Industry bodies are to meet DTI minister Brian Wilson next week to discuss the higher education crisis in construction, writes Adrian Barrick.
The summit will look at how to improve the dwindling student interest in construction-related courses.

Preliminary figures from the Higher Education Funding Council are understood to show that up to 40 construction and engineering courses are under threat of closure this summer.

A source close to the HEFC is predicting that if the trend continues there will be no courses left in 10 years' time. In 1997 there were 457 undergraduate courses in construction across 63 universities.

The meeting, to be held next Wednesday (18 July), will include representatives from the DTI, the Construction Industry Training Board and the Construction Industry Council. More than 20 university vice-chancellors will attend.

CIC chief executive Graham Watts said: "The decline in applications is absolutely alarming." He said there was an urgent need for the government to improve the situation, given the level of public spending on construction over the next 10 years. The CITB is predicting that the industry needs 74,000 recruits a year for the next five years.

CITB head of careers, education and training development Kate Howard said a plan to tackle the problem would be finalised at the meeting. "We want to see employers, higher education bodies and professional institutions working together to solve this," she said.

Ideas expected to be raised at the meeting include improving the promotion of construction courses and university prospectuses. Universities are also being encouraged to work more closely with the industry to create more practical courses for students.

Another suggestion is that the government could offer incentives such as paying off student loans – a similar scheme to that offered to trainee teachers.

The meeting comes after the formation of the Construction Industry Task Group at the start of the year to tackle the skills crisis.

There has been a disturbing trend in student interest in the sector. Between 1994 and 1999, applications for civil engineering courses fell 40%, those for architecture 14% and those for other construction courses 41%. Applications for all other subjects rose 9%. Meanwhile, the acceptances for civil engineering courses dropped 24%; for other construction courses they fell 7%. This suggests that the quality of students applying is falling.

n DTI minister Brian Wilson is also due to meet construction industry umbrella bodies – such as the Construction Confederation and the Construction Products Association – for the first time next week.