£400,000 funding to address skills gaps in construction

Educational partnership secures £400,000 to tackle construction skills shortages with launch of BRIDGE Project.

Gateshead College, Northumbria University and Derby College have joined forces after securing £400,000 to launch the BRIDGE Project, which looks at why there are low numbers of women, people from disadvantaged backgrounds, ethnic minority groups, people with disabilities, mature and part-time students enrolling on construction-related degree courses.

The funding has been provided by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) Catalyst Fund, with the partners behind the project responsible for publishing guidelines and solutions that could help tackle the issue.

The Construction Skills Network report was published recently, and highlighted the growing skills shortage in the industry. It said that 179,000 UK construction jobs will need to be filled from 2017-2021, to meet rapid growth in demand for infrastructure and housebuilding across the country.

The project will collate evidence and input from key stakeholders including current and prospective construction and built environment students, apprentices and trainees, industry professionals and those who chose not to continue a career in the industry.

Steve Logan, Project Consultant at the Gateshead College Skills Academy for Construction, said: “This project is set to benefit those seeking professional, technical and management jobs by providing ways to encourage people from all backgrounds, sexes and ethnicities into higher education and a career in the construction industry. We want to address why construction degree courses aren’t attracting students from a range of backgrounds.

HEFCE Chief Executive Madeleine Atkins said: “Funding this programme will support real progress towards closing the unacceptable differences in outcomes between groups of students. We look forward to working with providers to make sure this targeted, evidence-led investment maximises outcomes for students – contributing to improved productivity and social mobility and, of course, individual opportunities.”

The BRIDGE Project is the latest initiative piloted by Gateshead College. The college is also an integral driving force behind PlanBEE, a separate initiative that seeks new ways of attracting new talent into the sector.

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