School Leavers Urged to Consider Roofing Careers

GCSE Results Career Options

WITH GCSE RESULTS out today, many school-leavers and their parents will be thinking about options for further education and future careers.

While sixth form and higher education might be the best route for some, many leavers will be considering apprenticeships and vocational qualifications.

One vocational option is roofing. The job is physically demanding and can require a lot of determination, but with roofers in high demand, learning the craft can lead to a long-term, reliable and rewarding career.

Range of Roofing Roles

There are many career roles in the UK roofing industry apart from constructing new roofs. Many roofing operatives progress in their careers to supervisory and management roles including:

supervisory roles, leading teams of roofers
estimating the cost of a new roof
specifying roofs which involves drawing up lists of the products needed for a new roof
contract management overseeing projects
health and safety management – a very important role ensuring everyone on site is working safely
administration and accounting
running your own roofing company

Many of these roles are done by women in the industry and more and more young women are considering a career in the roofing industry.

Starting a Career in Roofing

So how can you get into roofing? There isn’t just one route into the profession, but often a career in roofing begins with an apprenticeship. With this foundation, an apprentice roofer can go on to gain vocational qualifications in specific areas of the trade.

Apart from the roles above, which can start with an apprenticeship too, hands-on roofing is a broad and highly skilled profession and can involve flat roofing, metal roofing, pitched roofing, tiling, slating, thatching, leadwork, and much more.

There are plenty of high-quality roofing training courses across the country that can provide the knowledge and skills needed to carry out the job safely and professionally.

Courses’ entry requirements vary, most require GCSE passes; some access level courses don’t need any formal experience or education. However, most courses that offer National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) will first require you to be taken on as a successful apprentice with a roofing company, so make sure to sign up to and regularly check the UK Government’s National Apprenticeship Service to kickstart your career in roofing. There’s more information about career paths in roofing in the Roofing Industry Alliance Prospectus.

Below we’ve listed a selection of useful links to help you learn more about a career in roofing, as well as some exciting roofing courses. If you’re interested in further information about a specific course you can contact the college or training centre directly to talk about the course and whether or not it would suit you.