Take-up of new technical qualifications still far behind BTECs

The government still has work to do to persuade young people to take the new T-level qualifications for construction, the minister for young people has told BD.

Mims Davies, the under-secretary of state for social mobility, youth and progression, admitted the technical qualifications were only just “getting into young people’s psyches”.

T-levels are two-year courses that were introduced in September 2020 to provide students with technical skills. The T-levels currently available for built environment related areas of learning include: 

Mims Davies Berkeley visit

Mims Davies visiting Berkeley’s 250 City Road scheme

They have been billed by the government as a potential solution to the industry’s skills shortage but have been criticised since launching for their low take-up.

Just 1,200 students were studying construction T-levels in 2022, compared to nearly 6,000 who took BTEC construction qualifications in 2019.

Speaking on a tour of Berkeley’s 250 City Road development in Islington, north London yesterday, Davies said that the government and the industry needed to “break down stereotypes and perceptions” about T-levels.

The minister was meeting young construction apprentices as part of this week’s Build UK Open Doors event, which lets people who are considering a career in the industry behind the hoardings of construction sites.

The Foster & Partners-designed 250 City Road scheme consists of two 36 and 42-storey towers containing around 900 homes with views across central London.

Described by Berkeley as the “epitome of luxury living”, it is being built by Laing O’Rourke and is due to complete in late 2023.

Davies said the key to getting young people interested in a career in construction was “getting young people in [to sites] so they can see what’s going on”.

“The fact that they’ve been able to see what they can achieve in the sector has made a real difference,” she said.

More than 250,000 extra construction workers will be needed by 2026 to meet the sector’s skills shortage, according to the Construction Skills Network.

Some three quarters of contractors have issues recruiting skilled operatives, according to a new survey from the Civil Engineering Contractors Association.

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