Ten further education colleges have become the first to be awarded ‘technical excellence college’ status and will receive a share of £100 million in government funding to tackle construction skills shortages.
Ministers say the construction technical excellence colleges (CTECs) will train 40,000 people by 2029 in high-demand trades such as bricklaying, carpentry, roofing and electrical work.
The winning colleges are Derby College Group, West Suffolk College, New City College, City of Sunderland College, Wigan and Leigh College, North Kent College, Exeter College, The Bedford College Group, Dudley College of Technology and Leeds College of Building.
Technical excellence colleges are a new government designation for FE colleges that will receive extra funding to deliver training in sectors where there are shortages. Each will receive a share of £80 million in capital and £20 million in revenue over the next four years.
This first wave covers construction, and comes on top of £625 million announced for the sector in March to cover 60,000 training places through foundation apprenticeships, skills bootcamps and other funded construction courses.
The government hopes these initiatives will plug skills shortages in the construction industry and “backs the British working class” by reducing the sector’s reliance on overseas workers.
Today’s announcement confirms a CTEC in each region of England, with The Bedford College Group working across regions.
Each college will be expected to act as a “hub” in their region and partner with “spoke” local training providers and employers to expand courses to more learners and improve training standards. They will need to provide training routes into entry-level jobs as well as retraining and upskilling options for existing workers.
Colleges had to bid for the status earlier this year. The Department for Education (DfE) said it received 51 applications in total.
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said the announcement “underlines our commitment to the next generation of homegrown talent”.
“We need skilled workers to deliver the homes, schools and hospitals that communities across the country are crying out for. Construction technical excellence colleges will enable us to invest in people and give them the skills they need to break down barriers to opportunity in an industry which is essential to delivering growth through our plan for change.”
The Department for Education claims “fewer than half” of FE learners who get a qualification go on to work in the relevant industry, but said today’s investment will ensure learners are “ready for work when they complete their qualifications”.
Yiannis Koursis, CEO of The Bedford College Group said: “The construction sector is central to delivering the homes, infrastructure and sustainable communities our country needs. By working in partnership with other colleges, training providers and industry leaders, we will help equip the next generation with the skills, knowledge and experience that employers demand, from cutting edge technical training to real-world, site-based learning.
“This is not just an investment in training, it is an investment in the future workforce that will shape Britain’s built environment for decades to come.”
TECsplained
Alongside introducing Skills England and replacing the apprenticeship levy, technical excellence colleges were a major skills pledge in Labour’s manifesto for last year’s general election.
Since then, Labour has begun to reorganise its skills spending through specific plans for priority sectors outlined in the government’s industrial strategy, published in June.
Construction is one of those priority sectors, central to Labour being able to deliver on its promise to build 1.5 million new homes by the end of this parliament.
Office for National Statistics figures show that there are over 35,000 job vacancies in the construction sector, and employers report that over half of vacancies can’t be filled due to a lack of required skills – the highest rate of any sector.
At the same time, Labour committed to using the skills system to help reduce an “over-reliance” of foreign workers in the economy. Construction and health and social care are so far the only sectors that have been identified as needing to cut the use of overseas Labour.
The Department for Education said today that the construction industry has been “preventing our young people from filling the skills needs of our nation” and contributing to the youth NEET crisis by importing workers from overseas.
David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges said technical excellence colleges “represent a new era for the college sector, with government backing them to lead a step-change in post-16 skills and education.”
Technical excellence colleges have also been promised as part of sector training “packages” for the engineering and defence industries.
‘Fewer than half’ of FE learners go on to work in the relevant industry, say the DfE.
Is that 49% or 1%?
Does that relate to construction or is that an average across all industries?
Is that learners who achieved or all who participated?
If a learner studied a construction course and IT, would they count as half as they can only work in one industry at a time?
When does the job outcome get counted? (Days after? months? Years?)
Data source please…
Circa 40% within 6-12 months post course
Assuming that’s from the LEO dataset, it would be tracking anyone enrolled onto a Construction SSA course, then employed somewhere in the construction industry 6-12 months after.
The latest outcomes data (LEO) being 22/23 for achievers from 21/22.
Among that will be individuals already employed in the Construction industry when they were doing their course / programme (employed upskillers & apprentices). Stripping those out, would mean the conversion rate from some courses to newly employed entrants to the construction workforce would be substantially below 40%. Then much lower still if tracking specific courses to specific occupations (i.e. carpentry courses to employment as a carpenter).
It’s a real shame that we take a narrow view of progression & outcomes, only ever tracking forwards to an outcome. If we also tracked backward from the outcome (i.e. those employed in occupations) to see what path they took, we’d have a much richer appreciation of which types of provision are the most effective at filling occupational shortages…
On a ore positive note……any assistance towards the construction industry and particularly FE in Construction must be viewed as a win.
The industry is on its knees in terms of operatives and any aid in strengthening the uptake, diversifying the workforce and making the whole environment more accessible for everyone has got to be a move in the right direction.