How residential installation education is structured
Basic courses 1 and 2, main course and alternation between school and practice — and how to get started
If you dream of giving cars a smooth, flawless surface and bringing damaged car bodies back to life, then the automotive refinishing training is the way into the trade. It is a vocational training (EUD), and like most vocational training it is based on an alternation between school and practical training. You learn both the theory in the classroom and the actual craft in a paint shop while you're at it.
§The basic course — your first steps
If you come more or less directly from primary school, you start on the basic course. It is divided into two parts. Basic course 1 (GF1) is the broad introduction to the main area Technology, construction and transport where you orient yourself among several related subjects. Basic course 2 (GF2) is aimed directly at the car painter trade. Each part lasts about half a year — in practice about 20 weeks.
On GF2, you begin to work purposefully with what belongs to automotive painting: sanding, spackling, priming, and preparing a surface before painting. You also become familiar with color theory, material knowledge, and the way a painter thinks about safety and work environment.
§Main course — where the craft takes root
After the basic course comes the main course, where you are truly out in a company and at the same time come to school in separate periods. This is where you truly learn to apply lacquer, mix colors, polish, and seal so the result holds. Classroom instruction is distributed over at least three school periods, and the rest of the time you are in training and building routine in reality.
If you take the training as an adult on an euv program, the main course is typically a bit shorter, and the number of school weeks is fewer because your experience is taken into account. If you choose eux instead, you combine the vocational skills with gymnasium subjects, and the total program becomes longer.
§How long does it take altogether?
If you count basic training and main course together, the total education comes to about four and a half years for a young person starting from scratch – in the range from around 4 years and 3 months to around 4 years and 9 months, depending on whether you take the normal route, euv or eux. If you build on experience or parts of another education, it can go faster.
| Part | Duration (approx.) | What's happening |
|---|---|---|
| Basic course 1 | a half year (approx. 20 weeks) | Broad introduction to the main area |
| Basic course 2 | a half year (approx. 20 weeks) | Targeted auto lacquering |
| Main course | ca. 3 år | Training in a company + school periods divided into at least three stays |
§Entry requirements and admission
To start the basic course you must have passed primary school's leaving exam and in principle have at least grade 02 on average in both Danish and mathematics from 9th or 10th grade. If you don't meet the requirement directly there are ways in via entrance exam and interview — ask the school's counselor.
A completely central point with vocational qualifications is that you need a training placement (a training agreement with a company) to be able to complete the main course. If you cannot find a placement right away school-based training or new master training can in some cases be an option — talk to the school about your options.