The construction sector faces a wait to see whether it will benefit from new government plans to shorten apprenticeships.
Altering academic requirements should create up to 10,000 more apprenticeships a year across all industries, education secretary Bridget Phillipson announced this morning (11 February) during National Apprenticeship Week.
Effective immediately, businesses will now be able to decide whether adult learners need to get GCSEs in English and maths to complete their apprenticeships.
Phillipson also announced plans to reduce the minimum duration of some apprenticeships from 12 to eight months.
This would take effect in August “subject to the legislative timetable”, she said.
However, it is not yet clear if construction will be one of the specific industries to benefit from this new approach.
The onus is now on quango Skills England to decide which apprenticeships “would be best served” by an eight-month course, the Department for Education said.
Skills England will “prioritise key shortage occupations as per the [government’s] industrial strategy”, it added.
However, the construction sector was specifically mentioned in the second line of a press release announcing the changes.
In today’s announcement, Phillipson said: “Our new offer of shorter apprenticeships and less red tape strikes the right balance between speed and quality, helping achieve our number one mission to grow the economy.”
Reducing bureaucracy around apprenticeships “does not mean that apprentices won’t be assessed on core English and maths skills relevant to their occupation”, she said, “but it does mean that apprentices will be able to focus more on their paid work”.
Mark Farmer – who led a review into the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) – said the proposed changes were “good news for construction skills and training”.
His review, published last month, called for a “modernised approach” to skills that emphasises competency and upskilling.
And in a LinkedIn post reacting to the latest announcement, Farmer said reforming entry pathways to improve absorption into the sector and changes to the English and maths requirements were “central conclusions” in a 2023 review into construction training.
“We need to shift towards high-quality, shorter and front-loaded training focused on work readiness, basic occupational competency and productivity,” he added.
Federation of Small Businesses executive director Craig Beaumont also welcomed the “encouraging” move, which he said “should help SME employers fill skills gaps faster”.
But there was a more guarded welcome from the Chartered Institute of Building.
Its head of policy and public affairs David Barnes said: “Changes to apprenticeships are very much needed to increase the number of people entering the construction sector, so the government’s attention to this important matter is very welcome.
“However, we have some concerns that shorter periods of learning could lead to lower quality outcomes for apprentices and employers, which in turn could impact the quality and safety of the projects they go on to work on.
“We could also see higher rates of dropout due to the pressures of undertaking skilled and complex learning in a compressed period of time, particularly when so many are adult learners with families.
“We’re in favour of streamlining processes to reduce the delays currently experienced by many construction apprentices, for example at the assessment stage, but maintaining high standards and competency must remain a top priority.”
CITB chief Tim Balcon said the announcement will “hopefully help address some of these issues and attract more people to start apprenticeships and enter the construction industry”. But he added: “It is most important to maintain the standards also”.
He also said apprenticeships are not the only route into construction, and, though “a really valuable route” for many, “aren’t suited to all”.
“In improving this part of the skills system, we shouldn’t miss the opportunity to take a step back and see what other new, additional routes could be established that will attract a wider variety of new entrants who may be entering work for the first time, or changing career seeking a new exciting challenge.”
In her announcement, Phillipson also revealed the executive team for Skills England, appointing Tessa Griffiths and Sarah Maclean as joint chief executives of the new body. Previously, Griffiths and Maclean were both directors for post-16 skills and strategy at the DfE for more than two years.
Phil Smith, the former chief executive of international tech and telecoms firm Cisco was appointed as its new chair. Sir David Bell, vice-chancellor at the University of Sunderland and a former chair of social housing firm Karbon Homes, is the organisation’s new vice chair.
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Joshua Stein