As National Apprenticeships Week comes to a close, the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT) has highlighted the low numbers completing construction apprenticeships – contrasting with reports earlier in the week of the continued increase in the number of apprenticeship starts.
Earlier this week, the CITB compiled figures for England, Scotland and Wales, which showed that apprenticship starts in 2014-15 hit a six-year high – 22,496 young people started their qualifications in 2014/2015, up 12% from 19,973 in 2013/14.
In England only, the number of starts last year was 18,290, compared to 15,890 in 2013/14 and 13,730 in 2012/13.
UCATT, however, says that apprenticeship completions are flatlining. Figures, for England only, show that 8,470 individuals completed two- or three-year construction apprenticeships in 2014/15, compared to 8,030 in 2013/14, and 9,060 in 2012/13.
Given that most apprentices complete a two-year qualification, this suggests that only around two thirds of the young people who started in England in 2012/13 completed their course.
According to the CITB’s most recent Construction Skills Network report, the UK construction industry needs 46,400 new apprentices every year.
Brian Rye, acting general secretary of UCATT, said: “We need almost 50,000 new entrants every year to sustain ourselves. Less than 20% of that – 8,000 apprentices – is not enough.
He added: “In National Apprenticeships Week the last thing we need from the CITB – on behalf of the major constructors and the government – is an attempt to hide these sorry apprenticeship figures by spinning the statistics. It’s extremely unhelpful.”
But according to the CITB, full completion data for England or Wales for 2014/15 has not been released yet, but it has forecast the number of completions of apprenticeships as England: 8,100, Scotland: 2,056 and Wales 850.
The CITB also said that it did not have a breakdown of the apprenticeship start figures by gender, but quoted historic figures to suggest that only around 2% of new apprentices in the sector are female.
