Construction is facing a skills crisis across the board. Years of under-investment in education and training have left the UK lacking the people needed to design, plan, manage and construct desperately-needed homes, retrofit, and infrastructure.

This squeeze on the labour market is slowing down projects, driving up costs, and undermining UK competitiveness and productivity. Ben Flatman takes a closer look at how T levels might help to change the education landscape.

T levels branding

Official T level branding

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The lack of skilled staff to supply the construction industry is exacerbated by the widely held view that vocational training is inferior to conventional academic qualifications. For most young people, and their parents, A levels and a university degree are still perceived as the route to better-paid, white-collar jobs. 

This is despite the fact that vocational courses can point the way to a range of positive career routes, from well-paid, entry-level jobs all the way through to degree apprenticeships and conventional degrees. 

Now, as part of a wider attempt to boost skills training, and give vocational qualifications a higher status, the government is rolling out a new system that has apprenticeships and T levels at its heart. 

The T level is supposed to be equivalent to an A level, and provide a route either directly into work, to one of the apprenticeships, or a degree. 

But when will the new system start showing results? After all, inspection body Ofsted just last week warned the qualifications need 鈥渃onsiderable work鈥 before they can fulfil their potential, highlighting shortages of qualified staff to train students, problems finding suitable placements and high drop-out rates.

And can the T Level system address long-standing scepticism around the value of vocational education in the UK?

The context

According to the IPPR, the UK is stuck in a  caused by a decade of underinvestment. Many believe the situation is exacerbated by a systematic failure to provide the workforce, and particularly young people, with the skills they need to succeed in industry.

Before Brexit, the UK used to get round this problem by drafting in hundreds of thousands of skilled EU workers each year to plug the gaps. Now that the EU鈥檚 labour market is harder to access, UK firms have begun to hire people from outside the EU. 

Net-migration to the UK (now largely from outside the EU) has soared, and yet the country still does not have the right people in the right places to meet the demand from employers. The government insists that the answer is to train more people in the UK to fill the gaps in the jobs market. 

Frustrated employers wonder how long it is going to take to bring these people on line. And, while some welcome the government鈥檚 attempts to get industry more involved in training, there are plenty of companies that resent the shift towards a model where employers take more responsbility for equipping the workforce with the skills that companies need.  

How did we get into this mess? Vocational education has been a fraught area for the UK for decades, if not centuries.

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Source: Creative Commons

Emil Fischer Schule, a vocational school in Berlin

Despite Britain having led the industrial revolution, by the late-19th century Germany was widely perceived to have stolen a march in terms of the quality and scope of the vocational training and apprenticeships it offered. German workers had become more productive than their UK counterparts, and Germany was well on its way to becoming the manufacturing powerhouse that it remains today.

Ever since then, the UK鈥檚 approach to vocational education has had something of the panicked quality of the left behind. While not exactly unsuccessful, the UK鈥檚 system has  never quite been able to match the German or Austrian systems in terms of desirability for prospective students or employers.

In Germany there is a separate school system for technically focused education, and close to 60% of school leavers go on to complete an apprenticeship. Meanwhile, UK schools have a relatively poor track record on vocational education, with most provision coming from further education colleges.

People are beginning to say: Look, this is just crazy, we can鈥檛 carry on like this

Iain Parker, Turner & Townsend alinea

The UK is also still in the relatively early stages of rolling out its complex, four-tiered apprenticeship system. 

show that entry-level apprenticeship starts 鈥 normally taken by younger people 鈥 fell in the UK by 72% between 2014 and 2021. Over a similar period, apprenticeship starts in SMEs fell by 36%. This coincided with the introduction of the apprenticeship levy and the pandemic.

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Iain Parker, partner at Turner & Townsend alinea

At the same time, however, high-level apprenticeship starts 鈥 often taken by older people 鈥 increased by 400%. Although a complex picture, partly due to the mix of four different apprenticeship levels, this is hardly the sign of a system that is firing on all cylinders.

With this kind of mixed performance, the government鈥檚 promise that it will fix the skills crisis soon is failing to convince many within industry. 

鈥淧eople are beginning to say: Look, this is just crazy, we can鈥檛 carry on like this,鈥 says Iain Parker, a partner at consultancy Turner & Townsend alinea. 鈥淲e need to deal with this inflationary point around people.鈥

What are T levels?

T levels are part of the government鈥檚 attempt to bring level 3 vocational qualifications up to the same standing as A levels. The hope is that, as a respected and valued qualification, the T level will provide a clear and flexible pathway that potentially provides access to work, apprenticeships or a degree.

Like A levels, T levels are studied over a two-year period. But, rather than taking three different subjects, like most A level students, those taking T levels will typically take just one course. Crucially, T levels also include 45 days of on-the-job experience in the workplace.

For the construction industry, there are a range of T levels to look out for:

  • Design, surveying and planning for construction
  • 黑洞社区 services engineering for construction
  • Onsite construction
  • Maintenance, installation and repair for engineering and manufacturing
  • Engineering, manufacturing, processing and control

The educator

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Ian Evans

Ian Evans, head of the School for Construction and the Built Environment at City of Westminster College (CWC) in London, is in the process of rolling out construction T levels.

So, what is driving the adoption of T levels? Primarily it seems to be funding.

As part of the transition to T levels, the government announced that it was cutting funding for BTECs, an existing vocational qualification. But, following the patchy roll-out of the first wave of T levels, the government announced a stay of execution for a raft of BTECs.

Still, despite the blip, Evans says that the withdrawal of funding for BTECs is 鈥渁 fundamental driver鈥 behind education providers making this shift, 鈥渋rrespective of the merits of T levels鈥.

The process of introducing the new qualifications also requires training for the educators. According to Evans, the  has been given significant funding 鈥渢o roll out training to colleges in the UK over the next couple of years鈥.

The intention is also to bring industry and education together. Employers played a part in the development of the qualifications and will be critical in terms of keeping the qualifications up to date, and also providing work placements.

鈥淓mployer engagement is more important than ever before,鈥 says Evans. 鈥淲e need them all to engage T level providers and offer industry placements.鈥

But putting in place enough placements is already proving an issue. 鈥漌e think industry placement is going to be one of the biggest challenges, given T levels will replace all other level 3 qualifications over the next couple of years.鈥

A lot of colleges are having to put a lot of effort into industry engagement to get placements lined up, and Evans says this is currently the 鈥渕ain concern across all subjects鈥, before adding that the further education sector 鈥渞eally does need some help鈥.

But Evans remains optimistic overall. 鈥淚 think there could be great value in T levels,鈥 he says. With the 鈥渟upport and engagement of industry鈥, Evans believes T levels 鈥渟hould be a conduit to the future workplace鈥 that helps the UK 鈥渢o plug all those skills gaps we have鈥.

With a significant focus on workplace learning, and the potential to go straight into a job, an apprenticeship or a degree after college, Evans acknowledges that education providers will 鈥渉ave to develop students鈥 employability skills very quickly鈥.

We need to make employers more aware of T levels and how they can support them

He wants to see 鈥渋ndustry and higher education (HE) engaged right from the start鈥 to help guide young people through the options. 鈥淎 student interested in architecture will have engagement with architecture and an HE mentor,鈥 he says.

His ideal for how the new system will work envisages that employers see the placement programme as a means to spot future talent. Once the student is in the workplace, Evans wants to see 鈥渢he employer already working with the HE provider on the appropriate apprenticeship course. That鈥檚 my ideal.鈥

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City of Westminster College is gearing up to roll out T levels

But the shift from a full-time education model to one that includes work placements is going to place huge demands on colleges and industry. As Evans points out, with 40 students on a course, 鈥測ou start to see you have severe constraints on employers 鈥 Employer engagement within T levels surpasses anything in any other qualification up to this point.鈥

Part of the solution he believes is increasing industry鈥檚 awareness of its obligations and the opportunities. 鈥淲e need to make employers more aware of T levels and how they can support them,鈥 he says.

For the firms themselves, Evans believes T levels could provide a brilliant opportunity to 鈥渟pot future workplace talent鈥.

One of the other issues for T levels so far has been some universities鈥 refusal to accept them as equivalent to A levels. Evans argues that it is 鈥渁bsolutely paramount that universities back T levels.

鈥淭hat issue has not really been resolved,鈥 he acknowledges, 鈥渂ut bear in mind that there were universities that never really accepted BTECs.鈥

BTECs were never fully accepted, especially by elite Russell Group universities. Cambridge has already set out where it stands in terms of engineering, with a statement on its website stating: 鈥淭 levels are not considered appropriate preparation for the Cambridge engineering degree and are therefore not accepted for entry.鈥

Evans also wants to make the HE sector more 鈥渁ware of T levels鈥 and 鈥渉ow they could feed into their degree apprenticeship pipeline鈥. He acknowledges that engineering courses in particular 鈥渨ould quite like an A level maths on the side鈥.

鈥淚n terms of the higher-ranking universities, I imagine that T levels will be regarded as similar to BTECs,鈥 he says. The reality  appears to be that T levels are not currently a great choice if you want to pursue a degree at a top university in the UK.

Central European standards have been held up as superior to ours for decades

But Evans sees potential elsewhere. 鈥淚 do see a lot of the T level grads taking the apprenticeship degree route.鈥

The lack of Russell Group recognition is perhaps not so much of an issue so long as students are properly briefed on their options. After all, T levels are also about providing a gateway to work, not just academic success.

Evans sees the way in which industry has been invoved in the curriculum design as putting a lot of emphasis on 鈥渂ehaviours, aligned with specific jobs and roles鈥. The idea is that young people are going to finish this course with the skills needed to succeed in the workplace. 鈥淎lignment with apprenticeship standard is central to that,鈥 he says.

鈥淐entral European standards have been held up as superior to ours for decades,鈥 says Evans. He believes that the T levels, alongside apprenticeships, mean that the UK is finally becoming 鈥渕ore aligned with German models鈥.

For Evans, the government and all those backing T levels, part of the point is that they are 鈥渕arketed as a real alternative to A levels and not just for those who did not do as well at GCSE鈥. But, as he points out, 鈥渁t the moment, that isn鈥檛 being effectively communicated鈥.

The employer

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Emily Pallot

Emily Pallot is director at Ayre Chamberlain Gaunt (ACG), an architectural practice with offices in Basingstoke and Fitzrovia, central London.

Pallot and ACG have had a longstanding interest in architectural education and engaging young people with the built environment. She teaches the 鈥渋ndustry and practice鈥 module on the University of Reading鈥檚 architecture course, and ACG is already closely involved in 鈥渋nterfacing with primary schools, secondary schools and beyond鈥 on learning and skills.

For Pallot, a key message for her students at Reading is that studying architecture 鈥渋s not just about drawing鈥 but also about options for work that do not just involve going into conventional practice. She sees the T level course as giving young people a better insight into architecture and construction, so they can make informed decisions about their future career paths.

ACG has been working with Havant and South Downs College (HSDC) in Hampshire on the roll-out of the design, surveying and planning T level.

Pallot says that their first year T level students come into the office for perhaps just three or four days during the year. This gives them an introduction to 鈥淏IM, marketing, working on site, and journalling鈥 and is coupled with an opportunity to reflect on this time and what they have learnt.

For anyone starting out in their career I鈥檓 not sure remote working works

In their second year, the students come into the office for around 40 days in total. The workplace experience is spread out over several weeks, with three days at work and two days in college per week for classroom learning and reflection.

Pallot acknowledges that the experience of working as a workplace partner for T levels has brought challenges for ACG. The college asked one of the students to work for ACG remotely for one day a week, which she believes was probably not a success.

鈥淔or anyone starting out in their career I鈥檓 not sure remote working works,鈥 says Pallot. 鈥淚t was tricky. One day working from college for ACH 鈥 that really didn鈥檛 work.鈥

But Pallot believes these lessons are all part of the learning curve that colleges and firms are embarking on together with T levels. And she firmly believes the time in an office was 鈥済ood exposure鈥 for the students.

Something the college and the practice did not anticipate, says Pallot, was the students鈥 lack of prior exposure to a workplace. 鈥淭hey are not Part 1,鈥 she notes, before pointing out that there is 鈥渁 big difference in terms of managing them 鈥 some have never had a job before.鈥

She notes that there was a need to point out some basics about how an office works. 鈥淲e had to explain that you don鈥檛 need to ask to go for lunch,鈥 she says.

HSCD has found it 鈥渂eneficial when its students have had workplace experience鈥, she believes. And for the students themselves there is a confidence-building factor to having worked on a range of real-world projects.

Companies who commit to this really need to be ready to take a high level of management

Pallot sees the need to keep T levels up to date as a potential challenge. 鈥淚n terms of the skills people will need in the future, things are changing so quickly.鈥

Like Evans, she can also see an issue around finding enough placements. 鈥淲here does the responsibility sit for the recruitment of firms? I would flip it back onto industry,鈥 she says. 鈥淐olleges are really struggling to find enough placements.

鈥淭here is a disconnect between how colleges are seeking out people to help. But also, I don鈥檛 think we as an industry are being clear enough about us being open to take students.鈥

In terms of the workplace experience for students and employers, T levels are clearly still a work in progress. 鈥淲e really need to think about the kind of tasks we set. Companies who commit to this really need to be ready to take a high level of management,鈥 says Pallot.

This means a 鈥渞eal-time commitment in terms of upskilling鈥 for practice staff, so they can deliver for the T level students.

She does see potential benefits for employers. 鈥淲hat it did really help us with is that we left them in the care of our Part 1 assistant.鈥 At ACH, an associate and a junior architectural member of staff were mentoring the T level student.

鈥淵ounger members of the team have to have a go at managing and be responsible for planning someone鈥檚 time,鈥 she notes. 鈥淭hat helps them to become better at doing that for themselves.鈥

Is this a fully coordinated national effort, with national and local government, industry and education pulling together in the same direction? The intent seems to be there but, in a familiar story, industry and higher education seem insufficiently engaged or aware of what is required.

Clearly, a major effort to find work placements, and change the culture in industry and higher education is required. 

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Andy Burnham

Another issue that has recently been highlighted by the mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham, is that unlike Germany, where devolved regional governments have had huge autonomy to tailor education provision to meet local industry needs, UK education policy is almost entirely in the hands of Whitehall.

In a sign of the frustration felt by local government at the inflexibility of UK policy, Burnham has been speaking out about Manchester鈥檚 plans to defy the central government diktat on   by introducing its own Manchester baccalaureate (Mbacc) for 14 to 16-year-olds, as a vocational alternative to the English baccalaureate (Ebacc).

Highlighting Manchester鈥檚 need to maintain growth, Burnham said: 鈥淎 risk to that growth is an education system not flexible enough to rise to the fast-changing skills requirements of potential investors.鈥

Centuries of fitful starts on vocational education, and deeply engrained attitudes that favour 鈥渁cademic鈥 qualificaitons will be hard to overcome. But, as Neal Shasore of the London School of Architecture succintly puts it, giving young people the skills to succeed in the workplace is 鈥渘ot just about getting students on the conveyor belt. It鈥檚 about what we need 鈥 for our community and our planet.鈥

Properly delivered, T levels could help to achieve the long desired shift in UK attitudes to workplace skills and training. But whether the UK has the desire and drive to achieve that change is yet to be seen.  

Join us at the 黑洞社区 the Future Commission Conference

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You can join the   in Westminster on 27 September to hear from leading figures across the construction industry and find out more about the work of the commission.

The day will include panel debates on net zero, digital transformation and building safety as well as talks from high-profile keynote speakers on future trends and ideas that could transform the sector.

There will also be the chance to feed in your ideas to the commission and to network with other industry professionals keen to share knowledge. 

You can follow our progress using #黑洞社区TheFuture on social media.

About the commission

The 黑洞社区 the Future Commission is a 12-month project looking at radical and challenging ideas that could help transform the built environment.

The campaign aims to tap into innovative ideas, amplify them and be an agent for change.

The major project鈥檚 work will be guided by a panel of major figures who have signed up to help shape the commission鈥檚 work culminating in a report published at the end of the year.

The commissioners include figures from the world of contracting, housing development, architecture, policy-making, skills, design, place-making, infrastructure, consultancy and legal. See the full list here.

The project is looking at proposals for change in eight areas:

>> Editor鈥檚 view: And now for something completely positive - our 黑洞社区 the Future Commission

>> Click here for more about the project and the commissioners

黑洞社区 the Future is also undertaking a countrywide tour of roundtable discussions with experts around the regions as part of a consultation programme in partnership with the regional arms of industry body Constructing Excellence. There is also a young person鈥檚 advisory panel.

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