Furniture Making Apprenticeships | Woodworking

The next closing date for apprenticeship applications is 30 May 2025. We advise anyone who is considering applying to make contact well before the closing date.

An Edward Barnsley Workshop furniture making Apprenticeship provides a thorough practical training in a commercial environment. In 1924 Edward Barnsley engaged his first apprentice. Today, the tradition of high-quality training continues, supported since 1980 by the Edward Barnsley Educational Trust (EBET). The training of more than sixty people has been supported by the EBET. Almost all of our former apprentices continue to work successfully as furniture-makers. Most work as employees, some have gone on to set up their own furniture-making businesses. In recent years two of our apprentices have represented the UK in cabinet-making at the WorldSkills finals.
The Foundation Apprenticeship

The Foundation Apprenticeship is an intensive one-year course for people who possess some furniture-making skills but want to learn how to work to the very highest standards. Foundation Apprentices work alongside experienced furniture-makers. As an apprentice, you will make a wide variety of Barnsley designs guided by Stephen Rock, the craftsman-tutor. Learn by working on each piece from start to finish, mostly one-offs but occasionally a small batch run. You will be taught not only how to make top quality furniture but also how to make it quickly. We do not teach furniture design because we think good making-skills should come first.

For the first three months Foundation Apprentices use only hand tools. Then you will learn how to use our machines safely and spend the rest of the Foundation year perfecting a broad range of Barnsley techniques, making furniture of increasing complexity. The programme is finished off with a larger piece that will look impressive in their portfolio. All work made as part of your cabinet making training is sold by the EBET from the Barnsley showroom, next door to the workshop.

The majority of the apprentices’ time is spent at the bench. The rest is spent in the machine shop and helping with jobs around the workshop. Apprentices are expected to do some essential workshop tasks including sweeping up and machine maintenance. This thorough and comprehensive woodworking apprenticeship teaches the skills needed to succeed as a professional furniture-maker.
Wage

Foundation Apprentices receive the current National Minimum Wage apprentice rate. Foundation Apprentices are entitled to twenty days of paid holiday in a year, plus the eight bank holidays.

Hours

The Workshop day is from 8 am to 4.30 pm.

Tools

Apprentices have their own bench and tool storage area. We provide all the tools apprentices will need. They gradually build up their own kit but are advised to try out workshop ones before buying their own.

Accommodation

We help apprentices find accommodation by sharing our local knowledge. We cannot promise accommodation to all our apprentices, but all previous apprentices have managed to find somewhere to live.

Transport

There is little public transport in Froxfield. Apprentices are expected to make their own arrangements. Apprentices generally use their own car or bicycle.
Certificate

The EBET offers certificates to apprentices at the end of their course. In addition, apprentices are provided with photographs of their work for their portfolio.

BEYOND THE FOUNDATION APPRENTICESHIP

At the end of the Foundation year, apprentices can use their Barnsley training to help them find employment in another workshop. Sometimes, Foundation Apprentices are invited to extend their apprenticeship with a further year of employment and training at the Barnsley Workshop.
How to Apply

Step 1

Anyone who is interested in the Foundation Apprenticeship should contact Stephen Rock, the craftsman-tutor, by email (preferably) or by telephone before formally applying. We advise potential applicants to look round the workshop before submitting an application. It’s a good idea to meet the craftsmen and apprentices to find out what it would be like to train in the Barnsley Workshop. A visit to the workshop can be either by appointment on a weekday, or without an appointment on one of our workshop Open Saturdays. Please note that although we will eventually ask to see examples of an applicant’s work we are unable to view visitors’ work on Open Saturdays, which can be very busy.

If visiting is difficult because you live far away or you are not a UK resident please ask Stephen for guidance.

STEP 2

Having contacted Stephen, the next step is a formal application. To be eligible for the September 2025 intake applicants must submit a completed application-form and present examples of their work no later than 30 May 2025. We are not expecting perfection in the work applicants present to us. Pieces do not need to be large or complicated but we do like work to be neat and accurate. We prefer not to see torn-out grain, gaps in joints or thick glue lines. An example of a well-fitted drawer or door impresses us. If bringing in work will present a problem please let us know. We also like applicants to provide us with either digital or printed photographs of their work.
We usually take on two furniture making apprenticeship students each year and have many applicants for each place. We welcome applications from talented, aspiring furniture-makers who have a strong desire to improve their skills and want to establish a career making high-quality furniture. We look for evidence that applicants enjoy making things well. We are looking for potential and enthusiasm rather than qualifications and experience. Often, applicants will have completed a furniture course at college. However, we will consider anyone who wants a career in furniture-making, is dedicated and can show us some furniture they have made to a good standard. There is no age restriction on applicants.

The final selection procedure takes place during June when we draw up a shortlist of candidates and ask each of them to come in for a trial day. We then choose the new Foundation Apprentices who will start in mid September.
Currently we do not have a complete up-to-date list of further education colleges that run furniture-making courses. However, anyone interested in college training could start by looking at the list below. It includes colleges where recent apprentices have studied.

Bridgwater College https://www.btc.ac.uk

Building Crafts College https://thebcc.ac.uk

Burnley College https://www.burnley.ac.uk

Chichester College https://www.chichester.ac.uk

Cornwall College Camborne https://www.cornwall.ac.uk

Hereford College https://hlnsc.ac.uk

Moulton College https://www.moulton.ac.uk/

City of Oxford College (Rycotewood Furniture Centre) http://www.cityofoxford.ac.uk

Warwickshire College https://www.warwickshire.ac.uk
“My training at first taught me a great deal about manual skill. I was then taught a great deal about humility and the degree of focused discipline needed to achieve those levels of skill. The motivation came from being inspired by the craftsmen I was working alongside and the extraordinary furniture they made. This is why the apprenticeship system works and why the Edward Barnsley Educational Trust continues to teach by example.”

Hamish Low
Adamson and Low Cabinet Makers
“The Edward Barnsley Educational Trust is an embodiment of the idea that knowledge is not owned, but is there to be shared for the benefit of all”

Adam Gamble,
Adam Gamble Furniture
(Apprentice and Craftsman from 1987 to 1994)

Get In Touch

If you have any questions about our furniture making apprenticeships, don’t hesitate to contact us.