Career guide
How to become a tiler in the UK
Tilers turn bare walls and floors into finished bathrooms, kitchens and shop floors. You don't need a degree to get in: you need training, practice on real jobs and a good eye. Here's how people do it.
Our wall and floor tiling path is in public beta: some lessons are still being checked.
What the work is
Before the courses and the cards, the job itself.
Walls and floors, mostly bathrooms and kitchens
Tilers fix ceramic, porcelain and stone tiles to walls and floors: in homes, shops, restaurants and new builds. They work out what's needed, get the surface ready, set out where the tiles go, cut them, fix them, grout them and seal the joints.
Domestic or commercial
Domestic work is one room at a time, often with the customer at home and watching. Commercial work is bigger floors and walls on a building site, working to a programme with other trades around you.
A day on a bathroom job
Strip out the old tiles, check what's underneath and whether it can take the weight, waterproof the shower area, set out, fix the walls, then the floor, grout, silicone the corners and clean up. A good tiler spends a lot of the job on the bits you never see.
What you hand over
Tilers work round other trades' kit. Connecting electric underfloor heating is an electrician's job, moving a gas appliance is a Gas Safe registered engineer's, and moving pipes, a waste or a toilet is a plumber's.
How people get in
Three common routes, and they often mix.
An apprenticeship
You work for a tiling firm and train with a college or provider at the same time, then pass an end-point assessment. In England the standard is Wall and floor tiler (ST0368), at Level 2. Younger starters can also try a finishing trades foundation apprenticeship first.
A college course
Colleges run wall and floor tiling courses, from short tasters to full-time diplomas. City & Guilds' Diplomas in Wall and Floor Tiling (6710) come at Level 1 and Level 2. Entry requirements vary by college.
Start as a tiler's mate
Some people start as a labourer or a tiler's mate, carrying, mixing and cleaning, and learn on the job. Many then add a course or a vocational qualification to prove what they can do.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Scotland's Modern Apprenticeship in Construction: Building has a wall and floor tiling option, at SCQF levels 5 and 6. Wales and Northern Ireland list their apprenticeships through their own services.
On site, and working for yourself
Site cards
Most building sites want to see a CSCS card before they let you on. It's a site rule, not a law. The blue Skilled Worker card usually follows a construction NVQ or SVQ at Level 2, or a finished apprenticeship.
Going self-employed
Plenty of tilers end up working for themselves. That means pricing jobs, buying your own tools, insurance and transport, and keeping the customer happy. Most do a few years working for someone else first.
Where it can lead
With experience, tilers move into estimating, site or contract management, heritage work, training apprentices or running their own firm.
Where our lessons fit
Our tiling lessons teach the knowledge side: backgrounds, materials, setting out and the jobs to hand over, and the first three parts are free. They don't qualify you or get you a site card. The hands-on skill comes from real jobs.
Questions people ask
- Do I need qualifications to start?
- Not for every route. A foundation apprenticeship asks for no particular qualifications, an intermediate apprenticeship usually wants some GCSEs including English and maths (or equivalent), and college entry requirements vary.
- How long does it take to become a tiler?
- Expect a couple of years of college or apprenticeship, then more time on real jobs to get quick and tidy. Speed comes with practice, not with a certificate.
- Do I need a CSCS card?
- Most building sites ask for one, so it's worth getting once you qualify. It's a site requirement, not a law, and plenty of domestic work happens without one.
- Will your lessons make me a tiler?
- No. Our lessons teach the knowledge side and help you decide if the trade is for you. They don't award a qualification or a card. Real tiling skill comes from training and practice on jobs.
Keep exploring
Where to go next on this site.
Sources
Sources checked 31 October 2026, each read at the source. The law and the official pages can change, so check them before you act.
- National Careers Service: TilerWhat tilers do, where they work, the college, apprenticeship and on-the-job routes in England, entry requirements and where the work can lead.
- Skills England: Wall and floor tiler (ST0368)England's wall and floor tiler apprenticeship standard, version 1.4 from 16 December 2024.
- City & Guilds: Wall and Floor Tiling (6710)The Level 1 and Level 2 Diplomas in Wall and Floor Tiling.
- Planit: Modern Apprenticeship in Construction: BuildingScotland's Modern Apprenticeship in Construction: Building, at SCQF levels 5 and 6, with wall and floor tiling as one of its options.
- CSCS: types of cardsWhich CSCS card fits which qualification; sites ask for cards, the law does not.