How to become a painter and decorator
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To become a qualified painter and decorator, you need an NVQ Level 2 in painting and decorating, or a finished apprenticeship. Either one lets you apply for the blue CSCS Skilled Worker card that building sites ask for. You'll also need to be comfortable working at height.
A painter and decorator apprenticeship takes about 2 years at Level 2, and you're paid while you learn. At college, a Level 2 Diploma in Painting and Decorating usually takes a year full time, before the NVQ at work. You can also start as a painter's mate and train on the job.
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Get an apprenticeship
On a painter and decorator apprenticeship, you're employed to decorate homes and commercial buildings, and train at Level 2 for about 2 years.
The training is free, and an Apprentice CSCS card costs nothing. When you finish, you can apply for the blue Skilled Worker card.
Employers usually ask for some GCSEs, often including English and maths, or equivalent. From April 2026, you're paid at least £8 an hour if you're under 19 or in your first year. If you're 19 or over and past your first year, your pay is at least the minimum wage for your age.
A finishing trades foundation apprenticeship covers painting, tiling and floor laying, and takes about 8 months. It leads on to the painter and decorator apprenticeship, and some of your learning carries over. It's open to people aged 16 to 21. Those aged 22 to 24 can join if they have an education, health and care plan, or are in or leaving care or prison.
Start at college
College courses teach painting and decorating in a workshop, from Entry Level to Level 3. They also teach you to work safely at height, on ladders and access equipment.
For a Level 2 course, colleges usually ask for 2 or more GCSEs at grade 3 or above. That's D or above if you sat the old letter grades. Some colleges take adults without them, and some courses run part time.
A Level 2 or 3 Diploma can get you a two-year Trainee CSCS card. It lets you work on a site as a trainee. For the blue card, you then take the NVQ at work.
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You can start as a painter and decorator's labourer, or mate. Your employer may then train you on the job to qualify.
To work on a building site as a mate, you'll need a CSCS Labourer card. You get it by taking a short Level 1 health and safety award and passing the CITB health, safety and environment test.
Once you register for an NVQ, you move to a Trainee card, as the Labourer card is only for unskilled work.
Painting and decorating qualifications
| Qualification | Level | How you take it | What it gets you | On JobYay | Cost to you |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Painter and decorator apprenticeship | 2 | A paid job with training, for about 2 years. Open from age 16, if you're not in full-time education. | A wage while you learn the trade, then the blue CSCS card with the CITB test. | None open | Nothing for the training |
| Craft painter and decorator apprenticeship | 3 | A paid job with training, for about 18 months. | Specialist skills such as spraying, decorative finishes and heritage work, for jobs as a craft painter and decorator or foreman. It doesn't get you the gold CSCS card: the Level 3 NVQ does. | None open | Nothing for the training |
| Level 1 Award, Certificate or Diploma in Painting and Decorating | 1 | At college, for beginners. Diplomas often take a year full time. Awards and Certificates are shorter. | Basic hand skills for the trade, and a step on to a Level 2. No CSCS card comes with it. | 65 courses | Check what you can get free |
| Level 2 Diploma or Technical Certificate in Painting and Decorating | 2 | At college, usually a year full time, with about 360 to 590 hours of teaching. | The core skills of the trade and, with the CITB test, a two-year Trainee CSCS card. A way on to the NVQ at work or an apprenticeship. | 58 courses | Check what you can get free |
| Level 3 Diploma in Painting and Decorating | 3 | At college. You'll usually need a Level 2 first, or 4 or 5 GCSEs at grade 4 (C) or above. | Skills in advanced and specialist finishes. Like a Level 2, it can get you a two-year Trainee CSCS card. The blue card still needs the NVQ. | 2 courses | Check what you can get free |
| Level 1 Award in Health and Safety in a Construction Environment | 1 | A short course, usually over a day or two, assessed by a multiple-choice test. | The CSCS Labourer card, with the CITB test, for work on site as a mate or labourer. | 96 courses for adults | Check what you can get free |
| Level 2 NVQ Diploma in Decorative Finishing and Industrial Painting Occupations | 2 | The NVQ Level 2 in painting and decorating, assessed at work on your own jobs as a painter. No fixed length. | You're fully qualified. With the CITB test, it gets you the blue Skilled Worker card. | 2 courses | Check what you can get free |
| Level 3 NVQ Diploma in Decorative Finishing, Painting and Decorating | 3 | Assessed at work, on more complex jobs, once you're an experienced painter. | The gold Skilled Worker card, with the CITB test. | 1 course | Check what you can get free |
| CITB health, safety and environment test | None | Booked with CITB and taken at a test centre. Painters take the operatives' test. | Every CSCS card needs a pass from the last two years. | None | £23.50 |
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Become fully qualified
Apprentices finish qualified, but if you trained at college or started as a mate, the NVQ is your next step. With a CITB test passed in the last two years, it gets you the blue CSCS card.
You take the NVQ while you work as a painter, at your own pace. An assessor watches you at work.
If you've worked as a painter for a year, you can hold an Experienced Worker card for a year while you finish the NVQ.
Where this can take you
With experience, painters and decorators can supervise a team, or move into estimating, contract management, interior or set design, or heritage conservation.
You could also set up your own business, train apprentices or teach in a college. Pay is around £21,000 a year when you start, and about £32,000 once you're experienced. You'd usually work 37 to 42 hours a week, sometimes in the evenings or at weekends.
Taken at work, a Level 3 NVQ can get you the gold CSCS card. On the craft painter and decorator apprenticeship, you spend about 18 months learning specialist work. That includes spray painting, metal leaf and restoring period windows.
Questions people ask
What qualifications do you need to be a painter and decorator?
The qualification to aim for is the Level 2 NVQ in painting and decorating, assessed on the job. Finishing a painter and decorator apprenticeship qualifies you too.
You don't need one to start out, whether as a mate, at college or on an apprenticeship. But most building sites ask painters for the blue CSCS card, and for that you do.
What CSCS card do you need for painting and decorating?
The card for a painter and decorator is the blue Skilled Worker card. You qualify for it with a Level 2 NVQ in painting and decorating or a finished apprenticeship, plus a recent CITB test pass.
On an apprenticeship, you get the Apprentice card. Holding a Level 2 or 3 Diploma gets you a two-year Trainee card. Signing up for the NVQ gets you a Trainee card, or the Experienced Worker card with a year's recent experience. The Labourer card is for unskilled labouring only, not for working as a painter.
With a Level 3 NVQ, you can move up to the gold card. Every card but the Apprentice card costs £36, or £42 from 1 February 2027, and the test costs £23.50. Most big building contractors and house builders ask everyone on their sites for a card.
Can you get an NVQ in painting and decorating without an apprenticeship?
Yes, if you're already working as a painter and decorator. The NVQ uses evidence from your own jobs, so you take it alongside your work.
A fast-track NVQ is the same NVQ, assessed the same way, so there's no shortcut for a beginner. If you can already do the job, how fast you finish depends on how soon you can show the evidence.
The same goes for the Level 3 NVQ, which experienced painters take as they move on to more complex work.
Can you become a painter and decorator as an adult?
Yes, adults train as painters and decorators, including people changing career. An apprenticeship has no upper age limit: you need to be 16 or over and out of full-time education. College courses at Level 1 and Level 2 take adults as well as school leavers, and some are part time.
Can you do painting and decorating courses for free?
Yes, depending on your age, where you live and the qualifications you already have. That's as true for the NVQ as for a college course, and JobYay's checker covers both. On an apprenticeship, the training costs you nothing.
Can you do a painting and decorating course or NVQ online?
No, you can't gain a painting and decorating qualification online. College courses are taught in a workshop, and you're assessed on practical tasks. For the NVQ, an assessor checks the jobs you do at work.
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