Major Qualification Reform for Welsh Construction Sector

A GROUND-BREAKING qualification reform for people planning to work in the Construction and Built Environment sector in Wales has been announced today (2 July 2019).

In the biggest shake-up to qualifications in the sector for a generation, a complex market with hundreds of existing qualifications will be simplified by eight new qualifications that will aim to help reshape education and training for the industry in Wales.

Qualification Reform

The new qualifications will offer learners more flexible and comprehensive progression routes into employment. Assessment will be streamlined but more robust, making sure that young people have the skills and knowledge they need to get ahead in their careers.

Qualifications Wales announced that contracts have been awarded to a consortium of City & Guilds and EAL, who will be working with the regulator to design and deliver post-16 Foundation, Progression and Apprenticeship qualifications.

The post-16 qualifications include a Foundation qualification in Construction and the Built Environment, and Progression and Apprenticeship qualifications in Building Services Engineering and Construction. These will be available for first teaching from September 2021.

Gareth Williams, CITB Wales

Gareth Williams, Standards and Qualifications Policy Manager for the CITB in Wales, said: “As a stakeholder in the Construction and Built Environment review, CITB is looking forward to working with City & Guilds and EAL to develop new, up-to-date qualifications that will benefit both learners and the industry in Wales.

“The new qualifications will broaden learners’ horizons, by encouraging more employers to take an active role in developing the workforce of the future in Wales”.

Ed Evans, Director of the Civil Engineering Contractors’ Association for Wales, added: “Qualifications Wales’s engagement with the sector has been really strong. That means that this starts to be led by the sector, rather than being led by educationalists.”

In addition to the Foundation, Progression and Apprenticeship qualifications, Qualifications Wales is also working with WJEC to develop approval criteria for a new GCSE in the Built Environment for first teaching from September 2021, and an AS and A level in the Built Environment, which will be available for first teaching from September 2022.