If you want to learn how to make a Guitar or Violin, then our specialist workshops are a great place to start. Merton College is one of the few places in the UK where you can learn this highly specialist craft of how to make musical instruments. We’re stocked with specialist craft tools as well as woodworking tools and equipment. Full-time courses for both guitar and violin making and repair are two days a week, while part-time is one day or one evening a week.
If you have any enquiries, please contact Martina Collet-Creedy by email via
The course teaches you to solve problems, to think creatively and to be resilient. I can't quite believe that I've made a guitar, it is amazing what I have achieved on this course! Paul Fremantle, Guitar Making & Repair student
Hospitality Supervision & Leadership - Level 3 Diploma
Jerome says: "I chose to study at Merton College because it has excellent facilities for my Hospitality & Catering course. The College is very welcoming and my tutors are very supportive. As part of my course, I deliver a service to customers that visit the Taste Restaurant and I really enjoy interacting with them. We regularly host events and I like working as a team to co-ordinate these events. For example, we are often visited by members of the local community who come to the restaurant for lunch."
Once Jerome has completed his Diploma, he intends to study a Higher Level Apprenticeship in Hospitality and work for a major restaurant chain. His ultimate goal is to own a chain of restaurants one day.
Guitar Making & Repair - Intermediate & Advanced
Paul said: "During the pandemic, I decided I wanted to make stringed instruments full time instead of just as a hobby.
I enrolled on to the Guitar Making & Repair course (Intermediate & Advanced) and started making a steel-string acoustic guitar. The course teaches you to solve problems, to think creatively and to be resilient. When people look at the guitar I've made, they often ask "Did you really make that?" I have the same feeling - I can't quite believe that I've made it! It is amazing what I have achieved on this course and I am grateful to Mike and Merton College for teaching me the skills needed to accomplish my goal."
