Nicola Hodkinson, Owner and Director at Seddon Construction, writing in FE Week (13 February 2026)

In a recent opinion piece for FE Week, Nicola Hodkinson argues that the industry’s skills shortage won’t be solved by school leavers alone. She calls for a multi-generational approach to apprenticeships.

Government investment announced at the end of 2025 focuses on apprentices under 25. Nicola says that won’t make much difference for construction employers on its own. Training quality isn’t the main obstacle. The bigger problem is the risk employers take on while working on low margins, with little certainty about future work. Routes such as T Levels are also aimed mostly at school leavers, which leaves out adults who want to change career.

Nicola makes the case for mature apprentices. Research by Michael Page shows the most common age for a career change is 31. People retraining at that stage bring workplace maturity, clear goals and transferable skills like communication, reliability, problem-solving and teamwork. In a high-risk industry, she argues, they also tend to bring a stronger awareness of safety and site discipline.

Her recommendations for policymakers are to:

• support employment at every age, not just for young people
• encourage employers with less admin and clearer, more flexible funding, rather than penalising them
• reform construction procurement so contracts stop favouring the lowest price over quality and good employment practice
• treat apprenticeships as a pathway for life, not a scheme tied to age

“Apprenticeships must be positioned as a lifelong pathway, not a scheme tied to age brackets.”

View the article here