Preview: Careers 10 – Apprenticeship years as a rising pay staircase

APPRENTICESHIPS AT MAWBRAY STONEMASONS

Four years from first chisel to banker mason.

We take on three apprentices every September. You are paid from the first morning, college is on us, and after four years you leave with a Level 3 diploma and a kit of tools that is yours to keep.

3 places

each September

7 Sept

first morning

13 March

closing date

Apply for September

THE FOUR YEARS

Hourly pay before overtime, against a banker mason at £17.80

YEAR 1

Banker basics

Dressing stone square at the banker, keeping your own chisels sharp and reading templates from the drawing office.

£9.60

an hour

54% of the qualified rate. Level 2 diploma, one day a week.

YEAR 2

Mouldings and fixing

Working mouldings by hand, mixing lime mortars, and two days a week out on the scaffold with a fixer mason.

£11.40

an hour

64% of the qualified rate. Level 2 finishes in June.

YEAR 3

Repair and carving

Piecing new stone into old walls, cutting letters and carving simple leafwork for church and cathedral jobs.

£13.20

an hour

74% of the qualified rate. Level 3 diploma begins.

YEAR 4

Your own stones

You take a job from template to fixing, sign it with your own banker mark, and start teaching the first years.

£15.10

an hour

85% of the qualified rate. Then £17.80 once you qualify.

£650 tool kit

Bought for you in your first week, and yours to keep.

College paid for

Fees, travel and books, for all four years.

One mentor mason

The same person signs off your work from start to finish.

A job at the end

Every apprentice who qualifies is offered a place in the yard.