Leeds College is now offering the Interior Systems Installer Apprenticeship, focusing specifically on the drylining pathway. This is a Level 2 qualification and typically takes two years to complete.

The College is working in partnership with British Gypsum to deliver the course, which includes the supply of materials, training and keeping apprentices up-to-date with product development.

FIS chief executive Iain McIlwee said: ‘With around 60,000 Dryliners active in the UK, Drylining as a trade must be one of the UK’s best kept secrets.  Everybody knows what a plasterer or a carpenter is, but you often get blank looks when you talk about Drylining.  The fact is that Drylining is now emerging as one of the key trades in construction.  It is encouraging to see leading colleges like Leeds evidencing this by getting behind it.  We now have a new Apprenticeship Standard, new providers and the new funding allows real flexibility about age of apprentices.  We are also seeing significant increases in the CITB funding available for companies who take on apprentices – this is over and above the funding that you can get to cover the training.  This is a huge opportunity to make 2020 the year of the apprentice, for the sector to embrace this standard as a catalyst for change, to revisit how we invest in training and work with colleges and providers to put drylining firmly on the careers map.’

For more information click here.