Industry giants give ECITB skills course seal of approval

The organisation’s ITEC (Introduction to Engineering Construction) course is a 10-month programme designed to prepare learners in the basic principles of engineering ahead of apprenticeships and other entry roles. Delivered by 11 colleges and training providers across England, ITEC aims to provide the underlying core knowledge that industry often claims can be lacking in recent grads and school leavers.

Last year, 69 per cent of ITEC learners progressed into related jobs or further training. Since successfully completing the ITEC in June, more than fifty of this year’s cohort of 154 participants have already progressed into apprenticeships.

“The number and stature of the companies recruiting from our pool of graduates show the value of the ITEC course to industry and is a ringing endorsement of the work of our training providers,” said Chris Claydon, chief executive of ECITB.

“The programme gives youngsters a solid grounding to commence a career in a wide range of engineering disciplines, and we want more engineering construction employers to benefit from this talent pool. The demand for new recruits to the engineering construction workforce is set to rise significantly over the next decade and the ECITB ITEC Programme will pay its part in helping to fill that skills gap.”