Balfour Beatty, Kier, Carillion and Laing O’Rourke are part of a new industry coalition that hopes to become a government “Trailblazer” in reforming apprenticeships for the modern economy.
If approved, the contractors would sign declarations to government that they will deliver a fresh new approach, which could see a new generation of apprenticeships straddling multiple skills, or covering Modern Methods of Construction, or moving away from NVQs.
The major contractors will be among the construction employers represented next week at a meeting with Department for Business, Innovation and Skills officials, along with UKCG, CITB and other employer groups.
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Next week’s meeting is part of an ongoing dialogue between BIS and the industry to implement the Richard Review of apprenticeships, which argued that current apprenticeship “frameworks” are too rigid, and fail to meet employers’ needs.
Frameworks define the requirements for an apprenticeship programme, and are used by training providers, colleges, and employers to ensure that they are delivered to agreed standards.
BIS has already named employers in the aeronautical, automotive, digital industries, electrotechnical, energy and utilities, financial services and food and drink manufacturing sectors as Trailblazers piloting the new employer-centred approach. Balfour Beatty is already a Trailblazer, alongside British Gas, Thames Water and the National Grid, in the electrotechnical sector.
It’s hoped that a group of construction employers will be named Trailblazers in National Apprenticeship Week, March 3-7. The Trailblazer programme is designed to create early examples of the new approach, recognising that shifting the entire apprentice system, across the economy, will take several years.
A guidance document on the BIS website, The Future of Apprenticeships in England, says: “We want this to be a radical programme of reform, and Trailblazers should not be restricted in their thinking. They should feel free to start afresh in areas where they want new apprenticeship standards.”
The meetings are being coordinated by CITB. However, the contractors themselves will be accountable for delivering the new approach, in line with the government’s drive to put employers in the driving seat on apprenticeships.
"Employers believe it’s an opportunity to update apprenticeships – not many reflect Modern Methods of Construction, most are still in the traditional trades."
Nick Gooderson, CITB
At the moment, apprentice frameworks all have to meet a government specification. But to implement the Richard Review, the government wants to move towards a simpler system.
Nick Gooderson, head of education and research at CITB, told CM: “Employers believe it’s an opportunity to update apprenticeships – not many reflect Modern Methods of Construction, most are still in the traditional trades. There will also be an opportunity to shorten the time it takes from someone saying ‘we need an apprenticeship in x’ to getting it in place – at the moment it’s a minimum of 18 months, by which time the need might have been and gone.”
Gooderson said construction employers, or groups of employers, would eventually have the option of setting up new apprenticeship standards, and developing in-house training and in-house assessments.
Next week’s meeting is expected to identify skills areas in the industry that could pilot an updated approach – for instance, project management, carpentry and M&E – and the employers that could pilot the new approaches.
The companies involved will be eligible for a small grant to cover the costs of developing new apprenticeship standards from the Gatsby Foundation.
The current apprenticeship system is governed by the Apprenticeship, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009, which the government reviews as too prescriptive. It will therefore be amended in the forthcoming Deregulation Bill.
The government hopes that the academic years 2015/16 and 2016/17 will be a transition period for the new system, and that all apprenticeship starts from 2017/18 will be on new employer-defined standards.
Meanwhile, consultations on a post-Richard Review new funding mechanism for apprentice training, which would see employers have direct control over government funds but also contribute some of their own funds for the first time, are still progressing.
