College students benefit from Banbury carpentry contractor’s work experience programme

The ‘Site Ready’ course was created by LJ Construction to make sure students have had site-based experience before heading to work in the industry.

Following the course, the Level 2 Site Carpentry students have been awarded trainee positions as self-employed carpenters, and two are already on-site working across LJ Construction projects.

LJ Construction was founded in 1985, employs a workforce of more than 150, and specialises in medium- to large-scale construction sites across central England.

The business has created a purpose-built training facility at its Banbury headquarters, which allows students to gain experience working on site and develop site-based practises.

Ryan Jones, Director of LJ Construction, added: "We visited a range of colleges, and it became apparent that a key barrier to employment was a lack of work experience, and there was a clear desire from tutors to overcome that challenge.

"Ultimately, it is all about getting the students ready to work on site, and that is what we hope to do through delivering courses at our construction academy.

"It works like a mini-site, and we get them site-ready. We welcomed 10 students to the programme, and a number of those have already begun working as self-employed carpenters on our sites, which is fantastic for us, the college, and most importantly, the students."

For more information on on-site carpentry courses by the Warwickshire College Group, visit www.wcg.ac.uk/study