Education and training

Many people in the funeral profession have come to it because they have family already in the business. As no formal training is required, they can legimately train by serving as an apprentice within an established funeral business.

That said, the funeral industry also offers formal training, with different levels of certification – which provides valuable transferable accreditation should you envisage pursuing a career without always staying with the same company.

The National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) runs a series of courses offering 

• Foundation Degree in Funeral Services

• Foundation Certificate in Funeral Service

• Diploma in Funeral Directing

• Advanced Certicate in Funeral Service

• Advanced Diploma in Funeral Arranging and Administration

See the NAFD website for further details.

The Diploma in Funeral Directing, for instance, includes subjects that might not be part of the usual course of events with a single funeral business, but provides knowledge for the occasions when they arise  – such as burial ast sea and exhumation.

The Centre for Death and Society at the University of Bath also offers a Foundation Degree in Funeral Services (as Continuing Professional Development, or for a Higher Education Certificate). It also offers In-Service Training, and PhD courses on the broader subject of Death and Society.