Coleg Cambria and Redrow join forces for UK first Housebuilding Degree

Wrexham-based Coleg Cambria is to help deliver an “innovative and exciting new qualification” alongside a leading housebuilder and a top UK university.

Redrow, one of the most successful and acclaimed property developers in the country, has teamed up with the college and Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) to offer the UK’s first dedicated Housebuilding Degree.

The three-year degree, which see see students complete six modules a year, will offer a full overview of housebuilding skills, including: project management, health and safety, business skills; housebuilding skills business skills, negotiation, right through to relevant aspects of law, mathematics and economics.

The first intake of students for the degree programme will be Redrow team members, who will start the course in 2018.

Going forward it is hoped that the degree will be opened out to other housebuilders.

Across the three year course will be six block weeks of classroom learning which will be taught in partnership between LJMU’s Department of the Built Environment, Coleg Cambria and Redrow business experts. The rest of the contact time will be via through virtual learning, practical site visits and tutorials.

This will allow students to continue to combine working with Redrow with their studies.

The first two years will form a foundation degree with the final year topping up to become a full degree in Construction Management – Housebuilding. Candidates involved in the course will be assessed in a variety of ways including examinations, coursework and a final year dissertation project.

Any Redrow team member with a level three qualification or a minimum of five years in industry can be nominated for the programme and Redrow expects up to 15 people to participate in each year.

Redrow has already seen success with its training programme, announcing a record 353 trainees in its workforce earlier this year – a 19% increase on 2016.

Karen Jones, Group HR Director at Redrow and Trustee at the Construction Industry Training
Board, said the company believes the “new programme will encourage people to enter the sector, as well as imparting crucial skills on those already in the workforce.”

“The housebuilding sector has a real opportunity to innovate the way we develop and deliver skills training to ensure colleagues can fulfil their potential and progress in their careers,” explained Karen.

“Part of that means working in partnership with further education and higher education providers to develop new pathways that enable recruits to develop the aptitude, attitude and strategic nous to deliver communities at scale.

“This is why we are working with Coleg Cambria and Liverpool John Moores University to deliver the UK’s first dedicated Housebuilding Degree. Participants on the course will be able to learn while they earn and develop the skills necessary to rise through the ranks in the housebuilding sector.”

“We feel it is important to share best practice with other housebuilders and we hope that in the
future that the degree programme can be opened up to construction industry workers from across
the industry.

“We believe this new programme will encourage people to enter the sector, as well as imparting crucial skills on those already in the workforce.”

Nick Tyson, Assistant Principal at Coleg Cambria, said:  “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Redrow and Liverpool John Moores University on this innovative and exciting new qualification.

“As one of the largest providers of education and training in Wales and the North West we are proud to work with a sector leading company like Redrow to provide opportunities for their staff to develop skills and expertise in the housebuilding industry.

“At Cambria we are fully committed to work with employers to serve all the learners and communities in our region, and challenging them to develop the expertise they need to build
successful futures.”

Professor Alison Cotgrave, Associate Dean at the LJMU Faculty of Engineering and Technology,
added: “The development of the BSc (Hons) Construction Management in Housebuilding in conjunction with Coleg Cambria and Redrow, is an example of how the Department of Built Environment at LJMU is proactively seeking to address the education and training requirements of employers with bespoke needs.

“Our home undergraduate portfolio, whilst diverse, cannot fulfil the needs of all parts of the
industry, and as such this type of development helps us achieve one of the Department’s long term aims, which is to provide diverse education and training at all levels, to fulfil industry requirements moving forward.

“The development of innovative programmes with high calibre partners will help us achieve that aim.”

If you are interested in pursuing a career at Redrow please visit the company’s website.