The Diploma is equally well suited to young people who plan to go on to higher education. Keith Poyser, the Bassetlaw Consortium Director, said: “The Diploma programme is sufficiently rigorous for the best of our higher education institutions. It will enable students seeking a professional career in the hugely diverse field of construction and the built environment to be very well equipped to take their undergraduate studies at university.”

The Bassetlaw consortium is made up of seven schools, two post 16 centres, an FE college and five employers all working together to offer the Diploma in C&BE to students aged 14-19. Employers who are supporting the scheme include A1 Housing, Persimmon Homes, and Interserve.

Serlby Park School

Steve Geraghty is the assistant principal of Serlby Park, the lead school in the delivery of the Diploma in C&BE for the Bassetlaw consortium. There are 39 pupils from four schools and colleges studying the Foundation and Higher Diplomas at Serlby Park and Steve feels that things have gone very well in the initial establishment of the course.

He said:  “The schools have linked together well, given that this is something totally new to all of us, and things have run very smoothly. We have now dedicated a member of our admin staff to act as the central planner for the consortium which has made the process of managing young people from four different schools or colleges easier.”

Steve has successfully forged links with a number of local businesses, who provide the Diploma students with assistance in a number of forms.

He said: “We are partnered with A1 Housing, a local authority housing provider, as well as Balfour Beattie and the Connaught Partnership. They have all been great, with the bulk of their involvement coming in the form of paper resources like blueprints of sites and planning applications, as well as talks from industry professionals. We have given them all a menu of our needs for the upcoming year and will be arranging work experience and more site visits soon.”

The benefits of the Diploma are clear to Steve. He concluded: “The change in approach is great. The pupils have a much wider educational experience than if they had just done GCSEs, which has really improved their maturity. I think the Diploma is great preparation for further and higher education.”

A1 Housing

Don Spittlehouse is Director of Housing and Technical Services and Deputy Managing Director at A1 Housing, a local Government housing services and maintenance provider with over 200 employees in the Bassetlaw area. A1’s involvement with the Diploma came about as a result of Don’s history of promoting youth training.

Don added: “I had already been involved with developing a training academy at my last company and when I joined A1 it was clear that we had lots of staff who wanted to up skill, so we pressed ahead with the building of a highly innovative training academy, which will be ready next February. After I was put in touch with Steve Geraghty, we agreed on a partnership for the Diploma and have been working closely with the Bassetlaw consortium since. Once the academy is ready, the pupils will regularly come in to be taught here.”

Don is upbeat about what the Diploma will give to employers. He added: “It makes students engage with the reality of the industry. They will be much better prepared for the working world, which in turn will lead to higher retention levels in the industry. The Diploma guarantees to employers that young people will understand the jobs they go on to apply for.” 

A1 Housing is helping the Bassetlaw consortium in a number of ways. Don said: “Work shadowing will happen routinely from next year; we have the capacity to have seven or eight young people on site at any time. We are also in a position to provide very relevant resources to the students – one of our trainee quantity surveyors went in to do a talk recently, and the fact that he is near the start of his career made it easier for them to relate to him and his job. They could see themselves in his shoes a few years down the line.

He added: “We make staff available to go in and give talks to the pupils; the big advantage we have is that due to the nature of our business we can offer them all sorts of different people, from architects, quantity surveyors and skilled tradesmen to health and safety, housing management and customer services professionals.”   

All in all, Don thinks that the Diploma is progressing well. “It’s a unique opportunity for both the students and employers - it will be a real eye opener for young people, an insight into what they need to do to succeed in their careers. It should be one of the best things ever introduced into schools,” he said.     

Diploma Students

Two pupils who have decided to take the Diploma are Chris MacDonald, 14, and Max Wragg, 15. Both Serlby Park students, they attend Serlby Park and North Nottinghamshire College for their Diploma lessons. Chris is enjoying the course greatly.

He said: “I heard about the Diploma through the careers guidance programme and the options information evening and thought it sounded right for me. I like studying in different places as it keeps things fresh. I’m combining the Diploma with a hands-on BTEC course in brickwork, as I’d like to work as a bricklayer or construction manager and I think it’s important to ground your sector knowledge in a learnt skill.”

Max has had a positive experience with the Diploma too. He said: “I like the idea of studying something different, and I’m particularly interested in the local partner employers, all of whom look like great companies to work for. I’d like to work in construction but I’m not sure as what at the moment. I’m going to try out different things and talk to people who worked in the industry and then decide. I might go to university to study surveying” he added.  

The Diploma in C&BE is one of five Diplomas for 14-19 years olds that the Department for Children, Schools and Families has introduced, which combine skills with National Curriculum-based education, further Diploma lines will be launching over the coming years. 

For further information about the Diploma in C&BE please visit www.cbediploma.co.uk.