NOCN Group has partnered with WorldSkills UK through its programme ‘Seeing is Believing: Accessing the World’s Best Skills Innovations’, to enhance and adapt the learning from other countries and build upon the progress the construction sector has made on skills over several decades. We embedded this programme in our approach to the research as we saw tremendous benefit from such an opportunity to gain real international insight.

The research included understanding the UK’s productivity issue, seeing what happened at the international WorldSkills event in Russia including meeting with employers and skills organisations from several countries across the globe to share knowledge and understanding. Much of what we found is relevant across many sectors, not just construction. This report documents the learning on global best practice and sets out recommendations for employers, government and training providers which we hope will contribute to the debate on how we increase productivity in the UK construction industry through improved skills. 

WorldSkills UK works to accelerate the development of young people’s skills from national to worldclass standards through UK-wide and international competitions. Part of WorldSkills, a global movement in 82 countries, together they organise the bi-annual ‘Skills Olympics’. This gives them unique access to an expert global community through which
WorldSkills UK can benchmark and gain insights into the skills needed to drive world-class performance.