The numbers game

Television has a lot to answer for, says Peter Westland, head of the built environment division at Sheffield Hallam University. “Grand Designs, Changing Rooms, Ground Force, Relocation and that other one with Sarah Beeny, Property Ladder, they’ve made construction trendy now and this has impacted the industry,” he says.

Visit pretty much any city in the UK and you will see some sort of regeneration taking place. Construction is everywhere, and in a healthy state compared to the early 1990s. Couple this with a government keen to spend PFI money and the excitement caused by the 2012 Olympics bid win and you have just a few possible explanations why an increasing number of school leavers are considering construction as their next step in higher education. As a result the face of construction education is changing, which is impacting on those taking QS courses.

The surge

At Liverpool John Moores University, head of construction studies Brian Greenhalgh says his QS courses are in demand: “We’re getting more applicants, much more than five years ago, as QSing broadens out. There is now project management, construction management and whole-life costing among others. The job is not as discrete as it was ten years ago.”

At Sheffield Hallam, numbers over the last two years have also been rising. Last year 80 students took built environment courses; this year the number is 125.

The number of RICS accredited QS courses has, despite this, remained static in recent years. Tony Kelley, director of marketing and recruitment at the University of Central England, is concerned some courses are getting too popular: “If this year’s recruitment is anything like last year, we will see a further increase in part-time numbers at the expense of full time.”

But what does this mean for universities? Kelley admits there can be a detrimental effect: “When we take all our construction courses into account we will probably find it difficult to accommodate the numbers, when last year we had standing room only in some of the core-subject lecture rooms.”

The increase in those applying for QS courses, however, is minimal according to Professor Sarah Sayce, head of the school of surveying at Kingston University. “There’s a lot of pressure on kids to go to university - and if the numbers of applicants go up by 700 or so, well that’s peanuts when you have something like half a million kids in education.”

Few people get sponsorship deals. If you're in touch with a company from the day you start, the chances are better

James Corrigan, Kingston University

Westland also reports an increase in part-time numbers, and universities in general seem to be saying the same thing. Sheffield Hallam’s built environment division has 1,800 students, of which 1,500 are undergraduate and 300 part-time. The BSc (Hons) Quantity Surveying course has 140 full-time students and 85 part-timers (all-years total).

Why is the part-time route so attractive? Greenhalgh suggests money is a factor. “More undergraduates, especially from the Merseyside area, living at home, come straight from A-levels to a part-time course. They don’t want to accumulate £15,000 of debt.” One trend he has noticed is that employers are much more willing to take on school leavers and send them on part-time courses, as they understand fees can be expensive.

From the RICS’ point of view, however, the overall picture is healthy, with 2,267 new RICS student members in the first half of 2005, which is a 45% increase on the same period in 2004.

Fee pressure

Another explanation for the overall hike in numbers can be put down to Gordon Brown’s decision to push up fees. From next year, students can look forward to paying £3,000 in fees - more than double the current flat rate of £1,275.

LJMU’s Greenhalgh is alarmed by this planned legislation: “Next year is £3,000 per year, but after that there might not be any limit. It could be that after a few years you might have to pay £10,000 to study.”

Sheffield Hallam’s Westland is also concerned: “There’s been a surge, which I think is due to people worrying about these fees. After a three or four-year degree you can expect a £15,000 to £30,000 debt, once you’ve included fees, living expenses and so on.” Indeed, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) reports that the number of undergraduates starting university this year rose above 400,000 this year – almost 30,000 more than in 2004 and the largest increase since 1997. The danger, however, is that with these higher fees next year universities might not be able to fill vacancies.

We design our courses with employers. We’re vocational, which comes from us being an ex-polytechnic university

Peter Westland, Sheffield Hallam University

One way to lighten the financial burden is through a sandwich degree, or even better – sponsorship. James Corrigan, 22, in his third and final year of a BSc Quantity Surveying Consultancy degree at Kingston University, works two days a week at Turner & Townsend’s London office. It was originally going to be a three-month contract, but he pushed for an extension to one year. Funding can be difficult, Corrigan admits: “Few people get sponsorship deals and a lot depends on where you are. If you’re in touch with a company from the day you start, the chances are better. University is expensive as there are the books to buy, and even when working you have your travel expenses.”

Natasha Musandu, 22, on the same course at Kingston, is in her final year, having already spent her sandwich year at Bruce Shaw Partnership’s London office. Most of her peers opted for the sandwich year, with only two going straight to the final year as “they had jobs in their spare time – we’re only studying a few days a week so this is actually possible”. With no sponsorship in place, she is funding her final year herself and says that in retrospect she would have opted for the part-time course.

One solution is for students to make themselves known as soon as possible. Doctor John Dean, careers advisor at London’s South Bank University, thinks this is vital: “I encourage students from all years to attend recruitment fairs as the recruitment cycle can take up to a year with some of the bigger companies.” He says some students are not aware of this and that they must “market” themselves. “They have to get involved as early as possible to hear about what’s required from them directly from the horse’s mouth.”

Students should also realise that landing a good work experience placement could lead to sponsorship. Greenhalgh says 60-70% of LJMU students on QS courses will be sponsored by their placement company to complete their final year of studying. He says that out of the 30 to 35 students in industry each year on their QS sandwich placements, two or three students on average will not return, choosing to instead remain with that company.

Meanwhile, Westland’s motto for his students is “earning and learning”, which is not surprising considering Sheffield Hallam is the largest provider of sandwich placements in western Europe, with 200 construction students on placement each year. He believes universities must talk to the companies they deal with on a regular basis. He cites a recent survey that questioned firms about the skills they most want from Sheffield Hallam’s students.

Skills

So what are undergraduates, and even graduates, bringing to these companies? Are the modules a fair representation of what is actually required outside of the lecture theatre?

We’re getting more applicants, much more than five years ago, as QSing broadens out

Brian Greenhalgh, Liverpool John Moores University

Corrigan lists measurement, field trips and cost planning as some of the most useful modules he took but says the presentations made during the courses were invaluable: “I’ve made presentations to groups of more than 50 people, including developers. You can get quite nervous.” He says students cannot leave university just knowing the technical aspects of QSing. “You have to be able to talk to people, otherwise when working on projects you’ll have nothing to say.” He says Kingston University makes good use of a “varied module scheme”. “Within the lecturing system you can always apply for extra work. There are also examples to choose from so you can ask the lecturer to go over specific things.”

He adds that topics such as contracts, JCT, professional practice law and negligence have prepared him well for work at T&T. Any criticism geared towards students, he says, is unfair. “Every university is different,” he says, “and it’s the work experience that counts.”

Musandu also thinks she was well prepared for her year out: “The consultancy part of our degree means there is a fair share of business management and other procurement skills being studied. My work year at Bruce Shaw Partnership went really well. Plus there was a training programme,” she says. “Modules such as construction technology, construction economics and measurement were also very useful.” One module, however, did not particularly lend itself to her work – design appraisal: “I don’t see how looking at the buildings around or how to give an opinion on your surroundings affects what we do that much.”

She also believes some topics need more time spent on them - including measurement. “When you leave (for the placement) you feel that it’s not as cemented in your mind as much as it should be.”

Measurement is a topic that is often brought up by both employers and universities. At Kingston University, it was recently “beefed up”, according to Professor Sayce. There has been general criticism that management subjects play too large a role in universities. “On the contrary,” Professor Sayce says, “measurement is an integral part of our courses. There is a large call for QSs. We’ve even added a new lecturer this year, fresh from a practice. You have to include the soft skills and with project management you have to address the balance slightly.”

Since 2001, the RICS has been holding annual meetings with each university it works with and actively encourages them to engage in regular discourse with companies. Rob Tovey, director of education and training at the RICS, says this helps faculties to adapt their programmes: “We obviously don’t dictate to universities. Our philosophy is to not insist on what the content should be. But we do recommend certain areas. For example, we’d expect numeracy to be taught up to level three, as with the APC exam you have to be able to demonstrate this ability.”

Whether a university is an ex-polytechnic can also determine, to some extent, how vocational its QS courses are as well as the types of skills a student will learn. Sheffield Hallam’s Westland is concerned that the more traditional “red-brick” universities might place too much emphasis on academia. “We design all of our courses with employers. We’re vocational, which I think comes from us being an ex-polytechnic university,” he says. “Our biggest income comes from the students. The whole focus is educational, so we have the academic elements as well as transferable skills, and the professional approach to teaching. With some ‘red-brick’ universities, their income might come more from research contracts. So this makes a big difference to the students, as they will come second.” Westland cites risk assessment and problem solving as essential subjects to learn before working in industry.

The construction economics/technology and measurement modules were useful

Natasha Musandu, Kingston University

“At our open day recently, I was asked how many hours were spent in the lecture theatre. I replied 12 hours, which was seen as low because that person had just been to Loughborough where it was 26. But our strategy is different – we spend a lot of time visiting sites, and working on projects.” He says when a student goes straight from university to a company only 20% of their time will involve technical work. “They’re going to be reading reports, communicating, talking to clients and trying to sort out problems for the other 80%,” he argues.

Non-cognates

QS and PM firms will always play a key part in education, but there is one area in particular that has caught the eye of industry - non-cognate degree holders. Tovey says the number of non-cognate courses to be accredited has taken off. In 2002, there were 18 accredited courses.

This year he counts 30, and universities offering this type of course report rising numbers.

One explanation is the quick reaction of degree holders who realise the market and salaries are good at the moment.

LSBU’s Doctor Dean suggests QS conversion courses are a natural progression: “Non-cognates usually have good A-levels and good degrees from places like Bristol or Manchester. They might have a Geography degree but found it wasn’t vocational enough. A conversion course is an important route for them to take.” The course is proving popular. “On our built environment courses, full-time numbers are fairly small this year – we have about 10 in the first year. But the Surveying MSc numbers are high – 120 in all, and probably a quarter of those on the QS MSc course. These people are obviously looking around for a good market.”

The feedback is positive overall from companies. Employers are reportedly delighted with the fresh ideas that a graduate from another discipline can bring into the firm. Some argue, for instance, that psychologists make good QSs. Then there is the fact that the student will be trained by the firm, which can customise a student’s training if there are any weak areas, in addition to day release studying.

But there may be problems. Doctor Dean argues that these students “cram everything into one year, ending up with less-polished technical skills than a graduate”.

There is also uncertainty on the horizon, according to Tovey, who is afraid this level of increase will stop, although not necessarily reverse, when the higher student fees are introduced. “Once you have your normal bachelors degree and those huge debts, you’re probably not going to want to get into more debt with an MSc,” he says, warning that conversion degrees cost from £3,000 to £25,000.