Speaking to BDC Magazine on GCSE results day, Seddon owner and director Nicola Hodkinson said construction cannot complain about a skills shortage while it turns away young people who want to start apprenticeships.

Seddon gets thousands of apprenticeship applications every year, around 100 for each place. Nicola said this shows how much young people want to build careers in construction, and how few places there are for them.

The national figures show the same gap. Applications for degree apprenticeships have almost tripled in three years, from 8,100 to 21,800, while the number of places has halved, from 7,300 to 3,700. Construction apprenticeship starts rose by 5% last year, but starts among under-19s fell by 5.4% across all sectors. CITB estimates the industry will need an average of 41,200 extra workers every year between 2026 and 2030.

Nicola said the industry relies too heavily on flexible and self-employed labour, which leaves the job of training to someone else. That covers short-term needs but weakens the workforce of the future. She also pointed to the real costs of taking on an apprentice: wages, equipment, structured learning and the time of experienced staff. She said support with these costs is limited and often buried in red tape.

She welcomed two government measures: the new £2,000 payment for smaller employers who hire young apprentices, and the extra weight now given to jobs and skills when major public contracts are awarded. She called for both to be monitored closely, with more support added if apprenticeship numbers don’t keep up with demand.

“Results day should open doors,” was Nicola’s message. Government, clients and employers all share responsibility for making sure construction creates enough of them.

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