A major reform of qualifications for people planning to work in the construction and built environment in Wales has been announced today (2 July)
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 help reshape education and training for the construction and built environment sector in Wales.
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, both experienced awarding bodies in the construction and built environment sector, who will be working with the regulator to design and deliver post-16 Foundation, Progression and Apprenticeship qualifications.
Qualifications Wales’s director of qualifications policy & reform, Cassy Taylor, said: “We’re delighted to be awarding the contract for the development of new construction and built environment qualifications for Wales to City & Guilds, working in partnership with EAL.
“The construction and building services sectors are large, diverse and a priority for Wales, and the new qualifications are being developed to meet the changing needs of the industry. They’ll enable workers to understand the role of new technologies in the sector, but will also give them the ability to maintain and repair the traditional buildings and structures we have in Wales”.
Kirstie Donnelly, managing director of City & Guilds Group, commented: “Construction has been at the heart of City & Guilds Group since we were founded 140 years ago, and we’re really pleased to have won this joint bid in partnership with EAL to deliver qualifications for an industry that is so vital to the economic success of Wales.
“Qualifications Wales is leading the way in streamlining the approach to post-16 vocational qualifications and driving up standards, and we are pleased to be working together to develop qualifications that meet the needs of employers, learners and the wider community.
”We are also looking forward to building on the great relationship we’ve developed with Qualifications Wales through the City and Guilds/WJEC health and social care and childcare qualifications launching in September and taking standards to the next level to support vital skills development in Wales.”
The post-16 qualifications include an overarching 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.
The announcement comes after the UK Government unveiled plans to roll out construction T Levels for England in 2020.
