Age 16-18
A new partnership between New City College and Kenson Highways has officially launched at the college’s Rainham Construction and Engineering Campus – bringing new opportunities for adults to gain the training and skills needed to build and maintain London’s highways.
The launch event on Friday 7 November 2025, brought together employers, education partners and industry guests to celebrate the opening of new specialist training facilities and the introduction of the City & Guilds Street Works Operative course for learners aged 19 and over.
Guests were able to view the new highways training area, a realistic street layout built by Kenson Highways, complete with road signs, paving, and reinstatement machinery – and heard why the partnership was so important to the future of the highways industry.
A partnership that’s industry-driven and community-focused
Jonathan Yabsley, Director at Kenson Highways, explained that the collaboration was designed to respond directly to industry need: “This partnership is employer-led and industry-driven rather than just being educationally led and then applied to an industry. With this new course we are increasing employability and giving people the skills and education for jobs and careers in an industry that is struggling with human resource.
“We wanted, with NCC, to create a course that brings a much-needed workforce into the industry while ensuring they have the right skills. It allows us to invest back into our communities and help people who have faced barriers to employment. This partnership isn’t just beneficial to Kenson – it benefits the whole industry.”
He added that the new facility would provide safe, practical training: “Working on a highway is dangerous. In this new, realistic training area we hope to teach candidates the basics so they are not a danger to themselves, their colleagues or the public.”
