Florist

Level 2 · IntermediateAgriculture, environmental and animal care 2 yr typical
About this apprenticeship

What it involves

A Florist apprenticeship trains you in the art and skill of creating floral arrangements and displays for everyday retail, events, and funerals, developing both design creativity and practical horticultural knowledge. You will learn to handle, condition, and arrange fresh and artificial flowers for a wide range of occasions and customers. This standard leads to senior floristry, design, or business management roles within the floristry industry.

On the job

What you’ll learn

Care and conditioning of fresh cut flowers and foliage
Floral design principles - colour, texture, and proportion
Creating hand-tied bouquets, arrangements, and buttonholes
Funeral and sympathy floristry designs
Event and wedding floristry display techniques
Plant and flower identification and seasonality
Customer consultation, retail sales, and stock management
On the job

What you’ll do day to day

Receive, condition, and store fresh flowers and foliage
Create hand-tied bouquets and gift arrangements
Design and make sympathy and funeral tributes
Prepare buttonholes, corsages, and bridal floristry
Dress event venues with floral displays
Advise customers on flowers for different occasions
Maintain the shop display and manage flower stock
The deal

How this apprenticeship works

You earn a wage from day one. You are a paid employee, not a student. There are no tuition fees - the training is funded by your employer and the government.
About 20% is “off-the-job” training. Roughly a day a week is spent learning away from your normal duties - at a college, training provider, or online - working towards a recognised qualification.
It ends with an end-point assessment (EPA). Near the end, an independent assessor checks you can do the job to the national standard - through tests, a project, a portfolio or an interview. Pass it and you are fully qualified.
How to get there

What you need to start

Level 2 (Intermediate) - roughly GCSE level. Often open with few or no formal qualifications - a strong first step. Some employers ask for a couple of GCSEs.
What’s next: Typically leads on to a Level 3 (Advanced) apprenticeship.

Entry requirements are set by each employer and can vary - always check the specific vacancy.

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What it’s really like

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