
Stonemasons carve blocks of stone, and lay and fit stonework into place on construction projects.
Salary Range: £15,000 to £35,000

How to become a stonemason
You can get into this job through:
- a college course
- an apprenticeship
- working towards this role

College
You could take a college course, which would teach you some of the skills needed to get a trainee job with a building company. Courses include:
- Level 1 Certificate in Construction Skills
- Level 2 Diploma in Stonemasonry
Entry requirements
You may need:
- 2 or fewer GCSEs at grades 3 to 1 (D to G), or equivalent, for a level 1 course
- 2 or more GCSEs at grades 9 to 3 (A* to D), or equivalent, for a level 2 course
More information

Apprenticeship
You could do an advanced apprenticeship in stonemasonry heritage skills.
This will usually take 30 months to complete. You’ll do on-the-job training and spend time with a college or training provider.
Entry requirements
You’ll usually need:
- 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
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Work
You could start as a construction labourer and take further training with your employer to get a qualification in stonemasonry.
More information
Registration
- you’ll need a Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) card or equivalent to train and work on a construction site
Career tips
You can do specialist training courses if you’re interested in heritage and conservation skills in stonemasonry.
Further information
You’ll find more on careers in stonemasonry from Go Construct and the Stone Federation.
You can also get more details about stonemasonary craft skills from the Crafts Council.

What it takes
Skills and knowledge
You’ll need:
- knowledge of maths
- knowledge of building and construction
- ambition and a desire to succeed
- the ability to use your initiative
- persistence and determination
- leadership skills
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- the ability to work well with others
- to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device

What you’ll do
Day-to-day tasks
You’ll be working with materials like sandstone, limestone, slate, marble and granite. Your day-to-day duties may include:
- building stone walls or fitting cladding using mortar and specialist fixings
- repairing damaged stonework on old buildings and monuments
- carving or repairing statues or memorial headstones
- making and fitting stonework like window frames, archways and ornamental garden pieces
Working environment
You could work on a construction site or in a workshop.
Your working environment may be at height, outdoors some of the time, dusty, noisy and physically demanding.
You may need to wear safety clothing and use safety equipment.

Career path and progression
With experience, you could progress to supervisory jobs like site supervisor or clerk of works.
You could also move into a related area, like estimating and construction management.
With further training, you could work as a stonemason or bricklaying instructor at a college or training centre. You could also set up your own stonemasonry business.