Report raises concerns about construction courses

The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) has published a report that has expressed concern at the viability of many of the Construction Management courses run in UK universities.

The report, published for the Building Education and Research Conference in Salford, stated that the average number of graduating students per course in the 2003 academic year is 15. This figure is half that which would be considered economically viable, and the report concluded that with the number of applications to construction management courses still falling, further course closures are inevitable.

The CIOB report was based on research conducted by the University of Northumbria, which investigated five years of graduating students from 58 CIOB accredited courses, the majority of which are titled ‘Construction Management’.

The report identified that in 2003, twenty-three courses were held without any female students graduating. Over the last 10 years there has been a 50% reduction in the number of sandwich students, producing a clear impact on graduate quality. Other main points included an increase from 0% to 30% of graduating students having all or some of their course part-time over the last 10 years. The viability of courses remains the biggest threat to construction programmes and urgent collaboration is required between universities and the industry to secure sufficient graduates.

The report calls for a re-engagement of industry and education to solve the problem of student recruitment. CIOB President Stuart Henderson commented: "I am setting up a Presidential Commission to address these serious issues. The Commission will advise the Institute on policies and strategies required to resolve these issues, and the Commission will engage with industry and education, as we cannot tackle these problems alone".

(CL)