Construction & Built Environment Diploma: 70 firms sign up

More than 70 companies have now committed to delivering the Construction and the Built Environment Diploma – which is equivalent to A levels.

Major contractors including Bovis, Laing O’Rourke, Lovell, Wates, Rok, Balfour Beatty, Kier, Persimmon Homes and Carillion will be supporting the qualification for 14-19 year olds from September.

Roy Cavanagh, chair of the Employer Engagement Group developing the C&BE Diploma and training manager for Seddon Group said:  “We have just finished holding meetings across England with the majority of the 44 consortia (partnerships made up of schools, colleges, training providers and employers) delivering the C&BE Diploma and I can confidently say that employers and teachers are very engaged.

“We’ve been working really hard to get the Diploma message out to employers and this is now showing results.

Simon Last, Contracts Team Leader, Rok, said: “The introduction of this new qualification is a great opportunity for employers to get involved in education and for the first time we have a real opportunity to shape the skills of our future workforce.

“Young people need to hear and see what our exciting and growing industry has to offer. We would encourage businesses to follow our lead and sign up to offer work experience, site visits or careers advice to those pupils taking the C&BE Diploma.”