Apprenticeship reforms risk creating a competence crisis in construction

The construction sector has long been grappling with a skills shortage, and training pipelines such as apprenticeships are vital in addressing that. Skills England launched a pilot this year to test new models of apprenticeship delivery and assessment across five standards – including carpentry and joinery – with the cited aim being to make apprenticeships more flexible and accessible.

But the proposals have triggered a widespread industry backlash over concerns that they risk compounding the skills crisis by diluting what competence means for our highly-skilled, safety-critical construction trades.

At Stairways Midlands, we have been training carpentry and joinery apprentices for over two decades. Our programme has helped dozens of young people to build careers, with a number now among our management team. But, for the first time in 20 years, we have had to press pause – because the model being piloted simply is not fit for purpose.

Lower standards?

Under the proposed reforms being tested by Skills England and the Department for Education, apprenticeships could be shortened to as little as eight months, and the end-point assessment process radically overhauled. Instead of demonstrating competence across the full standard, apprentices could be deemed qualified through “sampling” of the key skills, knowledge and behaviours set out in the criteria.

It is hard to overstate the consequences of that shift. In joinery, for instance, competence comes from time, repetition and robust independent scrutiny. You cannot compress those foundations into a handful of months or prove readiness by assessing fragments of the standard.

Industry alarm bells

The fear is that these changes will lead to inconsistency, erode confidence in apprentices and create a race to the bottom in training quality. It is telling that 23 leading organisations – coordinated by the British Woodworking Federation – have signed a letter to the prime minister warning that these reforms “will result in severely weakening the pathway to required training” and “undermine employer confidence”.

The impact will not only be felt by employers and apprentices themselves, who deserve a trusted qualification, but there are potential implications for safety and quality across the built environment. These proposals threaten to erode the integrity of apprenticeship qualifications at precisely the moment the industry can least afford it, especially as we work through the post-Grenfell drive for greater competence and accountability.

Threat to growth and housing delivery

Behind every housing target sits a workforce challenge. Without enough skilled joiners, carpenters and site professionals, projects slow down, costs rise and quality is compromised. By making apprenticeships less robust, we risk shrinking the talent pool further – and, with it, our ability to deliver the homes the country needs.

We are already seeing the effects: employers like us are hesitating to take on new apprentices amid uncertainty about the future model. The pipeline is fragile, and this uncertainty and concern destabilises it further.

Reform – but the right kind

This is not about clinging on to the status quo. The system could certainly be more flexible and accessible. But reform must be shaped with industry, not imposed upon it.

The current pause in the carpentry and joinery pilot – which followed the sector backlash – offers an opportunity to reset. The government should seize it, re-engaging employer-led groups to co-design a model which protects quality, competence and confidence.

If we get this wrong, we do not just face a skills shortage. We face a competence shortage. And that is a far greater risk to the sector, to housing delivery and to the public we serve.

Karen Wood is joint managing director at Stairways Midlands