construction | FE Week

How fake skills cards have opened the door to building site blaggers

The person purporting to be Adam Philip showed me “evidence” the CSCS card he was selling would evade anti-fraud smart card checker machines (designed to stop fraudsters like him), thereby getting me access to work on construction sites. Severe skills shortages across the construction sector, arguably made worse by recent qualifications reforms, have sparked a […]

Shared apprenticeship scheme barely meets half its recruitment target

Flexible construction apprenticeship starts tumble amid sector-wide recruitment issues

SkillBuild 2023 – why you should enter your learners as huge demand for construction skills remain

The largest and longest-running construction skills competition in the UK returns, with registration now open for SkillBuild 2023.. The SkillBuild competition is delivered by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) and offers an opportunity for talented apprentices and learners of all ages to compete regionally against one another in various trade categories. Prospective competitors can […]

Pearson BTEC and MOBIE help learners meet the sustainability challenge in construction

In this digital age, our learners are getting to grips with the new technologies driving the future of Net Zero Construction.

Nikki Davis, incoming principal, Leeds College of Building

After 62 years, the Leeds College of Building has just appointed its first ever female principal. Jess Staufenberg asks the incoming Nikki Davis what she’ll do to grow the vanishingly small proportion of female learners studying construction Nikki Davis, currently vice principal at Leeds College of Building, is set to become its first ever female […]

New Challenges need New Skills

COP26 is receding in the rear-view mirror. Two weeks of high-level talks between world leaders has resulted in statements of national commitment to reduce carbon emissions. While much will continue to be debated about whether it was a ‘success’ and whether commitments are ‘enough,’ we should see the outcomes as one part of an ongoing […]