The solution to the construction skills crisis is better collaboration. That means working together to encourage more young people into construction through apprenticeships, and to support the small to medium-sized (SME) businesses in construction that undertake most of the industry’s training.
We have a proud history of speaking up for apprenticeships and our members lead the way in this field. SMEs train over three-quarters (71%) of construction apprentices.
The construction skills shortage is well documented. Finding quality tradespeople is an everyday challenge for builders across the country. That the UK will adopt a points based immigration system that only allows highly skilled tradespeople to come into the industry will further compound this shortage.
This report puts forward a blueprint for how industry bodies can work in partnership to scale-up current levels of training among our domestic workforce.
It looks at how the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education should improve communications with SMEs to ensure that the standards they deliver work on construction sites of all sizes.
It also talks about how the Government should focus on improving their support for, and communication with, non-UK Apprenticeship Levy paying companies that train apprentices to an intermediate and advanced level.
We are grateful to the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) for sponsoring this report.
Download the report
