CIOB NEWS
WILL BETTER BUILT ENVIRONMENT GCSE PASS RATES IMPROVE CAREER PROSPECTS, ASKS CIOB POLICY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS MANAGER JOSEPH KILROY… A bright present and future for NI’s construction sector
Joseph Kilroy.
A CIOB FMB State of Trade Survey published in September found the construction sector in Northern Ireland is outperforming other UK nations in both workload and enquiries, reflecting the sector’s resilience and the positive impact of recent policy developments. Looking to the future, this growth and positivity look to be enhancing the reputation of the construction sector as a career path, with entries and pass rates for the 2025 Construction and Built Environment GCSE increasing by 71% since 2019 in NI. NI students demonstrated a stronger performance in construction compared to their peers in Wales, achieving a higher proportion of top and standard passing grades. There is currently no built environment GCSE in England. These findings dovetail with the NI edition of CIOB’s Attitudes Towards Construction Careers report. This report found almost 80% of 16-24 year olds hold a positive view of construction careers. More than one third would actively consider pursuing a career in construction, with 77% of parents surveyed supportive of their child pursuing a career in construction. The construction sector offers a wide range of careers suitable for people with different skills and interests, with different routes to entry. The contemporary construction sector is a far more complex workplace than traditional views of the sector suggest, with day-to-day work characterised by use of technology, project and people management, as well as health and safety and sustainability goals. CIOB research from 2021 found that the construction workforce generally has more autonomy than other roles in the economy. Those working in the sector exert significant control over
“Workers in the sector report a high level of job satisfaction associated with the fact that they actually create a tangible output.”
working time, participate in workplace improvements and can apply their own ideas to an unusual degree. They are also able to influence decisions that affect them more than workers in other sectors. The research also found that there is a ‘satisfaction dividend’ that is unique to the construction sector. Workers in the sector report a high level of job satisfaction associated with the fact that they actually create a tangible output - housing, infrastructure, hospitals, railways etc - as a result of their work. While the picture of perceptions of the construction sector is positive, we should not understate the issues the sector faces in NI. Skills shortages, rising material and fuel costs, and delays caused by under- capacity in sewage infrastructure, continue to impact the industry. Further, political
uncertainty and reduced public sector investment further weaken the project pipeline, while negative profitability outlooks persist for many firms. The sector also struggles with attracting new entrants, addressing gender imbalance and retaining talent. This suggests that pathways into the sector for those young people doing their GCSEs today need to be clear. While there have been positive initiatives put in place by the Department for Communities and the Department of Education to entice young people into construction, there needs to be clear policy analysis of these initiatives so their impact can be measured. If so, the strong performance of GCSE students today, could mean the strong performance of NI’s construction sector tomorrow.
Julie Fitzsimmons, Member Services and Events Coordinator ‑ Northern Ireland T: +44 (0)1344 630 729 - M: +44 (0)7760 164 101 - E: jfitzsimmons@ciob.org.uk www.ciob.org
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