New apprenticeship standards signed off by government

New bricklayer and plasterer apprenticeships have received final sign-off by the government.

The new apprenticeship, which were shaped by employers in the construction industry, is aiming to produce brickies and plasterers that are equally equipped to work for SMEs and major contractors.

Barratt, Lovell and Redrow are among the employers that worked to develop the new programmes.

Julian Weightman, chair of the Bricklayer and Plasterer Apprenticeship Trailblazer Group which developed the new standards, said: “I feel certain that the introduction of these two new apprenticeships will drive up standards in our industry. This will certainly make more SME employers likely to train an apprentice and will help us meet the Government’s target of three million new apprenticeships by 2020.”

Earlier this week, Sir Oliver Letwin’s independent review of how to build more homes called for thousands more British bricklayers to be trained in order to meet the government’s housebuilding goals.

It said that to “raise production of new homes from about 220,000 to about 300,000… the government and major housebuilders work together … on a five year ‘flash’ programme of pure on the job training”.

Brian Berry, chief executive of the Federation of Master Builders, said: “These higher quality construction apprenticeships have the potential to help solve the construction skills crisis. This increase in quality will lead to an increase in quantity. Over 70% of construction SME bosses say they would be more likely to train an apprentice if the quality of apprenticeships improved.

“The construction industry is not meeting its apprenticeship targets currently and this uplift in quality will help encourage students, teachers and parents alike to properly consider a career in construction. We’re expecting up to 4,000 apprentices to enrol on the bricklayer apprenticeship every year and up to 1,500 apprentices to undertake plastering each year.”