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6 August 2026

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Construction applicants hit brick wall as demand overwhelms colleges

West Yorkshire has too many A Level classrooms and nowhere near enough workshops, combined authority says

Shane Chowen

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Hundreds of teenagers hoping to train as electricians, joiners and bricklayers are being turned away from colleges in West Yorkshire due to a severe lack of course places.

Bradford College closed applications to all of its 16 to 18 construction courses this week after receiving 2,439 applications for 448 places. It expects around 700 applicants to be left without a place.

Leeds College of Building, named as one of the government’s construction technical excellence colleges last year, told FE Week it has received more than 2,500 applications for around 1,000 places. It has not closed its books, but is running waiting lists for joinery, electrical, plumbing, brickwork and multiskills courses. It said it would be unable to take around 800 students.

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