Construction Industry Education
Different occupations require different qualifications. Options may vary depending on age and whether individuals want to stay in full time education or start earning while learning. Here is a summary of the three main routes.

Craft
Most new entrants train and gain qualifications as they work, through an apprenticeship, although there are other kinds of training schemes. To enter the industry in a craft occupation, a good basic education is needed. Craft trainees develop skills using their hands and specialist equipment whilst learning about construction materials and production methods. They will also have the chance to undertake qualifications that can take them into technical, management or professional occupations.

Technical
To train in a technical occupation four good GCSE passes (or in Scotland, 4 good Standard grades), A levels, or an equivalent vocational qualification, are needed. There are two main options: either individuals can work and go to college part-time, possibly through an apprenticeship, or they can get full-time college qualifications before joining the industry. They will have the opportunity to complete further vocational and professional qualifications and move to supervisory, management or professional roles.

Management and Professional
People with a foundation degree or degree, in a subject such as architecture, civil engineering, building, construction management, surveying, town planning etc., can expect a high level of responsibility when they enter the industry and develop relevant skills. Graduates will be trained for highly specialised professional or management positions and will have the opportunity to gain professional qualifications such as chartered status through Initial Professional Development programmes.

ConstructionSkills ConstructionSkills, the Sector Skills Council for the industry, works with other related SSCs operating in the Built Environment eg. AssetSkills (property areas) and SummitSkills (building services engineering), to address the skills issues which the industry faces. This involves working with all interested stakeholders – both on the demand side, such as employers, clients, representative federations; and on the supply side, such as Further and Higher Education providers, trainers and Awarding Bodies. The three strategic objectives for ConstructionSkills, based on the main skills challenges are:

• Improving business performance;
• Improving image and recruitment; and
• Qualifying the workforce and continuous development.

To achieve these aims, ConstructionSkills has developed a ‘compact’ (Sector Skills Agreement) with by carrying out a detailed analysis of the future skills and productivity needs for employers within their sector and working with suppliers of education and training to enable them to be delivered. Sector Skills Agreements put in place a framework which allows employers across the UK to sign up to a key set of priorities with organisations that fund and supply education and training. Additionally, ConstructionSkills, in conjunction with sector stakeholders is developing a Construction Qualifications Strategy to help shape the future direction of education, training and qualifications within the sector. Education, training and qualification aspects of the industry include:

• School –based programmes eg. sector specific GCSE’s, Specialised Diplomas
• College-based programmes eg. sector specific craft qualifications and National and Higher National Certificates
• University-based programmes eg. Foundation Degrees, Degrees, Masters
• Training programmes – delivered by individual providers for target audiences in the industry
• Apprenticeships – linking learning with work-based development
• National and Scottish Vocational Qualifications attesting to workplace competence
• Professional qualifications at various grades attesting to professional competence and conduct
• Continuing Professional Development – formal and informal development attesting to the current knowledge and competence of individuals
• ConstructionSkills Certification Scheme – attesting to the recognised levels of competence and to provide a means of identification and to raise standards of health and safety in the industry.
• National Skills Academy – concerned with the establishment of project-based training centres on major construction projects.
• National Occupational Standards – these represent a benchmark of industry-specified best practice of performance and underpinning knowledge and understanding and provide a powerful multi-purpose tool for the sector. They are designed to improve the performance of Industry, by enhancing the performance of people in the workplace and by helping to inform training and vocational education about contemporary industry needs.

For further help, visit, www.bconstructive.co.uk the careers site for young people, www.constructionskills.net the site for the Sector Skills Council for the industry, or www.cic.org.uk/activities/lifell.shtml the part of the Construction Industry Council’s site devoted to Lifelong Learning.