✦
Where Artistry Begins
Plastering courses in Birmingham fall into two very different groups. The first is general plastering: NVQ Level 2 plastering, a plastering apprenticeship, college programmes and short skim courses that teach you to float, set and board a room. The second is decorative specialism: Venetian and polished plaster, marmorino, limewash and the other lime finishes that clients pay a premium for. The Zavoré Academy sits firmly in the second group. We are a working Venetian plaster house in Birmingham, and our three courses teach the finishes we install and sell, at the bench, with the master who does the installing.
This piece is for anyone searching for a plastering course in Birmingham, UK, or plastering courses across the West Midlands, and trying to work out which kind they actually need, what our Academy covers, and the practical side of travelling here.
A general plastering course teaches the foundation of the trade: bonding, browning, skim, dot and dab, corners and beads. If you are asking how to become a plasterer in that sense, an NVQ Level 2 or an apprenticeship with a contractor is the recognised route. There are several providers around Birmingham and we are not one of them.
Decorative plastering is a different craft that sits on top of that foundation. The materials are lime putty and marble dust rather than gypsum, applied in thin coats and burnished, textured or waxed rather than left flat for paint. The work is slower, the margins are higher, and the customer is usually an interior designer, a hotel, a restaurant or a homeowner who has chosen the finish on purpose. We explain the material itself in what is Venetian plaster.
You do not need to be a qualified plasterer, or to learn to plaster in the general sense first, to take up the decorative side. Many of the people who train with us are decorators, designers or career changers who have never skimmed a ceiling. What you need is a steady hand, some patience, and three or four days at the bench.
We are here because it is home, but it is also a genuinely good place to run a national academy. Birmingham is in the middle of the country, on the main rail lines from London, Manchester, Bristol, Leeds and Cardiff, and within a couple of hours’ drive of most of England and Wales. New Street and Moor Street stations are in the city centre and the motorway network meets here. Students come from the West Midlands, but just as many come from the South, the North West, Wales and Scotland, and it is a fair journey for all of them rather than a long one for most.
Being a working house rather than a training centre also matters. The plasters on the bench are the same tubs we sell from the shop and put on walls in hotels, restaurants, spas and private homes across the UK. When the master shows you how to burnish, it is because they did it on site last week.
Three courses, each a Venetian plastering course at a different depth, taught at the bench in a small group or one to one. If you have been searching for polished plaster courses, this is the same thing; the trade uses the two names interchangeably.
For people starting from nothing. Theory, surface preparation and base coat, textures, coat systems and protection, then Marmorino, Polished Plaster and Metallics, each taken from the bucket to the burnish on full boards you make yourself. We wrote a full account in inside our beginner Venetian plastering course. Book on the beginner course page.
For people who have done the beginner course or already work with lime finishes. Deeper theory, artificial rock, textured marmorino, stencil work, acrylic polished plaster, vein work, sanding techniques, polishing to a high gloss, tinting, waxes and sealers, and blending. Details on the advanced course page.
Three days shaped entirely around you. Bring a project, a finish you want to master, or a gap in your existing skills, and the whole course is built to it. See the 1-to-1 training page.
Every course ends with sample boards you take home and a materials account so your first paid wall uses exactly what you trained on, whether that is a tub of Veneziano or a coarser lime like Travertino.
Days run at the bench from morning to late afternoon, so if you are coming from further than an hour or so away, stay locally. Birmingham has hotels at every price point, most of them within walking distance of New Street, and short-let apartments are easy to find for a three- or four-night stay. We would suggest booking somewhere central and travelling out to us each morning rather than searching for accommodation near the studio; the centre has better transport, food and evening options and the commute is short.
If you are driving, allow time for the morning traffic on the ring road. If you are on the train, an off-peak return booked in advance is usually the cheapest way to do it. We send full directions and a kit list when you book.
Wear old clothes. Lime plaster is kind to walls and unkind to jumpers.
Decorators from across the West Midlands who want a premium finish to add to the van. Plasterers from the Black Country and beyond who are tired of skim rates and want to move up. Interior designers from London and Manchester who need to understand the material well enough to specify it. Career changers who have decided, deliberately, to learn a craft. And a steady number of homeowners with a single wall in mind and the good sense to learn before they buy the tub. If you are in either of the last two groups, starting a decorative plastering career is worth ten minutes.
Each course is a product on the site. Choose the course, choose a date, and pay online; the confirmation comes with directions and what to bring. Group courses have a small number of places per date, so the popular months fill. If the date you want is full, join the waitlist on the course page and we will email you when a place opens or when the next date is released. You can also call us on 07592 929191 to talk through which course fits before you commit.
Decorative training at the Zavoré Academy is £750 for the 3-day beginner course, £1,200 for the 4-day advanced course and £1,500 for three days of 1-to-1. General plastering is different: an NVQ is priced by the college, and an apprenticeship pays you a wage while you learn rather than charging a fee.
Our courses take three or four days at the bench, because that is long enough to do every coat yourself and let the lime dry in between. A general NVQ or apprenticeship is measured in months and years, not days, because it covers the whole trade rather than one craft within it.
No. There is no NVQ for polished plaster and we are not an accredited college. Clients in this trade ask to see walls, not certificates. If you want a general plastering qualification, do that with an accredited provider and come to us for the decorative side.
People do, from tubs and videos, and the cost is usually a year of mistakes on their own walls followed by cheaper ones on a client’s. A course compresses that into a few days with someone standing next to you when the material misbehaves. If you only ever want one wall in your own home, a sample board and patience may be enough.
Here. The Zavoré Academy is in Birmingham, a short trip from the city centre by public transport, with directions sent on booking. Students from the Black Country, Coventry, Wolverhampton and Worcestershire can usually travel in each morning; those from further afield stay centrally for the week.
Where to go next: see all three courses and upcoming dates on the training page, or go straight to the 3-day beginner course.
How Venetian plaster moved from gilded palazzo walls to matt, seamless contemporary interiors, the colours and textures that define the l...
GuidesWhat a microcement bathroom is, whether it is waterproof, going over existing tiles, floors and shower trays, cost against tiling, mainte...
Buying GuideWhat marmorino plaster is, the soft stone look, how it is applied coat by coat, where it works, colour, cost against polished plaster and...
Buying GuideVenetian plaster is a lime plaster. Here is how it differs from the base-coat lime plaster used on period homes, why breathability matter...
CoursesA day-by-day walk through the 4-day Advanced course: deeper theory, tinting, textured marmorino, artificial rock, stencils, vein work, hi...
CareerNo invented figures: how Venetian plasterers are paid, why decorative work bills at a multiple of skim rates, the ladder from employed to...
Authentic Venetian plaster, machine-tinted to your colour and made for each order. Materials, installation and master-led training, nationwide and international, since 2021.
One list, run by the people who make the material. No noise, and nothing we would not want to read ourselves.
We email as the house has something worth saying, never daily. Unsubscribe from any email, or reply STOP to any text. We never pass your details to anyone.