How you diagnose problems — systematically

Furniture carpenter and organ builder are two specialties in the same vocational education, and both follow the classic structure for craft educations: a basic course at school, a main course where you alternate between school and company, and a journeyman's examination at the end. If you understand the structure from the start, it is much easier to see where you are heading and what is expected of you along the way.

If you come directly from 9th or 10th grade, you start on basic course 1. Here the teaching is broad and lets you try several directions so you become sure of your choice before specializing. Basic course 2 is aimed at the subject itself: you work with drawing, materials, tools and machines and the joining methods that form the foundation of carpentry work, and you prepare to go out into a company.

Has it been more than approximately one year since you left primary school, in many cases you can begin directly on basic course 2 and skip basic course 1. This typically applies if you are a bit older or have done something else before applying. Together the basic course fills up to approximately 40 weeks if you take both parts, and about half that if you only need basic course 2.

When you have an apprenticeship agreement with a company the main course begins. It's the longest part of the education and you alternate between school periods and practical work. School periods come in several separate blocks rather than one long stretch and between them you work in the company applying what you've learned to real tasks. The main course is typically divided into six school periods of about five weeks each.

The total qualification spans several years when you count basic and main program together. The main program itself typically lasts from around 2 years and 9 months to 3 years and 3 months, depending on specialty and program. If you choose EUX, where you add upper secondary subjects on top of the skilled knowledge, the total program becomes longer.

To begin the basic course you must, as a starting point, have passed the Danish primary school leaving examination and have an average of at least 2.0 in both Danish and mathematics. If you do not meet the grade requirement, there are other ways in, for example via an admission interview and test at the school.