New Course Aims To Tackle Skills Gap Identified By Local Organisations

East Riding College and East Riding of Yorkshire Council have collaborated with local employers to develop a new civil engineering course.

 

Organisations have identified a gap in local provision of higher-level HNC qualifications in construction and civil engineering. Nationally, there is a shortage of workers in construction and civil engineering qualified at higher levels.

Employers were keen to upskill employees but were having to send them out of the area to study. The College and the Council set about developing provision locally, with a HNC in Civil Engineering running at East Riding College in Beverley.

They are consulting with a broad range of employers to develop the provision to meet local needs, and the Council along with some local businesses are contributing by helping to develop specific modules of the course, adding their industry insights.

Alex Sheldon, Head of Curriculum for Construction said;

“The course is held in the highest regard in industry and is a clear route to career advancement, away from hands-on work towards technical and managerial posts in areas such as structural design and civil engineering technology.”

“There are lots of employees working in the industry with valuable experience but no formal higher level qualifications. The course development complements our existing, and highly successful HNC in Construction and the Built Environment to further meet the higher education needs of the employers in the region.”

Richard Lewis, Civil Engineering Services Manager from East Riding of Yorkshire Council said;

“We were delighted to work with the College and local employers like Local Transport Projects on the development of the HNC, to help close the skills gap in civil engineering.”

“The provision of higher level qualifications can only be good for the East Riding and provides us and local businesses with the opportunity to develop employees and stay competitive as we enter a period where investment in housing stock and local infrastructure projects – and the development of the ‘energy estuary’ – looks set to continue.”

The HNC in Civil Engineering is offered part time and starts in September. For more information contact Alex Sheldon on 0345 120 00 44.

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