Mature Career Changers Help Plug Skills Shortage

The largest trade private skills training centre in the country has opened in Southampton to cover the demand caused by increasing numbers of mature career changers wanting to train to become plumbers and electricians.

Leading nationwide training provider for mature career changers New Careers Skills has teamed up with Apprenticeship Training Ltd to open the centre that stands at 10,000 square foot and has the capacity to train 100 individuals at any one time.

By 2008 Great Britain will be short of 36,700 electricians unless 7,340 electricians join the profession every year.* and short of 31,700 plumbers unless 6,340 join every year.

Reasons for shortages include limited capacity within colleges to address the problem and oversubscription on courses. With new building regulation, Part P** introduced in January 2005, the demand for skilled electricians is sure to increase further.

NCS offer a flexible, blended learning programme that allows students to complete the theory part of their training at home using interactive materials and tutor support. Then, when ready, students can complete four separate one-week practical sessions at one of NCS’s nationwide centres of Electrics Excellence. This training programme provides a stepping stone to achieving an NVQ 3

As well as offering a complete change in lifestyle, electricians’ hours of work are flexible suiting people with families and other commitments as opposed to the regimented 9am-5pm of office jobs.

Commenting, Tim Adderson, managing director, NCS, said: "The UK shortage of electricians is a huge problem affecting us all. Younger students aren’t as enthusiastic about learning a trade and are more interested in entering office-based careers or studying for vocational degrees. The introduction of building regulations such as Part P should also have an affect on the demand for skilled electricians.

We have answered the needs of both the industry and mature career changers, many who have work and family commitments and can’t afford to take weeks off work to train.”

*(ConstructionSkills Regional Foresight Report 2004)
** For further information on Part P please refer to www.odpm.gov.uk

 

 

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