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This occupation is found in a range of settings including specialist craft businesses, design studios, production workshops, restoration and conservation businesses, training establishments, cultural institutions such as museums, galleries and heritage sites, corporate businesses, and the natural environment. Employers are typically known to be micro businesses and SMEs. However, craft assistants can occasionally be found in larger organisations in the public, private and charity sectors. Craft assistants may also progress into freelance work or operate as sole traders once sufficient skills and experience are gained.
The broad purpose of the occupation is to design and deliver hand-crafted products. Craft assistants make, service, restore or conserve individual hand-crafted items and do so for customers, clients, public or private collections or the built or natural environment. Craft assistants will work with a range of materials such as textiles, moldable and rigid materials, paper, glass, clay etc. Typically, the businesses craft assistants are employed by specialise in a selected craft and an individual in this role will achieve occupational competence in that craft. Craft assistants provide technical support to ensure new or existing items, to be made or restored by hand, are designed, developed, and created in line with company and client requirements. Increasingly, the integration of digital technologies across this sector will support production processes while retaining unique craft qualities through hybrid manufactured and handmade production. Craft assistants must adhere to the organisation’s confidentiality requirements and understand basic copyrighting and intellectual property arrangements. Working with discretion, taking positive action in response to feedback, being solution focused, and maintaining awareness of the bigger picture, including budget and broader resource constraints and environmental impacts and ways to reduce these, are essential to a craft assistants approach.
In their daily work, craft assistants are expected to work collaboratively with other designers and craft practitioners, customers, clients, wider team members such as administrators, distributors, marketers, retailers, suppliers and external stakeholders. Craft assistants work to agreed deadlines as part of a team but are expected to work with autonomy once sufficient skill and knowledge is obtained. Whilst training, craft assistants work alongside, and under the instruction of, a master craftsperson and are sometimes responsible for creating component parts of a product that the master craftsperson would use to finish the product.
An employee in this occupation will be responsible for effective client communication, demonstrating sound project management and project delivery skills. They will be competent in the processes, materials, and tools used to create the specified hand-made products of the business they are employed by. Craft assistants will demonstrate a sound understanding of sustainable practices including the sourcing, use, disposal, recycling and reuse of materials across the craft industry.
Craft assistants are responsible for maintaining the workspace and its contents in line with the business’ standards and health and safety requirements. They will also assist with the creation and managing of databases, client and customer information, and ongoing ordering and control of stock.
Craft assistants would be expected to have an understanding of working with customers and clients and may also be expected to liaise with them throughout the making process to aid in any relevant item aftercare.
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Duty 1 Utilise technology as an enabler to make hand crafted items within the social, cultural, economic, technological and environmental contexts impacting craft. |
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Duty 2 Make products or component parts of products by hand in line with the settings quality standards, confidentiality policies and intellectual property requirements. |
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Duty 3 Focus on sustainability, research and develop green production techniques, processes and the use of recycled materials. |
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Duty 4 Maintain equipment and the workspace, and store tools in line with the settings standards and health and safety requirements. |
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Duty 5 Record and control materials, items, stock, products and suitably store these to maintain their fitness for use. |
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Duty 6 Order or recommend materials and tools in line with the settingss procurement policies and processes following stock management procedures as needed to achieve value for money. |
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Duty 7 Follow agreed plans, designs or brief to aid the successful creation of a specified hand-made product within time and cost constraints. |
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Duty 8 Manage customer and client expectations by maintaining regular communication and delivering effective project management, budget tracking, troubleshooting, project delivery and timekeeping. |
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Duty 9 Utilise technology to communicate, market and sell hand-made items effectively. |
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Duty 10 Provide excellent and inclusive service and relationship management to a diverse range of customers and clients . |
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Duty 11 Package and present products in line with the settings standards, procedures an customer or client requirements. |
| Duty | KSBs |
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Duty 12 Make, service, restore, and or conserve ceramic items for customers, clients public or private collections. |
K1 K2 K3 K4 K5 K6 K7 K14 K22 K23 K24 K25 K26 K27 K28 K29 K30 K32 K33 |
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Duty 13 Manage the planning or design process for hand-made ceramic products. |
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Duty 14 Work with customers and clients to understand their requirements, creating technical or other drawings and plans (by hand or digital) for the product as needed. |
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Duty 15 Create samples or prototypes to assist in the creation of hand-made ceramic products. |
K14 K22 K23 K24 K25 K26 K27 K28 K29 K32 K33 |
K1: Craft industry: the impact on places, communities, and society, and importance to individuals.
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K2: Key technological developments in the history of your chosen craft.
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K3: The financial environment of the craft sector: external factors impacting it, the economic contribution craft makes.
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K4: The different types of craft businesses and support organisations.
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K5: Craft industry income streams such as public and private subsidy, teaching. Community outreach, and product sales.
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K6: Craft and well being settings such as schools, hospitals, residential care homes, community outreach projects, historical sites and workplaces. Support that craft makers can provide.
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K7: The environmental impact of your chosen craft. The steps being taken by craft makers and businesses to operate in a more environmentally sustainable way such as sourcing of materials, sustainable production and distribution processes.
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K8: The types of hand and machine operated tools used by craft makers within your chosen craft. The crafts or materials they are typically used for.
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K9: The project lifecycle: the design brief or specification. Factors that aid project success: customer and client liaison, team working, budget management, project mapping (production scheduling) and problem solving.
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K10: Stock management and recording systems.
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K11: Types of suppliers. Supplier research and sourcing methods. Supplier choice factors: financial competitiveness, environmental sustainability, and quality.
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K12: Storage for tools, materials and products.
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K13: Stakeholder management key principles.
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K14: How digital tools and technology may be used to support productivity and delivery: CAD (computer-aided design) and 3D printing.
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K15: The different routes to market such as physical retail, online retail, commissions, selling events (markets and fairs), galleries and exhibitions, open studios and catalogues.
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K16: Communication techniques: verbal, written, and digital; use industry terminology.
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K17: Communication channels: specialist networking, social media, press, open studios, web
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K18: Fundamentals that apply to copyrighting and intellectual property and how to protect craft items from external exploitation.
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K19: Quality assurance, inspection, and sampling methods.
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K20: The properties, environmental impact, and benefits of eco-friendly or recycled materials used in packing.
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K21: Health and Safety; regulations: the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH), Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER), the Health and Safety At Work Act (HASAWA), the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR), and manual handling as applicable to your craft activities.
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K22: Ceramic item manufacture key factors: use and function, size, shape, ergonomics, fitness for purpose, and production scale.
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K23: The types of clay used to make ceramic items, their properties, and suitability for use such as: white earthenware, red or iron terracotta earthenware, stoneware, porcelain, bone china and fine bone china.
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K24: Characteristics and states of clay for industrial or studio production such as: slip, wet clay, leather hard, bone dry, bisque fired, glaze fired, post firing techniques, and vitrified.
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K25: Clay preparation methods such as: wedging, kneading, pugging and filter pressing.
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K26: Ceramic production techniques such as throwing, slab work, coiling, press moulding, slip casting, jigger and jollying, ram pressing and high pressure casting.
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K27: Ways that decorations can be applied to ceramic items such as: stamping, embossing, sprig work, brushwork, glaze, decals and sgraffito.
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K28: Kiln and firing types such as: electric kiln, gas fired kilns, and wood or coal fired reduction firing. The use and effect of different temperatures. The stages of firing including bisque and glaze firings.
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K29: The types and properties of glazes. Which to use for the type of clay or material being used. The use of pigments and underglazes, biaxal and triaxal glazes, and glaze recipes.
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K30: The different production processes: batch production, limited run, and mass production.
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K31: Uses for ceramic products such as personal, public, commercial, industrial and bespoke commissions.
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K32: Design principles such as line, texture, size, shape, form, colour, volume, proportion.
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K33: Read drawings and interpret prototypes or models.
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S1: Select and use tools and equipment.
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S2: Use technology as an enabler to make hand-crafted items, models or prototypes.
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S3: Identify sustainable techniques to make hand crafted items.
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S4: Store tools and materials, ensuring they are protected from damage when not in use.
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S5: Follow health and safety procedures.
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S6: Clean, maintain and prepare the craft workspace or workshop.
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S7: The roles, responsibilities and interdependencies of different parties in a project and your role within this.
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S8: Identify costs. Deploy controls to enable effective budget management.
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S9: Manage projects on time and budget. Maintain reputational standards and mitigate legal risks.
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S10: Conduct stock control and liaise with suppliers.
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S11: Communicate with stakeholders, colleagues or customers.
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S12: Follow quality assurance procedures.
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S13: Select packaging for craft items to protect them whilst in transit. Present items as per the organisation’s or client or customer needs.
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S14: Make ceramic items, prototypes or models in line with the brief. Consider: purpose, end user, market, and budget.
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S15: Use specialist tools and equipment required for specific purposes.
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S16: Apply design principles to the making of ceramic items, in line with the brief including shape, size, proportion, colour and finish.
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S17: Select and use clay or material for the ceramic item being made.
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S18: Use making skills for example hand building, sculpting, throwing, casting, moulding, and tool crafting or equivalent.
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S19: Select and use finishing techniques or glazes to be applied to the final ceramic product.
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S20: Assess the finished ceramic item against the brief and the production schedule including efficiency and wastage, quality, budget.
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S21: Use drawn plans (hand or digital), prototypes or models to aid the making of a hand-made ceramic product.
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B1: Puts safety first.
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B2: Committed to keeping up to date with new technologies and industry best practice.
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B3: Acts in a way that builds and maintains positive relationships with colleagues and others.
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B4: Takes ownership of work.
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B5: Sources solutions and seeks to continuously improve and develop.
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B6: Acts in a professional and ethical manner, embracing equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
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English and maths qualifications must be completed in line with the apprenticeship funding rules.
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