College equips SkillBuild winner Nick with tools to become UK's best stonemasonry apprentice
Nick Beck has credited York College with teaching him the skills to become the best stonemasonry apprentice in the country.
That accolade was bestowed on Nick when he won the 2025 Go Construct SkillBuild National Final in Milton Keynes.
He was up against two of his classmates Jack Crisp and Ethan Culican in the eight-strong stonemasonry final, further underlining the quality of tuition provided by College.
Nick, who works for Cumbria Quarrying Services and attends Campus from his home in Carlisle on two-week blocks, has also underlined how the workshop elements of his apprenticeship at College have helped him become a more rounded stonemason with their emphasis on traditional hand tool methods.
At 34 and having previously trained as a mechanic before becoming a dry stone waller, Nick’s success also demonstrates how an apprenticeship can help you pursue a different career pathway at any stage in your life.
On how instrumental our Stonemasonry tutor Paul Hill was in his SkillBuild triumph, Nick said: “We always have finalists (in the SkillBuild National Final) from York, which says a lot. Paul is such a good tutor and I believe the tuition you receive here is amongst the best in the country in this field.
“In the past year-and-a-half, what I’ve learned from him has been unreal. I’ve definitely learnt more doing the apprenticeship than the two years before when I was just learning at work – without a doubt.
“I’ve also been able to apply what I’ve learnt in College at work. Quite often a job will come in at work and it involves something that I’ve just learned at College and my colleagues at work will say, ‘I’m glad you know how to do that!’
“I’ve learned so much and it all sticks because of the way Paul teaches it. You can tell he loves stonemasonry and has a passion for it and, if you want to challenge yourself, he’ll challenge you.”
That challenging process incorporated meticulous preparation for the SkillBuild National Final when Paul’s vast experience of what projects had been set for the apprentices in previous years proved invaluable.
“I did quite a lot of preparation for the competition,” Nick explained. “We practiced the same tests that were set in previous finals and worked a lot with the same stone that they use, which is Portland Limestone.
“On top of that, we are always challenged to do more complicated things. What we practiced was almost more complicated than we knew we’d be doing in the competition, which was really helpful because you then feel more confident when you get there.”
Nick and his fellow finalists only found out what challenge they had been set on the first morning of the competition and then had 18 hours over a three-day period to complete it.
They were required to interpret a drawing before producing all the templates, marking up and then working on the stone.
Among the skills assessed were the competitors’ accuracy and tool skills with a mallet and chisel, as well as their procedure in terms of how efficiently they were tackling the project.
Nick described the final piece as something that could have been used as a window surround or a plinth and, on how it felt to compete in and win such a prestigious national competition, he declared: “It was really enjoyable and a good experience just to go to the final.
“I was the last to finish my template, so I thought I was behind, but I finished in plenty of time. It was really hard to tell who had won when I was looking around at the end and I genuinely didn’t think I had.
“There were a lot of good masons there. It was people who had got the top marks from across the country, so it was a really good confidence boost and felt great when I won.
“The judges said they were very impressed with the high standard and that it was very accurate. They told me not to doubt myself and to be more confident.”
Outlining the way College has enabled him to become a more versatile and refined stonemason, meanwhile, Nick added: “Our time at College is mostly hands-on. It’s rare that we’re in a classroom and, keeping us on the tools while we’re here, helps to keep us learning.
“We do a lot of mallet and chisel, which is a very traditional way of teaching. At work, I use power tools a lot more, which speeds up the procedure, but it’s really good to get the experience in both, because you’ll always need the hand tools for finer details.
“The work we do is not quite as fancy as that we do at College. At work, it’s a bit more repetitive and we’re kind of doing a lot of the bread-and-butter stuff like window surrounds, which aren’t terribly fancy or complicated, but that’s just the reality of work in every trade.
“We do get fancy, big projects come in but it’s the time in between that’s important. We do a lot of paving, rock facing and dress walling.”
Nick insists, though, that the need for traditional hand skills will never cease and that the preservation of expertise in that field is of paramount importance for future generations.
“If we lose the skills, we’ll lose some of the wonderful buildings in this country and across the world if nobody’s around to repair them,” he pointed out. “Paul has all the skills to pass on, but he won’t be here forever, so we need more people to learn from him.”
Fortunately, Nick is building that knowledge during his apprenticeship following a decision to switch to the trade as he turned 30.
He had previously completed a mechanic apprenticeship as a teenager, having enjoyed a Motor Vehicle Engineering course when he was at school, but decided that industry “wasn’t for me” before helping his dad with woodwork jobs and moving on to dry stone walling.
That work involved him working on farm walls in the Scottish Borders and using hand tools.
His dad then spotted Cumbria Quarrying Services’ advert for a stonemason vacancy.
Nick was initially reticent to apply, believing his stone wall work would not make him a sufficiently qualified candidate for the position, but he showed initiative by turning up at the family-run business to introduce himself.
“They talked to me, showed me around the workshop and, then, asked if I wanted to give it a go,” he said. “I started the week after and spent two years there before starting the apprenticeship.
“So, there’s probably a bit of advice there for anybody who is looking for a job or an apprenticeship.”
That positive move has led to Nick now literally carving out a career in a profession where his job satisfaction is the highest it’s ever been.
“I enjoy the challenge of stonemasonry more than anything and the challenge to get a piece of work perfect," he enthused. "In the future, I’d like to do more tracery windows, carving and bespoke, decorative projects.”
To learn more about our Level 2 Stonemasonry Apprenticeship, please click here
York College also offers apprenticeship course tuition in the following areas: Accounts or Finance Assistant; Adult Care Worker; Advanced & Creative Hair Professional; Advanced Beauty Therapist; Autocare Technician; Barbering Professional; Beauty Therapist; Bricklayer; Business Administrator; Architectural Joinery; Site Carpentry; Chef de Partie; Commis Chef; Construction Site Supervisor; Content Creator; Craft Bricklayer; Craft Painter & Decorator; Cultural Learning and Participation Officer; Early Years Educator; Early Years Practitioner; Engineering Fitter; Engineering Manufacturing Technician (Electrical or Mechanical); Food & Beverage Team Member; Furniture Making Operative; Hairdressing Professional; Hospitality Supervisor (Food & Beverage); HR Support; Installation and Maintenance Electrician; Laboratory Technician; Lead Adult Care Worker; Maintenance and Operations Engineering Technician; Metal Fabricator; Motor Vehicle Service and Maintenance Technician; Multi-Channel Marketer; Painter & Decorator; Plumbing & Domestic Heating Technician; Production Chef; Senior Production Chef; Teaching Assistant and Wellbeing and Holistic Therapist.
For a list of all our current apprenticeship vacancies, visit here
Want to discuss any of our degree, higher-level, vocational, T Level, A Level and adult courses or apprenticeships with our expert team of tutors and check out our state-of-the-art facilities? Then, please come along to our next Open Event. Details on dates can be found here
