Report warns apprenticeship reform must protect rigour and professional pathways

The Impact of Assessment Reform on Built Environment Technical & Professional Apprenticeships report was prepared by a Task & Finish Group of the Construction Industry Council (CIC) Education & Future Skills Committee. It examines the implications of apprenticeship assessment reform for technical and professional apprenticeships in the construction and built environment.

Supported by the Built Environment Futures Assembly (BEFA) and the Technical Apprenticeship Consortium, the Group examined how planned changes to apprenticeship assessment could affect routes into professions such as surveying, civil engineering, building services engineering, planning and architecture.

The report notes that the built environment currently has 120 occupational standards, with 94 approved for funded starts. Across 30 technical and professional occupations at Levels 3 to 7, it identifies more than 40,000 apprenticeship starts, and nearly 8,000 achievements, since August 2017, with a 93% pass rate for those who reach final end point assessment. However, it also highlights ongoing challenges, including a slowly improving average qualification achievement rate (QAR) of 60% and average retention rate of 64%.

Against that backdrop, the paper argues that assessment reform should be judged against one clear test: whether it maintains or improves the quality of competence outcomes in a sector where public safety, regulatory compliance and professional judgement are critical.

While the report recognises potential benefits in shorter and less complex assessment plans, greater flexibility and better use of technology, it also warns of significant risks. These include too little prescription in assessment plans, weakened independent assurance and disruption to the established links between apprenticeships, professional qualifications and skills card access.

The report calls for the professions (including regulatory bodies) to speak with one voice, for Skills England to work closely with CIC on sensible solutions and for time to work through unintended consequences before further reforms are accelerated.

Mark Farmer, Chair, BEFA, said:

This report is not an argument against reform. It is an argument for getting reform right. In a sector where safety, public trust and professional competence matter profoundly, any new assessment model must preserve rigour while keeping high-quality professional pathways open and attractive.”