A renewed national focus on technical education could help tackle outdated perceptions of construction careers, but employers must ensure young people have clear opportunities to progress once they enter the industry, according to construction training provider Essential Site Skills. The comments follow education reforms announced by Prime Minister Andy Burnham on 27th July 2026, which aim to give young people from the age of 14 greater access to technical education, work experience and connections with employers. Under the plans, technical and academic education will be given greater parity, with construction specifically identified as one of the career routes young people should be able to pursue with the skills and recognition they need.
Catherine Storer, Director at Essential Site Skills, said:
“For a long time, young people have been presented with a fairly narrow picture of what a successful career should look like. University is absolutely the right route for many people, but it should never be treated as the only route with value or ambition attached to it.
“Construction offers skilled, technical and professional careers at every level, from someone gaining their first experience on site through to trades, supervision, management and senior leadership. Giving young people greater exposure to those opportunities while they are still at school could make a genuine difference.”
Essential Site Skills says earlier exposure to construction is particularly important because many young people have little understanding of the range of occupations available across the sector. For some school leavers, a first opportunity may come through labouring experience, while others may enter construction through an apprenticeship or directly into a skilled occupational pathway. The Green CSCS Labourer Card, for example, is commonly associated with people entering genuine labouring roles and requires applicants to meet the relevant health and safety requirements. Young people who begin recognised apprenticeships may instead follow the route towards a Red CSCS Apprentice Card.
However, Essential Site Skills argues that attracting people into construction is only part of the challenge.
Catherine Storer continued:
“There is a danger that we talk about the construction skills shortage purely as a recruitment problem. Getting more young people through the door matters, but the industry also has to show them what comes next.
“Someone might start out gaining labouring experience, move into a trade, become a supervisor and eventually manage major construction projects. That progression does not happen automatically. It relies on experience, good employers, appropriate training and recognised qualifications at the right stages of a person’s career.”
The Government’s reforms aim to create clearer pathways between education and employment, with schools, colleges, employers and local leaders helping to shape technical routes around the skills needed within their areas.
Essential Site Skills believes this closer relationship between education and industry could help employers address future workforce requirements, provided businesses also invest in the development of existing workers. Construction NVQs, for example, allow experienced workers to demonstrate occupational competence through the work they already carry out, with qualifications available across skilled occupations, supervision and construction management.
Catherine Storer added:
“The skills pipeline cannot stop when someone leaves school or completes an apprenticeship.
“Construction needs new entrants, but it also needs experienced workers progressing into the supervisory, management and specialist roles the industry will require in the years ahead.
“If greater emphasis on technical education helps more young people see construction as a respected first-choice career, that is extremely positive. The next step is making sure we build pathways that allow them to keep developing once they are part of the industry.”
Essential Site Skills has published a detailed analysis of the reforms and what they could mean for construction employers, skills development, apprenticeships, CSCS cards and vocational qualifications.
Read the full Essential Site Skills article here: https://essentialsiteskills.co.uk/blog/post/technical-education-construction-skills-careers
