked as a Bricklayer and carrying out all the required work. Once you have done this you will come in for a profiling at our centre in Dartford. This will be followed up by completing a portfolio of work completed as a Bricklayer and finally a 2-day practical assessment here in our centre to test your competency.

The OSAT (On-Site Assessments) route is for those Bricklayers that have been working in the industry under five years and are now looking to achieve an NVQ that will gain them access to a CSCS Card. For this route here at Able Skills we can arrange work-based assessments carried out by our NVQ assessors. This will let you prove your competency as a Bricklayer and help you gain an NVQ. You will need access to site work where our assessor can come out and assess you. Also, you will need to be within a 60-mile radius of our training centre for our assessors to come out to your place of work.

You can see a taster of how our bricklaying courses work here.

If you are looking to gain a Bricklaying qualification, then please contact us today on 01322 280 202 for more information on how to get started.