Construction Apprenticeships On The Rise: Here’s Why

According to new studies by Protrade, construction apprenticeships are on the rise for the first time since 2017. In this article, the team here at Health & Safety Training will be examining why this is happening, and why more still needs to be done.

Why apprenticeships fell in the first place

Between 2021 and 2022, there were around 26,000 new apprenticeships – which is an increase of over 6,000 from the previous 13 months. Great news for the industry! However, we’re still a long way off meeting the high demand of skilled workers the industry requires. The pandemic set many industries off-balance, construction included. In fact, only 16,000 apprentices started courses in the UK after the pandemic, which is well below the average of 22,500. 

While the pandemic hit the industry hard, Des Duddy, managing director of Protrade, cited other reasons why apprenticeships have been steadily declining for nearly a decade, namely: a lack of government funding, and a reluctance to spend resources training up unskilled workers. This is because, in reality, an apprenticeship will need at least a year, maybe two, before they’re truly up to speed and contribute properly to day-to-day business activities. But we all need to start somewhere, and if companies aren’t willing to put the time in to train up the next generation of construction workers, then we won’t have a deep pool of skilled professionals to draw on in decades to come.

A recent study by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) indicates that we will need around 40,000 people each year to join the sector if we are to meet the ever-growing demand, especially as the ageing workforce begins to retire.

Why are apprenticeships on the rise

The reason why construction apprenticeships are now rising has a lot to do with the way young people perceived the industry as the pandemic drew on. When the pandemic hit, everyone started to worry about which industries would weather the storm and which would falter. Young people seemed to view construction as a solid, pandemic-proof career path, which is why we have seen numbers rising again over the past couple of years.

When looking at the data, it’s clear that the young people coming into construction are more diverse than ever, which is also contributing to the uptick in apprenticeships. Specifically, we have seen a 6.47% growth in ethnic minority representation, which is great for the industry. Also, while this year’s figures don’t demonstrate it, female representation has been slowly rising for nearly half a decade now, which also goes some way to explaining why construction apprenticeships are looking more healthy.

Health & Safety Training is the leading provider of professional construction-related courses in the North East. We have a state-of-the-art training centre and boast pass rates of over 98%, so you get peace of mind when you choose us. For more information, all you have to do is get in touch.