CIHT has joined industry partners in calling for apprenticeship assessment reform in England to protect professional competence, public safety and employer confidence across the built environment.

CIHT is a member of both the Construction Industry Council (CIC) and the Technical Apprenticeship Consortium (TAC), which have contributed to a new report examining the potential impact of proposed changes to apprenticeship assessment for technical and professional roles across the sector.

Impact of Assessment Reform on Built Environment Technical & Professional Apprenticeships has been produced by a Task & Finish Group of CIC’s Education & Future Skills Committee, with support from the Built Environment Futures Assembly (BEFA) and the Technical Apprenticeship Consortium. The report considers how reforms could affect established routes into professions including civil engineering, surveying, planning, architecture and building services engineering.

The report highlights the scale and importance of apprenticeships within the built environment. There are currently around 120 occupational standards across the sector, with 94 approved for funded starts. Since August 2017, more than 40,000 apprenticeship starts and almost 8,000 achievements have taken place across 30 technical and professional occupations at Levels 3 to 7. For those reaching final end point assessment, the pass rate stands at 93%.

However, the report also identifies ongoing challenges, including an average qualification achievement rate of 60% and a retention rate of 64%, underlining the need for any reforms to strengthen — rather than destabilise — established professional pathways.

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

While recognising potential benefits such as shorter and clearer assessment plans, greater flexibility and improved use of technology, the report warns of significant risks. These include reduced prescription in assessment plans, weakened independent assurance arrangements and disruption to the established links between apprenticeships, professional recognition and skills card access.

The report calls on the professions, including regulatory bodies, to speak with one voice and urges Skills England to work closely with CIC and sector partners to develop workable and proportionate solutions. It also stresses the importance of allowing time to identify and manage unintended consequences before accelerating further reforms.

Mark Farmer, Chair of the Built Environment Futures Assembly, 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.”

Aled Williams, Chair of CIC’s Education & Future Skills Committee, said:

“The built environment cannot afford a system that values simplification over competence. This report is intended to help government, professional bodies, employers and providers work through the practical implications now, before avoidable disruption is felt by apprentices or the wider sector.”

Dr Caroline Sudworth, Director of the Technical Apprenticeship Consortium, added:

“Technical and professional apprenticeships have created credible employer-led routes into the professions. Reform should strengthen those routes, not weaken confidence in them. Employers need an assessment system that remains rigorous, navigable and aligned with the competence and recognition the sector expects.”

As a professional institution committed to high standards of competence and professionalism, CIHT supports the report’s call for reforms that strengthen long-term career pathways into the transportation profession and maintain the trust placed in built environment professionals by society.

The full Impact of Assessment Reform on Built Environment Technical & Professional Apprenticeships report can be read here.