The Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) has outlined apprenticeship routes into the highways and transportation sector, covering roles from highways maintenance and road surfacing to transport planning, civil engineering and town planning.
The organisation says apprenticeships allow participants to earn a salary while gaining workplace experience, studying for a qualification and developing professional networks. It also offers free Apprentice Membership to people working as highways and transportation apprentices.
Routes from Level 2 to degree study
In England, the pathways listed by CIHT range from Level 2 intermediate apprenticeships, typically lasting 12 to 18 months, to Level 7 programmes equivalent to a master’s degree or postgraduate qualification.
Examples of Level 2 roles include highways maintenance skilled operative, tramway construction operative, road surfacing operative and highway electrical maintenance and installation operative. Level 3 options include surveying technician, civil engineering technician, tunnelling operative, engineering technician and transport planning technician.
Higher and degree-level routes include civil engineering, construction quantity surveying, project management and transport planning. CIHT also identifies Level 7 options in risk and safety management and chartered town planning.
Opportunities across the UK
The guidance also covers different apprenticeship systems in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scottish options include Modern Apprenticeships in construction, civil engineering and rail engineering, as well as Graduate Apprenticeships in civil engineering and the built environment.
In Northern Ireland, the routes include Level 2 and Level 3 frameworks in engineering, construction and rail, with higher-level apprenticeships available in transport and logistics, the built environment and civil engineering. Welsh pathways include engineering, civil engineering, highways and municipal work, rail systems engineering and construction quantity surveying.
Transport planning assessment
CIHT is an End Point Assessment Organisation for the Level 3 Transport Planning Technician apprenticeship. It says it has administered nearly 150 successful end-point assessments for the standard since 2019.
Former transport planning apprentice Amelia Williamson completed her end-point assessment with CIHT in 2020 and went on to become a city planner in Transport for London’s Transport Strategy & Policy department.
“I chose to do a Transport Planning apprenticeship because it offered me the opportunity to get real world experience and gain invaluable employability skills in a sector that is part of everything we do,” Williamson said.
She added that the apprenticeship also led to a professional qualification as an Engineering Technician with CIHT, which has continued to provide professional development support after completion.