Leather Craftsperson

The leather craftsperson was approved for delivery on 14/12/2018. This Intermediate apprenticeship standard awards you with a level 2, qualification when completed. The usual duration of this apprenticeship is 15 months, but this does not include the End-Point Assessment Period.

A leather craftsperson apprentice can take two different directions, which have various daily tasks but are part of the same production and industry. Apprentices can either work for leather production companies or leather goods manufacturing companies. Leather production regards the process of taking raw skin and hides and putting them through chemical and mechanical processing, to create leather which is ready for different applications. Leather goods manufacturing takes that prepared leather and manufactures it for sporting applications, such as golf and cricket, or high-end luxury fashion goods such as suitcases and handbags.

An apprentice working in manufacturing can expect to work in either a small enterprise manufacturing and producing specialist leather goods, such as a designer accessory, or in the broader factory setting as part of a team who deliver large orders. In both areas of leather craftsperson-ship, apprentices will learn to appreciate the end to end process of how leather is produced and the process needed to make the final product. Apprentices will need to work both independently and as part of a team and can expect their working days to be Monday to Friday.

Some day to day duties may include quality checking materials, cutting leather, skive materials, preparing materials for the next stage of production, hand or machine sew seams and raw edges and repairing broken leather goods.

• Leather craftsperson
• textile craftsperson

If you would like to find out more about the leather craftsperson apprenticeship standard, skills, learnt, assessment methods and duties of the role, visit the Institute for Apprenticeships.