IN Brief:
- A two-year Scottish construction recruitment programme recorded 105 participant completions.
- Fifty-seven participants secured employment or started apprenticeships, while another 19 progressed into further learning.
- The Balfour Beatty and Capital City Partnership model combined practical training with local recruitment support.
The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has reported 105 completions from Scottish Pathways to Construction, a two-year programme designed to widen access to the construction workforce. Of those who completed, 57 secured employment or started an apprenticeship, while a further 19 progressed into advanced training or college education. The programme concluded in October 2026 after combining introductory industry experience with practical training and support for people who had faced barriers to securing construction work.
Scottish Pathways began in October 2024 following a successful application to CITB’s Industry Impact Fund. Balfour Beatty developed the initiative with Capital City Partnership, bringing the resources of a major contractor together with local employment and engagement support. Its approach was to introduce potential workers to construction occupations, establish the basic knowledge needed to enter site-based training, and connect people with routes into jobs or further qualifications rather than relying on recruitment advertising alone.
Participants included refugees and migrants, people from ethnic minority communities, women seeking construction careers, disabled people, and those who were unemployed or underemployed. The programme also engaged social enterprises and smaller local businesses. Those groups face different practical obstacles, ranging from limited awareness of site roles to difficulties gaining recognised training and an introduction to employers. A structured pathway can bring recruitment, preparation, and placement activity into one programme, while individual support remains necessary for different circumstances.
Training covered Construction Skills Certification Scheme preparation and testing, health and safety awareness, vehicle banksman duties, working at height, manual handling, fire awareness, and abrasive wheel operations. These subjects address hazards common to construction environments, including moving vehicles, falls, loads handled manually, fire, and rotating equipment. Participation in an introductory module is not equivalent to authorisation for every specialist task; employers still need to assess competence, supervision, and any role-specific qualifications before allowing work to proceed.
Industry insight events and careers awareness sessions introduced the range of jobs available, while work placements provided exposure to site routines and expectations. That combination links classroom instruction to the practical demands of reporting lines, working hours, personal protective equipment, and cooperation between trades. A placement also gives a prospective employer an opportunity to assess whether a candidate is suited to an available position, although a placement itself should not be counted as employment.
The figures distinguish completed training from subsequent destinations. All 105 participants completed the programme, with 57 going into employment or apprenticeships and another 19 progressing into advanced training or college. The two destination groups should be retained separately when evaluating the scheme, since an apprenticeship leads to a different qualification pathway from other employment, and further education represents preparation for a later transition into work. Follow-up checks on recruitment and retention would show how participants progress beyond their initial placement.
The scheme’s two-year duration gave its organisers time to connect recruitment and preparation with opportunities available from employers. This is relevant to construction work because demand for skills changes with the sequence of projects and trades on site. A candidate trained for an entry-level position may still need a suitable opening, safe induction, and continued supervision before progressing. Coordination between local partners and contractors therefore forms part of the employment route, rather than ending at the point a training certificate is issued.
CITB’s Construction Workforce Outlook 2026–2030 forecasts a requirement for an average of about 41,200 additional UK construction workers each year, reflecting demand for new entrants and replacement of people leaving the sector. Scottish Pathways operated at a much smaller scale, but its reported results provide a defined example of how targeted entry routes can work. Matching similar programmes to local construction pipelines would require employers to identify vacancies and training providers to arrange courses and supervised work experience before those opportunities arise.
The model relied on central programme coordination while allowing local delivery to respond to available employers and participants. Replication would require training capacity, work placements, appropriate assessment, and a reliable method of recording employment outcomes. It would also require attention to the different entry requirements of scaffolding, civil engineering, building trades, and site support roles; a single introductory course cannot confer competency across those occupations.
The programme concluded in October 2026, with the organisers identifying central coordination and locally adaptable delivery as features that other areas could use. Its reported employment and training destinations provide a basis for comparing future schemes, particularly where participants require different types of preparation before entering site roles. Replication would depend on consistent access to training, employers prepared to offer placements, and continued support when recruits move from introductory courses into supervised construction work.
