Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress he has made on promoting the vocational pathways available for students wishing to pursue a career in construction to (a) teachers, (b) students, (c) careers advisors and (d) parents and guardians.

Careers guidance is improving steadily across the country following the publication of the government’s careers strategy in December 2017. Schools and colleges are making good progress against the Gatsby benchmarks and showing improvements on every dimension of careers support. That means that young people are getting better information about the labour market, different education and training pathways and access to personal guidance to formulate ideas into a careers plan. Teachers are helping students to link their curriculum learning to future careers.

Through the Baker Clause, the department is improving the visibility and quality of advice on vocational routes by requiring schools to invite other providers to talk to students about the technical qualifications and apprenticeships that they offer.

The Careers & Enterprise Company is making sure that every young person has access to encounters with employers from a variety of sectors, which may include the construction industry. Information on a variety of careers, including construction, can also be found on the National Careers Service website.

The department promotes technical pathways, including for students interested in construction. We recently launched our T level communications campaign, aimed at young people, parents, teachers and employers. A new website (www.tlevels.gov.uk.) includes the function to search for providers delivering T levels from September 2020, including those in Construction (‘Design, Surveying and Planning’).

Apprenticeships available in the sector include Construction Site Engineering Technician, Installation Electrician and Civil Engineering Site Management. Our apprenticeships campaign, Fire It Up, demonstrates that apprenticeships are an aspirational choice for anyone with passion and energy. We have also developed Amazing Apprenticeships, a website and resource portal for schools and teachers.

In addition, we offer a free service to schools through the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge (ASK) project to ensure that teachers have the knowledge and support to enable them to promote apprenticeships to their students. During the 2018-19 academic year, the ASK programme reached over 300,000 students across 2,368 establishments and from September 2019, it has been extended to include years 7 to 9.