Furniture Making Courses

Fine furniture making is a specialized field. There are many furniture making courses but it is hard to find employment without experience and hard to gain experience without employment. The Edward Barnsley Workshop helps aspiring furniture makers overcome this problem. We take on trainees and help them establish a career. The Edward Barnsley Educational Trust was set up in 1980 to support this unique training.

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Apprenticeships

Today it is extremely unusual for a workshop to offer traditional cabinet-making apprenticeships. A practical apprenticeship is the best way to acquire the skills needed to become a top quality furniture-maker. In the old days apprentices came to the workshop straight from school. Today we offer the same practical experience but we take on people who have already made some furniture, often on a college course.

All employees start in the Barnsley Workshop on a Foundation Apprenticeship. It is a year of intensive training. Apprentices receive a wage. They make set pieces and we teach them the techniques needed to make Barnsley furniture. They work alongside experienced makers and improve their skills.

The Foundation Apprenticeship suits applicants who:

  • Have natural ability and an eagerness to improve
  • Have some previous experience (often at college)
  • Can show us examples of their work


After completing the course some apprentices are offered further training opportunities with us. Others use the experience gained with us to help them find work in another workshop.

Apprenticeships start each September and applications for the next intake must be submitted by 14th June 2010.

Fee-Paying Pupils

If space allows we sometimes take on fee-paying pupils. We are not a workshop for beginners and we like pupils to already have some experience of furniture making. Other workshops run courses that are set up to teach beginners.

School Pupils

There is much less teaching of craft skills in schools these days and in recognition of this we try to make a small difference by offering short-term work experience to young people. Unfortunately this can only happen occasionally when we have space in the workshop. If appropriate we will suggest a donation to the Edward Barnsley Educational Trust.