It’s no secret that trade skills take time to perfect. The skills come from being shown the best way to do something, and then having a go yourself. You’ll also need to learn about tools and materials, health and safety, best practices and industry standards. The real depth of knowledge comes from doing the work; the repetition, working with the materials and tools every day is where you'll gain the experience. You get better, and quicker, and you can do more complex work. So, how much can you learn if a course lasts only five days?

Let’s look at our Introduction to Bricklaying course.

This course covers the basics of bricklaying. It takes place in a purpose-built workshop where you’ll have access to all the tools and materials, and have space to carry out the work alongside other learners.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve never picked up a trowel before, you will learn everything that you need to know to be able to carry out the practical tasks. That includes brickwork and blockwork, pointing for face work and how to put in a damp course so that over the duration of the course, you’ll build a corner, a pillar, a pier and a cavity wall.

It’s taught over five days Monday to Friday or across two weekends if you choose to do it part-time. Once you complete the course, you’ll be awarded with an assured City & Guilds certificate. If you then decide that you’d like to learn more, the block of learning can transfer over to a longer course if a professional qualification is your end goal – this happens often as students find out they enjoy the work and want to take it further.

Key points about the Introduction to Bricklaying at Able Skills

  • Five days Monday to Friday or two weekends
  • Learning the basics of bricklaying
  • City & Guilds certificate
  • Hands-on practical course – no theory or written work

What you’ll learn

  • Brickwork
  • Blockwork
  • Setting out lines
  • How to put in a damp course
  • Pointing
  • Cavity walls
  • Corners
  • Piers and pillars

Why do the Introduction to Bricklaying course?

Many students do this course because they want to learn enough of the basics to be able to tackle some small projects at home. Perhaps they’re doing up a property or have some brickwork they want to add to the garden.

We also see students who are already tradespeople. They’re often doing the course to add brickwork to their existing skills, so they can offer a fuller service to their clients.

Another reason is to get a feel for the trade. We often see students who are considering bricklaying as a career change. For them, the five-day course is a perfect entry point to see what they think of the trade before committing to a level 2 bricklaying qualification to access the industry.

Student feedback

My objectives for this bricklaying course were to be able to repair small brick projects and most of all to rebuild a brick column of my own.

Day 1 was all about techniques on using a range of brick laying tools and their specific purpose.

Day 2 was about laying bricks and correct spacing and mortar mix consistency.

By Day 5 I had built a chimney stack and dual course brickwork ready for the insulation boards.

I was very pleased. Simon (the instructor) has many years of experience, and it was very easy to follow his instructions. I will attempt my own brick column report back!

Date of experience: 31 January 2025
Happy Customer via Trustpilot

Really enjoyed the introductory brick laying course. I now have a good grounding in the basics of the ‘craft’ & feel comfortable attempting some simple home projects.

Date of experience: 24 January 2025
Christian via Trustpilot

Find out what you could learn with Able Skills. Browse our bricklaying courses here. Contact us.