Not quite as easy as APC

The debate on education and skills in the construction industry has taken an intriguing twist with the revelation in QS News that a massive 40% of candidates are failing the APC exam each year.

What a useless bunch they must be, one immediately thinks. But hang on a minute. It is claimed that an alarming 60% of APC supervisors do not “know what they are doing” (see page 12). If this is so, the APC candidates are actually doing pretty well.

These findings paint a picture of young QSs struggling with a woeful lack of guidance from their older mentors, with more than half of them still managing to pass the assessment against the odds. Such an image turns on its head the idea that the profession’s training problems lie with the new intake.

Many APC supervisors are unsure of what is required of them, while others are not devoting enough time to the job. Could it be that some supervisors are not taking their responsibilities entirely seriously?

Senior QSs insist that the profession’s educational woes start at university, well before the APC, which is undertaken once a QS is working in the industry (see Letters).

Although universities such as Liverpool John Moores vigorously defend their courses, the need for better training at many universities in the basics, and particularly measurement, is an undoubted concern.

But this concern only makes the APC even more important. It can tackle gaps in the younger generation’s knowledge and provide them with the industry experience they are so often condemned for lacking.

Admittedly, APC supervisors face a tricky task in having to train junior staff on top of doing their day jobs. Yet, with all the impassioned talk about the need to improve educational standards, it seems that supervisors would be doing a great service to the younger generation if they made time to pass on their vital knowledge.