The Department of Education has put out a statement on the subject of training future construction workers claiming that “new specialist colleges announced today will train 40,000 construction learners by 2029”.
But they are not new colleges. They all exist already and have been offering construction courses for years.
Ten establishments have been listed as ‘new’ Construction Technical Excellence Colleges. They include Leeds College of Building, which has been teaching construction skills for 65 years and whose roots go back to 1824 and he Mechanics Institute. So not new then. Just been given a gold star.
The ten colleges will also be backed by an additional £100m over the next four years, intended for their construction courses. They will also be expected to act as a ‘hub’ to support other colleges offering construction courses in their area.
Some people seem to buying into government spin, including Tim Balcon, chief executive of the Construction Industry Training Board. He said: “It’s wonderful to see the progress being made towards establishing these Technical Excellence Colleges for Construction. They represent a transformative opportunity for people to complete local vocational training, helping to drive regional growth and nurture the next generation of skilled construction workers in local communities.”
Don’t all colleges, Tim?
The 10 further education colleges given the status of Construction Technical Excellence Colleges are:
- Derby College Group
- West Suffolk College
- New City College
- City of Sunderland College
- Wigan and Leigh College
- North Kent College
- Exeter College
- Bedford College
- Dudley College of Technology
- Leeds College of Building.
Plenty of other further education colleges across the UK also teach construction skills, from Newcastle in the north to Fareham in the south. But as they are not recognised as technically excellent, their courses are likely to be no longer as valuable as they were yesterday.
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