Research Tackles Why Half of Construction Apprentices Don’t Complete

NEW RESEARCH investigating why 47% of construction apprentices do not complete their apprenticeship has been published.

The research, from the British Association of Construction Heads (BACH) looks at the reasons underlying apprenticeship failures.

It says construction apprenticeships are still suffering from the impact of the pandemic with the drop-out rate now at 47%. As a result, only 8,620 construction apprentices reached End Point Assessment (EPA) in 2022/23, against the industry need of over 96,000 new recruits per year.

The new report is published amid concerns that the huge ongoing demand for construction skills nationally is not being met.

The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) estimates that the UK will need an extra 250,000 workers by 2030.

The new Government’s ambition to build 1.5 million homes over the next five years is estimated to add a further 150,000 jobs. Together, these figures forecast a total skills shortfall of 430,000. This equates to an almost 15% increase in the industry’s workforce.

Half of Construction Apprentices Don’t Complete

Graham Hasting Evans, BACH President and NOCN Group CE, said: “The labour market continues to be challenging for employers and employees alike. High numbers of vacancies coupled with high unemployment rates suggest a severe mismatch in the training for work programme overall. Apprenticeships should be the route to addressing all of this, yet apprenticeship starts are lower for construction now than five years ago.

“The fact that such a high percentage are not completing their apprenticeship programme presents a huge wasted opportunity that must be addressed. But solutions to this have been slow in coming forward with so many different parties involved in apprenticeship delivery.”

“These challenges are compounded by reduced investment in training from both employers and Government. Employers seek skilled labour rather than training their own staff, perpetuating the reduction in skilled operatives in the pipeline.

“The research demonstrates what a complex issue we are dealing with and that government, academia and industry must work together to address the challenge.”

The good practice ideas in the report set out how this can be done from the point of view of the apprentice, training provider and employer. They aim to provide an integrated, holistic route to improving achievement rates as a matter of urgency.

Read the full report: ‘Construction Apprenticeship Achievement rates crisis: Good practice solutions’.

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