Redrow partners college to address industry skills shortage
Construction students are being offered work experience through a partnership between Redrow and Medway University Technical College. The initiative is aimed at countering the skills shortage in the construction industry. Students studying for a BTEC in Construction and the Built Environment in conjunction with GCSEs and A-levels could be offered further placements within the scheme to help them develop additional skills. Billy Tivey, 16, has been shadowing the site manager at Redrow’s St Andrew’s Park development in Halling, Kent. He said: “I’d been thinking of a career in design or site management, but the Redrow work experience placement has helped me decide that I want to be a site manager 100%.”

Aspiring surveyors and site managers swapped the classroom for on the job experience with the offer of further placements as part of Redrow’s partnership with Medway University Technical College.

Students at the Kent school are studying for BTEC in Construction and the Built Environment alongside their GCSEs and A-levels.

Recognising that the construction industry is facing a skills shortage, Redrow has partnered with Medway UTC to help enrich the students’ learning experience.

The latest activity as part of the partnership has seen students undertake work experience placements in Redrow’s regional headquarters in Chatham and on its construction sites in the Kent area.

Medway UTC head girl Rebecca Driver, 16, is studying for an extended diploma in construction and the built environment with an A-level in product design with a view to becoming a chartered quantity surveyor.

“I was 14 when I decided I wanted to pursue a career in construction. I like working with figures and understanding how things work to scale. “There aren’t many females working in construction at the moment so it was good to be shadowing a female quantity surveyor. I would like to talk to younger people about career options in construction, particularly to other girls who perhaps aren’t sure of the opportunities available to them.”

One of the units on Rebecca’s course is surveying and so she found it interesting to see how what she’s been learning in the classroom works in the context of a new homes development.

Billy Tivey, also 16, spent the placement shadowing the site manager at Redrow’s St Andrew’s Park development in Halling.

He said:

“I’d been thinking of a career in design or site management, but the Redrow work experience placement has helped me decide that I want to be a site manager 100%. I’ve really enjoyed it and it’s definitely what I want to do.”

Mike Tynan, area construction manager for Redrow Homes (South East), said: