Major changes have been made to the structure of apprenticeships but thousands of apprentices are still being denied placements from the construction industry's employers.
Would-be apprentices are struggling to find employers says ConstructionSkills, the Sector Skills Council for the industry, which is urging the UK's employers to continue taking on apprentices if they want to stay competitive throughout the economic downturn.

Construction Skills says the UK construction industry has recently seen a reduction in the annual requirement for new construction staff due to the economic downturn, with the house building sector being particularly affected.

Thousands of employers are needed to match the UK demand for apprenticeships but only 4,600 employer vacancies have been offered so far despite the 19,000 apprentice applications received during May to September 2008.

In the same period last year, 5,300 apprentices were placed with employers out of the 30,000 apprentice applications received.

ConstructionSkills is calling on companies of all sizes to help young people enter the industry before they are lost to other sectors.

'Construction output continues to grow and thousands of new staff are still required to enter the industry each year so investing in apprentices remains vital' said a spokesman for ConstructionSkills.

Director of ConstructionSkills Apprenticeships, Max Hamps, said 'Apprentices are not only essential to the future of the construction industry but to the future of the UK economy. It is vital that during these tough economic times valuable skills are not lost in the short term while plans are developed to ensure the skills base exists to support the expected expansion annually between 2009 and 2013.

He added 'We will continue to work closely with the house builders in particular who so far have been the most affected by the downturn'.

From October 2008, apprentices will work towards a more demanding construction diploma based on a larger curriculum in response to changes demanded by the industry.

Apprentices in England will now be able to:
Study aspects of complementary disciplines alongside the main subject of their Apprenticeship. For example, Site Carpentry apprentices can study elements of bench joinery
· Get a strong grasp of business-related skills such as planning and estimating, to add more value to their employer.
· Learn different building methods and sustainability, to gain a more diverse range of skills
· Become more aware of site hazards due to a larger Health & Safety unit.

A poll of 136 construction firms with less than 50 employees, conducted in July 2008 by Construction Skills revealed 89% said that they thought the changes to apprenticeships were a good idea, 69% backed the move to improve apprentices' knowledge of planning and estimating and 94% supported the idea of introducing the study of complementary subjects. The new changes were brought in response to feedback from the industry at ConstructionSkills' consultations, which showed that apprenticeships could be upgraded to better fit with day-to-day business practices.

To help employers take on an apprentice ConstructionSkills provides employers with financial support towards traditional apprenticeships of up to £9,820 and for the alternative programme-led apprenticeships direct funding of £3,000. There is also a network of trained advisors providing ongoing mentoring and support.

For more details go to www.cskills.org/apprenticeships