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Enabling Successful Built Environment Apprenticeships: A Call to Action

Enabling Successful Built Environment Apprenticeships: A Call to Action’, published by UCEM in partnership with the Construction Industry Council and the Construction Leadership Council recommends reforms to increase the retention, continuation and success of built environment apprenticeships, especially at higher technical and professional levels.

Apprenticeships have emerged as a key avenue for bringing people into technical and professional roles in the built environment. However, the report identifies some barriers to these types of apprenticeships which need to be overcome if we are to prepare the built environment professionals of tomorrow with the competencies that will deliver enhanced building safety standards, net-zero, sustainability and digital transformation.

The report also highlights how sectoral collaboration and partnerships are critical to attracting and retaining the right people in construction and the built environment, via the right apprenticeships, the right training providers and end point assessment processes, at the right time.

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UK Construction Workplace Poverty: The Impact Of Financial And Job Insecurity On Mental Health

The aim of this study was to explore resilience and wellbeing in the UK construction sector, specifically looking at mental health in construction and how this is affected by financial wellbeing and job security. Mental health is of paramount importance; it impacts on how we feel, think, and behave each day. Mental health contributes to decision making and problem solving, and therefore impacts professionally and can have profound effects on the individual, family, friends and work.

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PropTech Education Integration Framework (PEIF)

October 2021

The accelerated growth of digitisation in real estate operations and practice has led to the emergence of a contemporary real estate specialist area commonly referred to as “PropTech”. Despite the tremendous growth in the deployment of digital technologies and IT systems to solve real estate problems, there has been a disproportionate growth in scholarly work, particularly in PropTech education.

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The Pathway to Lifelong Education: Reforming the UK’s Skills System

October 2021

This research report by public policy thinktank, ResPublica’s Lifelong Education Commission assesses the barriers to lifelong learning in England.

Chaired by former universities minister, Chris Skidmore MP, the hope is that the report will prompt the government to make changes to existing mechanisms to allow lifelong learning to flourish.

UCEM Principal, Ashley Wheaton, contributed his expertise to the report and shared his comments on the report in an article on the UCEM website.

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City 2040. The pressures on UK cities: An opportunity for change

July 2021

City 2040 proposes how UK cities need to change post-pandemic enabling the real estate industry to flourish over the next 20 years, and use these changes to benefit both the environment and the wellbeing of people.

Key elements of this vision include adapting single city centres to broaden their appeal, and the addition of smaller hubs within a city’s bounds. This will create more localised areas with unique identities and more widely accessible urban green space, all of which will benefit the environment.

The research, released by international law firm, Taylor Wessing, together with think tank, the Edge, and UCEM, harnesses ideas offered by 600 academics and experts drawing conclusions and new solutions for industry professionals to consider.

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Flexible Apprenticeships in Construction

This manual, co-authored by industry and government, sets out how flexibilities in apprenticeships can be used and delivered in construction – to meet the needs of employers and apprentices.

Apprenticeships have been on a transformational journey since 2012, with reforms such as the introduction of employer-led standards leading the way in ensuring apprenticeships are relevant, high quality, and meet the skills needs of employers.

In 2020, the Prime Minister committed to building on this success, and making apprenticeships more flexible, to better meet the needs of employers and apprentices.

The manual sets out how the delivery of apprenticeship training can be flexed to meet employer needs and how the length of an apprenticeship can be reduced where an individual has existing relevant knowledge or skills.

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Public and Commercial Attitudes to Disability in the Built Environment

Showcasing  ‘gold’ standards on inclusive design is critical to illustrate the commercial and social benefits of increased accessibility in the Built Environment for disabled people. Commercial value and consumer choice are two reasons why building owners or service providers should look beyond minimal legal compliance towards the commercial opportunities that an inclusive environment engenders. These are the headline recommendations in a new research report by Adrian Tagg, funded by University College of Estate Management’s (UCEM) Harold Samuel Research Prize, titled ‘Public and commercial attitudes to disability in the built environment’.

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Build back better: Improving the apprenticeship system to better support infrastructure

October 2020

High skill, high tech construction apprenticeships are needed to boost the skills needed in infrastructure projects to drive the UK’s economic recovery. This is what is being called for by the authors of a new research report entitled ‘Build back better: Improving the apprenticeship system to better support infrastructure’.

The report, written on behalf of the Construction Industry Council (CIC), University College of Estate Management (UCEM) and the Technical Apprenticeship Consortium (TAC), with data used from a CIC survey of employers, recommends that Government works with CIC, employers and the professional bodies to: recognise the value of technical and higher-level apprenticeships leading to professional registration; increase the flexibility of the apprenticeship levy; join up and improve the apprenticeship systems across the UK; and celebrate and promote apprenticeships.

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The role of standards in enabling a data driven UK real estate market

September 2020

UK real estate data must be allowed to flow freely beyond the existing silos in order for the industry to flourish and standards have a key role to play in facilitating this. This is one of the key findings from the research report: ‘The role of standards in enabling a data driven UK real estate market’, authored by Dan Hughes on behalf of the Real Estate Data (RED) Foundation and funded by UCEM’s Harold Samuel Research Prize. The research explores the role of standards in ensuring an effective flow of data across the whole built environment, to set the scene for a sector-wide discussion on what is available, what is needed and the future role of people.
Front cover of the Retirement Housing for Farmers report. Cows in the countryside. Download

Rural housing issues a barrier to retiring farmers and new entrants

October 2019

Farmers, Retirement and Housing in the United Kingdom: A review of the issues, experiences and possible answers – looks at the impact of access to housing for retiring farmers, and the subsequent impact on the industry.

Released by University College of Estate Management (UCEM), The Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV), The Prince’s Countryside Fund, Royal Agricultural University and Northumbrian Water Group, with support from a steering group including Addington Fund, the report identifies and examines the measures needed to enable those who wish to retire from the agricultural industry to do so without fear or hardship.

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Value of Community: Building a Legacy

September 2019

Published by University College of Estate Management (UCEM) in partnership with The Prince’s Foundation, this report reveals a direct link between housing type and social benefits – so-called ‘social capital’. The team at UCEM surveyed 850 residents at Poundbury and Fairford Leys to give a fascinating snap-shot into the benefits of living, working and growing up in this particular type of housing development. Savills also produced a financial study to go alongside the report that reveals the long-term economic benefits of taking a sustainable approach to house building. A short version of the main report with separate appendices is available.

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Automatic Transcription Software: Good Enough for Accessibility? A Case Study from Built Environment Education

June 2019

The increasing use of multimedia in learning resources in higher education poses a challenge for learners with hearing disabilities, unless these are accompanied by transcripts or captions. This paper reports on a small study where six Automatic Transcription Software (ATS) were analysed for their accuracy. Although economical and timesaving, at present, it seems an automatically generated transcript is not yet accurate enough to be an accessibility aid for the subjects relating to built environment sector.