UCEM supports new CLC Industry Skills Plan 2023-24
Posted on: 15 May, 2023
A major part of UCEM’s vision and strategy to 2025 is to influence those across the built environment sector for the benefit of all, as we wish to ensure learners start their careers in an industry which can accommodate their ambition, abilities and interests.
In pursuit of this, UCEM plans to hold a series of ‘INSPIRE’ events to work in partnership with important sectoral bodies, including the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) and the Construction Industry Council (CIC).
Aled Williams, Chair of the CLC’s Routes into Industry Panel, Education Champion for the CIC and Executive Director, Innovation and Partnerships at UCEM, commented, “UCEM is looking forward to hosting various INSPIRE events over the coming months and years. We hope these will facilitate coherent engagement, capture sector perspectives and catalyse progress through partnership working between government, professional institutions, education and industry.”
Progress through partnership
The CLC recently published its 2023 – 24 Industry Skills Plan, which UCEM was delighted to lead and contribute to workstreams. Their plan highlights how much the construction and built environment industry has to offer society while providing collaborative solutions aiming to address short and long-term challenges. These include tackling the sector’s skills shortages, whilst also helping to achieve net zero commitments.
UCEM was therefore delighted to work alongside other key stakeholders to progress the CLC skills plan activities and targets. For example, increasing apprenticeship starts and completions, especially those at higher and degree apprenticeship levels, providing the technical and professional workforce of the future.
This is a topic that is of particular interest to UCEM. We are the leading provider of surveying degree apprenticeships in England and also offer similar apprenticeships for Building Control and Construction Site Management, teaching nearly 2,000 apprentices every year.
UCEM plans to explore, through INSPIRE events with experts from across the built environment sector, the reforms that are needed to enable successful technical and professional apprenticeships. This will support attraction, recruitment, retention and successful outcomes aimed at developing a pipeline of future talent, helping realise the objectives set out in the CLC’s 2023 – 24 Industry Skills Plan.
Find out more about UCEM’s degree apprenticeships
UCEM enabling sustainability and net zero skills
There is an increasing demand for career development and upskilling opportunities in sustainability which are vital to addressing the need for climate literacy and delivering against the UK’s net zero targets. We are committed, as stated in our sustainability strategy, to driving forward this agenda and how we will provide the teaching, CPD and research to deliver the relevant knowledge, skills and behaviours for the built environment.
We are increasingly integrating sustainability, net zero and biodiversity learning across our various course curricula, informing this process via surveying our alumni on their experiences of sustainability, both during their time at UCEM and as future ambassadors in the sector.
We have even gone a step further by pioneering a new postgraduate programme, MSc Innovation in Sustainable Built Environments, aimed at those professionals looking to develop their knowledge and credentials in this evolving field. You can read more about the programme here or in this article by UCEM’s Associate Dean of Sustainability, Dr Graeme Larsen. Applications are open until 7 August 2023.
Through the UCEM INSPIRE events programme, we will also convene sustainability leaders later in 2023 to discuss meeting sector goals, sharing ideas and highlighting innovative practices.
We aim to publish our findings from our first INSPIRE events in summer 2023, so keep a watch on our website and social media channels.
