Blog: Featured finalist - CETC – Fareham College’s Civil Engineering Training Centre

23 April 2018

Apprentice Initiative

Type of organisation: Further education, working with a consortium of employers

Number of staff: 200

Fareham College’s Civil Engineering Training Centre (CETC) was set up in response to the skills shortage that is preventing civil engineering growth and expansion in the South of England. In order to tackle this problem, the Solent Civil Engineering Employer’s Group (SCEEG) set up a forum to establish a skills solution for the benefit of all.

The CETC is a partnership between Solent Civil Engineering Employers and Fareham College, an Ofsted rated Outstanding general further education college in south Hampshire. CETC is a simulated construction site that has been designed to give civil engineering apprentices a realistic training environment to get them site-ready.

All of the apprentices are employed by local companies where they receive training from specialist experts as well as dedicated staff at the CETC. Once they have completed their two-year apprenticeship they are guaranteed permanent employment with their respective employer.

The project supports the development of the existing workforce in a practical way that is not only cost and time efficient, but also re-engages the workforce with skills that are of value to both the individual and the employer. CETC has attracted national attention and government interest as an example of employer led, co-designed apprenticeship programme designed to meet the identified skills shortage and productivity issue.

Due to the programmes success, proposals for a new £4.1m ‘CETC 2’ campus have been awarded preliminary funding of £2.8m, from Fareham College and the Solent LEP for an estimated Autumn 2019 completion.