Careers Spotlight: Roofer

Roofers are construction professionals who specialize in the installation, repair, and maintenance of roofs on buildings. They work with a variety of materials to ensure roofs are watertight, structurally sound, and meet safety and building code requirements. This includes installing new roofs, repairing damaged sections, and performing routine maintenance to extend the lifespan of existing roofs. 

What does a roofing operative do?

As a roofing operative, you may specialise within a certain area, such as sheeting and cladding, or tiling. You could specialise in heritage projects, or work as a hard metal and cladding roofer.

Working as a roofer can involve anything from repairing a single tile or slate on a domestic property, to re-roofing entire public buildings such as schools, working on largescale housing projects, or installing the roof on large commercial buildings.

Depending on your area of specialism, as a roofing operative you could be: 

• Estimating the type and amount of materials needed for the job

• Using technical drawings and specifications

• Fitting materials to ensure the roof is fully weatherproof

• Working to building regulations

• Working safely at heights

• Installing skylights

• Working on historic or culturally significant buildings

• Creating decorative lead or metal items in keeping with the structure.

How to become a roofing operative

To become a roofing operative, it’s important to gain occupationally relevant qualifications and experience. This can be achieved through completing a college course, an apprenticeship, or on the job training. 

You should explore these routes to find out which is the right one for you. Although some of these options have certain requirements, employers are also interested in people who are enthusiastic, willing to learn and can follow instructions. 

You may need a Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) card to work on a construction site. Once fully qualified, you are encouraged to apply for the blue skilled worker CSCS card.

To kickstart a career in roofing, the NFRC Roofing Careers Service is a great place to begin. The free to use service provides information, advice and guidance on the various roofing specialisms, the types of work roofers carry out, how to find a roofing job and much more.

College/training provider

You could complete a course at a local college such as a Level 2 Diploma in Roofing Occupations or in Roof Slating and Tiling. This would provide you with useful skills and help you gain work as a roofing operative trainee.

Apprenticeship

You could become a roofing operative by completing an intermediate apprenticeship in roofing. 

You’ll need GCSEs in maths and English at grades 9 to 3 (A* to D), or equivalent to become an intermediate apprentice. If you don’t have these, you can still start your apprenticeship and complete numeracy and literacy functional skills during the apprenticeship.

Apprenticeships are open to anyone over the age of 16. As an apprentice, you’ll be fully employed by your company and expected to work a minimum of 30 hours a week. Your time will be split between on-the-job experience and a college or training provider.

Skills 

Additional skills which may benefit anyone considering a job as a roofing operative include: 

• Patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations

• Good attention to detail

• Ability to work well with others

• Be flexible and open to change

• Keen and willing to learn

• A good level of fitness and ability to work at height

• Knowledge of building and construction

• Excellent customer service skills.

How much could you earn as a roofing operative?

The expected salary for a roofing operative varies as you become more experienced.

Newly trained roofing operatives can start at £23000

Trained with experience roofing operatives can earn up to £49000

Salaries depend on location, employer, level of responsibility, any overtime you may do, and whether you have completed an industry recognised training route. 

If you want to learn more about becoming a roofer click on the links below

Boosting your CV

So what is a CV?  CV is short for Curriculum Vitae and is a short document which summarises your unique skills, character, experience and achievements.  

For students it can feel difficult to know what to write as you haven't had the time to build up the experience that employers always seem to want.

In this section we look at ways of making your CV stand out for future employers so you can get that dream job.  With the summer holidays nearly here it is a good time to consider doing some voluntary work.

Consider volunteering for a few weeks:

A great way to improve your working experience is to volunteer for a few weeks.

And we’re not just about the local charity shop.

If you have a particular type of job in mind that you’d like to do, why not search for companies within that industry and request to do a couple of weeks volunteering with them? The company will benefit from having an extra pair of hands for a few weeks, and you’ll benefit from improving your knowledge, understanding and experience, which will look great on your CV!

Finding volunteering opportunities is easier than you think. The first place you should start looking is in your local area. Drop by some of the places that you wouldn’t mind working in for a few weeks and ask if they have the capacity to take you on as a volunteer, or click on the link below.

If you don’t have any luck in your local area, try searching online. There are a large number of volunteering websites out there that list opportunities all across the UK.

If you want to look volunteering opportunities click on th elinks below

Unifrog

What is Unifrog?

Unifrog is a one-stop-shop where students can easily explore their interests, then find and successfully apply for their next best step after school. All of our students can login to Unifrog using the school login details.  However we think Unifrog is so good we want parents and carers to use it as well.  To use Unifrog for free go to  unifrog.org/code, enter the code HXRTparents.  You will be asked for some basic details and then you are in.

Help for Parents and Carers

When it comes to education and careers, parents and carers have a large influence on a students choices. As an adult you are expected to have all the answers, but in a constantly evolving world it can be a struggle to keep up with the latest options out there.  In this section we will highlight resources that will help keep you up to date with careers and the choices available to young people.

With the summer holidays approaching it is natural to think about the new school year and what lays beyond.  

I want to talk at home about careers but don't know where to start

In terms of career choice, you should:

• Aid, but not dictate, the decision-making process

• Support your child’s decisions

• Give your children freedom and time to discover their skills

• Provide motivation to develop and achieve

• Provide encouragement to pursue interests and ambitions

• Try to instil a responsible attitude and mature outlook

• Instil an attitude of self belief by being positive and never critical – as a parent your words will have the biggest effect on your child.

Talking Futures have a website and lots of resources to help parents talk about careers, click on the image below to find out more

Careers in Hertfordshire: Sports, Leisure and Physical Activity

Working in Sport and Physical Activity means keeping the population healthy and active not only physically but also mentally. You will be able to take your current passion or interest in sport and wellbeing and pass it on to people you meet whilst working in the sector.

Employers in Hertfordshire in Sport and Leisure

There are an estimated 2,500 Sports Clubs

5 Community Sport Networks (CSN) - identify local need and work together to attract funding to support the development of sports clubs, coaches and volunteers, promote the benefits of sport and physical activity and encourage greater participation in sporting opportunities.

An estimated 100,000 Volunteers who assist with the running of clubs, events and charitable organisations

An estimated 70 Leisure facilities across the county managed by 9 Leisure providers

50 Coaching Agencies which provide services to schools and clubs for holiday camps and extra-curricular activity

4 Professional Club Foundations - Saracens Maverick Netball, Stevenage FC Foundation, Watford FC CSE Trust and Saracens Sport Foundation

The 8 leisure providers are:

• Everyone Active

• Stevenage Leisure Limited

• Hertfordshire Sports Village

• UH Sport – HertSquad

• Better Leisure Centres

• Broxbourne Council Leisure

• Hertsmere – InspireALL

• One YMCA

Making a difference

 Working in Sport and Leisure doesn’t always mean assisting people who are already fit and healthy. In fact, a large part of the sectors responsibility it to make sure Physical Activity is open to ALL. This includes those who wouldn’t normally be able to take part in Sport and Leisure such as:

those with long term illnesses

disabled people

those suffering with mental health issues

people who live in deprived areas

older adults

There are 12.2 million disabled people in England, with 14.3% of the Hertfordshire population reporting that their day-to-day activities are limited by a disability or long-term illness. This filters into physical activity participation, as disabled adults are almost twice as likely as non-disabled people to be physically inactive (42.4% vs 22.6%).

Live Longer Better in Hertfordshire is a local collaborative activation of the national Live Longer Better campaign which seeks to enable our older adult population to lead longer happier and healthier lives through remaining physically, cognitively and socially active.,

For more information please go to www.hopinto.co.uk/ 

Current Opportunities

This month we have an opportunity to get involved with the charity Ditch The Label

Ditch The Label

Hello,

We are reaching out to invite your support in sharing an exciting opportunity with your students. Ditch the Label, a UK-based youth charity which supports 12-25 year olds, is currently recruiting for its Youth Advisory Board (‘YAB’) – a voluntary leadership role for young people aged 14–25 across the UK.

The Youth Advisory Board provides a unique platform for young people to share their voices and influence the services Ditch the Label offers on key issues such as mental health, relationships, bullying, and identity. This opportunity enables young people to be heard, make a real impact, gain valuable experience, and collaborate with peers who are passionate about driving positive change. This is a fantastic opportunity for students to develop leadership, communication, and advocacy skills in a supportive and youth-focused environment.

Key Details:

• Voluntary role, starting October 2025, with a one-year term

• Monthly online meetings (1–2 hours)

• Open to young people across the UK

• We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive team and strongly encourage applicants from all backgrounds to apply.

Application deadline: 14th September 2025

Apply here: https://www.ditchthelabel.org/youth-advisory-board
Questions? Contact: yab@ditchthelabel.org

We would be grateful if you would help us spread the information on recruitment of the Youth Advisory Board amongst your students. Please find attached a couple of versions of digital posters where you can find information about the role and application process. We have also attached an A4 version poster in black and white, which is more print-friendly. We hope these materials are helpful and can be shared in ways that suit your school community best.

Thank you in advance for your time and support.

Ditch the Label 

Youth Advisory Board Team