A good textile conservator needs to be able to use a needle and thread, to be a good general craftsman, part artist, part scientist, part carpenter, part mechanical engineer, able to talk, write and teach. A general criticism of the academic training is made: too much emphasis on examination and lack of practical experience. For the author the ideal form of training is the inservice system: there must be equilibrium between the theory presented by means of formal lectures and the practical application in decisions being taken about treatment of objects the student can see and touch. An example of this system can be found in the Victoria and Albert Museum. See AATA 15-492 and 19-1527.