On Friday 24 March, 22 Year 9 students visited Stockton Riverside College for an event which was aimed at those considering construction as a career.

On Friday 24 March, 22 Year 9 students visited Stockton Riverside College for an event which was aimed at those considering construction as a career.

The Careers in Construction event was based around a carousel of 45 minute workshops, which introduced the students to the varied opportunities and careers within the industry. They also had the opportunity to meet and talk to those who work in construction and were challenged with a few practical tasks which tested their suitability and aptitude for the construction sector.

A host of big names from the industry were on hand to explain the variety of roles that could be explored from the labour workforce right through to the planning, design, approval and management teams that make some of the world's biggest buildings a reality.

Turner Townsend, a local company which now has offices all over the world, certainly engaged our students with a visual presentation showing how ICT aids design and how Virtual Reality can bring a building to life even before the site is under construction.

One of the most exciting tasks saw the students split into two teams as they were set a challenge to build a house from plan using some large modular blocks. The task wasn’t just about building a house, but allowed them to put into practice a range of skills including communication, teamwork and problem solving.

As the day drew to a close we took time to speak with a number of our students to find out exactly what they thought about the day.


"Lots of stereotypes exist within the construction industry, but most if not all are false. Plus the amount of opportunities that are available for females looking to go into construction is equal to those offered to males."

"I will certainly be looking into opportunities within the Construction sector and possible apprenticeships linked to some of the jobs we talked about today."