The UK needs 345,000 new homes annually but is building less than a third of this. Offsite construction using timber could help to build ‘better, faster and greener’ but we need people with accredited skills in offsite timber construction, which are currently in acute short supply.
The construction sector employs 3.1 million people, but qualifications don’t yet match industry innovation, with many learners and professionals unaware of new technical knowledge and skills needed for the manufacturing-line approach to building.
Timber TED will provide construction students and professionals with a comprehensive suite of online flexible training modules to upskill in timber offsite construction techniques. This will be underpinned by a competency framework identifying the technical knowledge and skills needed to deliver this new construction method. The training modules will be based on ‘learning by doing’ activities, stimulating critical thinking and preparing the students for work.
Uniting industry, education and training resources through one course, Timber TED will support learners and employers to harness the new knowledge and skills required and to meet the increasingly stringent quality and environmental performance requirements. The final product will be a recognised, accredited qualification with a bespoke digital assessment tool, suitable for further education as well as employers delivering in-house training, enhancing existing CPD, and apprenticeships co-funded with the Housing Construction & Infrastructure Skills Gateway.