Students helping to build own campus on Caddick Construction work placement scheme with The Manchester College

A group of students at The Manchester College’s (@TheMcrCollege) Industry Excellence Academy for Construction & Engineering are helping to build part of their own campus thanks to an Industry placement scheme with Caddick Construction (@CaddickGroup).

Forming part of the College’s blueprint for the new T Level qualification, students studying on The Manchester College Architectural & Construction Engineering (ACE) Scholarship programme are spending two days each week on Caddick’s live Openshaw campus construction site as part of their two-year studies.

On completion, the students will gain a BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Construction and Built Environment, an industry and university-recognised qualification equivalent to three A Levels. They will also benefit from a range of bespoke, co-developed modules to help fill industry skills gaps identified by an employer consortium working with the College.

Caddick Construction was awarded the contract to build the £25m teaching facility at The Manchester College’s Openshaw campus in September. They will continue to have students on site each week on a half termly rotation until the completion of the project.

The students will undertake on-site supervised tasks working with site engineers and health & safety managers before delivering a project at the end of the six-week placement.

The state of the art facility they are helping to build will feature a range of industry standard facilities, including a six court sports hall, outdoor pitch, gym and sports lab; a health suite with a hospital ward and infectious disease area for healthcare students; and brand new workshops for construction, mechanics and engineering students.

Caddick Construction Framework Scholarship Manager, Michelle Swarbrick, said:

“As a family business Caddick Construction has always championed industry placements as the ideal way to learn the right skills on the job and become part of a very experienced team. This partnership with The Manchester College is ideal for both parties as we know we are going to get committed students on site, and the students receive fantastic work experience on an exciting construction project that’s going to be an important part of the College’s future educational provision.”

Caddick’s North West Managing Director Ian Threadgold added:

“It is through these type of industry partnerships that the students get the best of both worlds in terms of hands-on work experience coupled with quality teaching and a recognised industry qualification. These students are the next generation for construction companies and we want to be part of preparing them for their future careers.”

Chris Wright, Assistant Principal at The Manchester College added:

“We are now working with a consortium of 10 of the largest and most influential Constructors in the North West to co-design and co-deliver our scholarship programmes. Students have a unique opportunity to work alongside industry experts at the cutting edge of construction technology on a weekly basis, amassing over 90 days of Industry Placement experience over the two years of the programme.

“Partnering with Caddick on the College’s own construction campus development is a fantastic opportunity for students to experience work with modern methods of construction on the very workshops and classrooms they themselves will inhabit from September 2021. I’m really excited to be working with Caddick as part of our consortium and for the future of Technical Education as we move towards the introduction of T Levels in Construction from September 2021.”

The Manchester College is the number one provider of 16-19 education in Greater Manchester and one of the largest Further Education colleges in the UK