Construction students are top of the Budding Brunels class

Seven New City College students were so impressive during a three-day course run by employers that they have all been offered work experience placements.

The students – Brandon Biel, Johanna Bispham, Kasey Martin, Abdiaziz Mohamed, Gurjeevan Sokhal, Ahmed Abdullah Rajput and George Bibby – who study at NCC’s Construction & Engineering Campus in Rainham, were described as ‘fantastic’ by the leaders of the Budding Brunels programme.

The course is run by the Construction Youth Trust charity to enable students aged 16 to 18 to find out more about working in the construction professions and involves industry representatives sharing their experience as well as the opportunity to tour working construction sites.

Emily Martin, Schools & Programmes Coordinator at the Construction Youth Trust, said: “All the students from NCC on the Budding Brunels programme were fantastic. Everyone was so impressed with their hard work, attitude and teamwork and our industry volunteers thought the presentations they delivered were excellent.

“In fact we were so blown away by them all that we have offered every one of them a work experience placement!”

Jane Nugent, Work Experience & Industry Placement Coordinator at NCC, who organised the Budding Brunels opportunity for the students, said: “We are so proud of all seven of our students. It is wonderful news to hear that all of them did so well that they are all being offered a work experience placement.”

The work experience will be arranged with Willmott Dixon or one of the Trust’s other partners.

The Budding Brunels programme works with a diverse demographic of young people to introduce them to the breadth of professional career opportunities available in construction. The students, who are on the Level 3 Construction & the Built Environment course, found out about different industry roles, from project manager to surveyor, toured a ‘live’ construction site, joined employer-led workshops, received support in developing their own employability skills and gave a presentation to a panel of experts.