The London School of Science and Technology is offering experienced construction tradespeople £275 to spend four hours sharing current industry knowledge with learners at its London training provision.
The initiative is aimed initially at practising painters, decorators and site forepersons, giving working tradespeople, supervisors and business owners an opportunity to contribute directly to vocational training without taking on a formal teaching role. The four-hour commitment includes preparation time, and LSST says participants do not need a teaching qualification or a prepared lesson plan.
The programme forms part of the Greater London Authority-backed Further Education Teacher Industry Exchange, which sits within the Department for Education's national Construction Skills Package. The wider exchange model is intended to bring current construction experience into further education and strengthen the connection between employers and training providers.
Practical painting and decorating training at LSST, which is inviting experienced London tradespeople to contribute to its industry exchange programme. Photo: LSST.
£275 for Four Hours of Industry Input
Under the LSST industry exchange programme, participants receive a fixed £275 payment for a minimum four-hour engagement, including preparation. The format is deliberately flexible: an industry professional could demonstrate specialist equipment or techniques, work alongside an LSST tutor in the workshop, mentor learners or discuss the commercial and practical expectations they encounter in the trade.
That gives LSST scope to bring knowledge from active projects into the training environment without requiring tradespeople to step away from their businesses or site roles for an extended period. For learners preparing to enter construction, the sessions can expose them to working methods, site discipline and professional expectations that are difficult to reproduce through classroom teaching alone.
Matt Garvey, LSST's Head of Further Education and Business Development, said many trainees enter the labour market with practical skills but limited experience of what will be expected once they reach a live construction environment. He said: “The best person to teach site standards is someone who works on site every day.”
Employers Can Use the Exchange to Meet Future Recruits
The arrangement also creates a direct point of contact between contractors, trades businesses and people moving towards employment in construction. LSST is positioning the exchange partly as an opportunity for participating firms to identify motivated trainees before they enter the wider labour market.
For smaller contractors and self-employed tradespeople, the four-hour format offers a relatively limited commitment compared with a formal education partnership. A decorator could demonstrate spray equipment or coating techniques, for example, while a supervisor could discuss expectations around behaviour, quality and working on site. LSST also proposes sessions covering subjects such as pricing work and dealing with clients, bringing some of the commercial realities of the trade into vocational training.
The initiative follows LSST's wider expansion of construction training in Wembley. London Construction Magazine has previously covered the opening of LSST's Construction Training Centre, while more recent LCM coverage of its Ofsted inspection examined the provider's practical construction training and links between learners and employers.
Industry Exchange Targets Current Site Knowledge
The model addresses a recurring problem in construction training: keeping vocational teaching connected to the way work is actually being delivered on current projects. Tools, products, site procedures and employer expectations continue to change, while people working in the industry accumulate practical knowledge that may not routinely reach learners until they enter employment.
The GLA's Further Education Teacher Industry Exchange is designed around that connection between further education providers and construction employers, with industry professionals contributing directly to teaching activity rather than replacing qualified tutors.
For LSST, the immediate focus is on painting and decorating and site supervision expertise, although the underlying model could provide a route for training providers to draw on a wider pool of working construction professionals as employer engagement develops.
Tradespeople interested in participating, or contractors wishing to nominate an experienced member of staff, can contact Matt Garvey at matthew.garvey@lsst.ac. LSST says engagements will be arranged around the participant's availability and specialist skills, with the provider supplying the necessary support and resources for the visit.
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