Young people from across the UK who have excelled in the first wave of the Construction and the Built Environment GCSE will have their achievements recognised at an awards evening to be held on 8 October at the Institute of Civil Engineers Building, London, as part of National Construction Week 2007.

Organised by ConstructionSkills, the Sector Skills Council for Construction and Edexcel, the event is being held to launch this year’s National Construction Week (NCW), which aims to highlight the career opportunities available to young people in the construction industry. NCW runs from 8-12 October 2007.

Construction Minister, Stephen Timms MP will join ConstructionSkills Chairman Sir Michael Latham and Edexcel’s Commercial Director, Peter Miller at the event. He will speak to the award winners about their achievements, as well the opportunities the construction industry has to offer.

The GCSE has been piloted at 100 schools across England and Wales. The qualification is one of a number of onscreen GCSEs that Edexcel is currently piloting.

Sir Michael Latham, Chairman of ConstructionSkills, said: “It is extremely important to recognise the achievements of these young people who represent the future of UK construction. The GCSE is important because it is one of the first new qualifications in construction and the built environment for young people. It provides an introduction to the breadth and scope of the construction process and the career opportunities the industry can offer.

“Construction is one of the largest industries in the UK, over this year alone 13,000 new projects start with a value of £160bn. Many of these are exciting large scale projects including the Olympics, Thames Gateway, large scale regeneration projects in Leeds and Sunderland, St. David’s 2 Shopping Centre in Cardiff and Bristol’s Broadmead development, to name just a few.

“Recent research shows that 87,600 new recruits are needed to join the industry each year to meet current demand, so the opportunities are plentiful. We must show young people the range of exciting and varied opportunities within the industry and National Construction Week is designed to do just that.”

Jerry Jarvis, Managing Director of Edexcel, said: “Edexcel's portfolio of qualifications is designed with industry specialists and sector skills councils to be fit for purpose and to upskill students to meet identified skills gaps in the countries they are offered in.  The GCSE, GCEs and BTEC qualifications in construction and the building industry are taken by growing numbers of students and we welcome the opportunity to celebrate achievements of students in this field.”

Awards will be presented to the students for a series of categories including top exam results, best course work and outstanding achievement.  Teachers from the schools where the Construction and the Built Environment GCSE has been piloted have also been invited to attend.

Other key events taking place during NCW include: Sustainable Design Challenge at Somerset College Art & Technology Genesis Centre, Heritage is our Future event at Woodchester Mansion, Stroud and the Build a Castle event at the Tower of London. 

For more information about other events being held around the country as part of this year’s National Construction Week please visit www.ncw.org.uk

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About Construction and the Built Environment GCSE
Edexcel was the first awarding body to offer the Construction and Building Environment GCSE course.  Edexcel’s GCSEs in Construction and the Built Environment offers both craft and technical options that enable students to progress to a variety of career options including a level 2 apprenticeship, an advanced apprenticeship or further study leading to a degree and/or professional qualification.  Skills covered include those required for technical/professional occupations such as project managers, surveyors, civil engineers and craft occupations such as carpentry and joinery, bricklaying and building services. Edexcel’s GCSEs in Construction and the Built Environment are designed to ensure a balance of assessment between theory and practical work to give students equal opportunities to achieve the higher grades whether they study the craft or technical options.