Andy Burnham’s plans to put technical education on a more equal footing with academic routes could help change perceptions of careers in construction. But Nicola Hodkinson, owner and director of Seddon, argues that inspiring more young people must be matched by the industry’s capacity to train them
For years, construction has talked about the need to change perceptions of the industry and encourage more young people to consider technical careers.
The government’s latest education reforms could make an important contribution. Plans to give young people access to technical education from the age of 14, alongside core academic subjects, should help make vocational careers more visible much earlier.
Giving schools greater recognition for preparing young people for work is significant too. If technical education is genuinely to command the same respect as an academic route, it needs to be embedded into how we think about educational success.
But we must also not lose sight of the fact that construction’s skills challenge cannot be solved in the classroom alone.
Demand is only part of the equation
Young people naturally see the appeal of earning while learning, gaining recognised qualifications and starting a career without taking the traditional university route – especially with such scrutiny on the financial cost of obtaining a degree.
This interest is of course encouraging, but it also exposes another side of the skills challenge. Generating more interest in construction will only work if enough high-quality opportunities are waiting for those young people when they leave school.
An apprenticeship is a substantial commitment. Construction apprentices need experienced people around them, meaningful time on site and exposure to different stages of a project, which often means moving between sites, rather than staying in one place of work, to gain the breadth of on-site experience they need. Employers have to provide continuity over several years if an apprentice is going to emerge with the skills and confidence the industry needs.
That investment is absolutely worthwhile, but the economics cannot be ignored.
Construction remains an industry characterised by tight margins, fluctuating pipelines and extensive use of subcontracted labour. For smaller businesses in particular, taking responsibility for an apprentice can be difficult when future workloads are uncertain.
If we want thousands more young people to choose construction, we need to make it easier for thousands more employers to train them.
Creating the conditions to invest
Some of the government’s wider apprenticeship measures should help. But funding needs to reflect how construction actually operates.
Greater flexibility around skills funding would allow employers to respond more effectively to their workforce needs, while SMEs need practical support with both the financial and administrative burden of employing and training apprentices.
Apprenticeship design also needs attention. Construction has become increasingly specialised, making it difficult for any employer to provide experience across every element covered by some existing standards. A more modular approach, allowing businesses to train apprentices in their areas of expertise while helping them gain complementary experience elsewhere, would better reflect how the industry now works and make it easier for more employers to offer places.
The industry also needs to look beyond individual employers. Contractors, clients, colleges and training providers all have a stake in creating a sustainable skills pipeline. Better coordination could support this approach while helping to ensure training provision reflects where work is actually coming forward and where shortages are most acute.
This is particularly important as demand grows around housing, infrastructure, retrofit and the transition to lower-carbon construction. We need young people entering the industry, but we also need to ensure they develop skills that will remain valuable as construction changes.
Procurement can help turn ambition into places
Clients have an important role in making that possible.
Public and private sector clients increasingly ask contractors to demonstrate social value and commitments around employment, skills and apprenticeships. Used properly, procurement can create a powerful incentive for businesses to invest.
The danger is when those commitments become contract targets without sufficient recognition of what it costs to deliver them. Short-term or highly localised requirements can be particularly difficult to translate into lasting training opportunities. Apprenticeships extend beyond the life of many individual projects, so employers also need confidence in a continuing pipeline of work.
Training an apprentice properly requires supervision, time and resources. If clients want contractors to make that investment, skills commitments should carry meaningful weight when contracts are awarded, and the commercial model should recognise the cost of delivering them.
This is particularly important for SMEs across the supply chain, which collectively play a major role in employing apprentices. Clients and main contractors can support them by providing clearer visibility of forthcoming work, helping smaller businesses plan and invest with greater confidence. Their experience should also inform future skills interventions.
Together, these measures would reward businesses already investing in their workforce and give more employers the confidence to follow.
The government’s recent decision to place greater emphasis on jobs, skills, apprenticeships and work placements within public procurement is therefore another potentially important part of this picture. The opportunity now is to make sure those ambitions translate into sustainable training rather than simply another reporting requirement.
From aspiration to opportunity
Andy Burnham is right to challenge the idea that academic education should automatically be considered the default route to success.
Construction can offer young people careers spanning traditional trades, engineering, design, digital technology, sustainability, project management and many other disciplines. Giving them greater exposure to those possibilities while they are still at school could open doors they may never have considered.
But we need to be ready for them when they walk through those doors.
Success should not ultimately be measured by how many pupils study technical subjects or how many encounter construction at school. It should be measured by how many can move from that interest into a high-quality apprenticeship, complete their training and build a lasting career.
The government has taken an important step by raising the standing of technical education. The next challenge is to work with employers, with a particular focus on SMEs, clients and the training sector to create the apprenticeship capacity needed to match that ambition.
Otherwise, we risk inspiring a generation of young people to choose technical careers without creating enough places for them to begin.
The post Technical education is only half the answer to construction’s skills challenge appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today.
