The Schools Partnership Programme forms long-term relationships with schools and FE Colleges to engage young people at an early age, from Year 7 to Year 13, to help them break down barriers to employment and inspire them about the breadth of careers in the construction and built environment industry.

Through the programme we offer students a range of meaningful encounters with employers that widen their career horizons, challenge stereotypes, champion STEM careers and support young people to achieve their career ambitions.

We work with each individual school to design an exciting programme of employer engagement that can help them meet the Gatsby benchmarks and raise awareness of the fantastic career opportunities in the construction and built environment sector. 

Our sessions and activities are continuously developing and expanding as our Schools Partnership team identify new ways in which to support students in their learning and on their journey into a successful career. 

Every session is supported by industry volunteers lending their passion and knowledge to enhance the students’ experience. Our engagements range from curriculum led sessions like our Maths Quantity Surveying Activity, where a Quantity Surveyor leads the students in a task demonstrating how they use maths in their everyday work life, to activities such as site visits where students get to see behind the scenes of how a live construction project is managed.

Long-term support programmes

 

Higher Level and Degree Apprenticeship programme

The aim of the Higher Level and Degree Apprenticeship programme is to raise awareness of the apprenticeship route as a viable alternative to traditional higher education. We want to help young people develop the skills to compete successfully for apprenticeships, and in doing so level the playing field for our young people.

Throughout the programme, we work with industry partners to facilitate employer-led information and skill-building apprenticeship events for our young people.

We have created two guides, demystifying the apprenticeship route.

  • A guide for employers, providing information on learn-and-earn routes can be found here.
  • A guide for students and those who influence them, for example parents and teachers, giving guidance for potential apprentices and comparing the route with alternative full-time education can be found here.

Where we work

The Trust has identified a number of place-based hubs in which we have formed our current Schools Partnerships. The hubs have been selected based on the extent to which the area is affected by multiple deprivation, such as high levels of unemployment or in-work poverty, low skills, youth unemployment etc, and whether the built environment sector has a long-term demand for skills in the area over a minimum 10 year period.

Current hubs:

Hammersmith & Fulham
Kensington & Chelsea
Westminster
Barking & Dagenham
Lambeth
Southwark
Ebbsfleet
Tower Hamlets

If you work in a school within one of our hubs and would like to discuss the Schools Partnership Programme please get in touch.

Case Study

  • Nawaal

    Civil Engineer

    Nawaal was a student at Hammersmith Academy when she attended our industry-led Budding Brunels workshop, designed to showcase the range of skills and job roles available across the Construction industry. After the course, we facilitated a work placement. Experiencing the real work environment made Nawaal realise she wanted to follow a career into construction.

    Nawaal is now a Civil Engineering Apprentice working on the Thames Tideway Tunnel - London’s new super-sewer, which is urgently needed to modernise the Capital’s sewage system and protect the tidal River Thames from pollution. Nawaal is currently completing a level 6 degree apprenticeship with Tideway and the University of East London.

    “When my placement ended, I felt incredibly motivated and eager to do all that’s necessary to work in this field of work in the near future. Construction Youth Trust not only gave me my first exposure to construction, but also continued to support and guide me into the industry.”