After launching last year, CIOB Aspire has established itself as a practical, industry-led response to one of construction’s most persistent challenges: attracting and informing the next generation of talent.

Addressing the gap between the image that students, parents, teachers and careers advisers often have of construction, and the reality of the diverse, skilled and rewarding career pathways the industry offers, Aspire provides educators and employers with practical resources, connecting industry professionals with education settings, and promoting construction as a modern, professional and globally relevant sector.

Working with partners to extend reach

A core principle of Aspire is collaboration. CIOB has worked with a range of partners to scale impact and reach audiences more effectively.

CIOB supported Open Doors as an industry partner, encouraging companies to host site visits. Taking place in March, Open Doors offered the public a chance to experience live construction environments first-hand and gain a clearer understanding of the breadth of roles available across the sector.

As part of our partnership with Unifrog, we sponsored the ‘Get on the Ladder in Construction’ guide, which is now live on the platform, while a dedicated careers video, developed with support from CIOB members, is currently in production. CIOB is set to attend Unifrog teacher conferences in London in May, Birmingham in June, and Leeds in 2027. Alongside this, CIOB is contributing content targeted at schools on Unifrog’s social media channels, planning a global parent-focused webinar later in the year, and preparing to feature in campaigns across the platform and its newsletters.

Through its support of the Built Environment Schools Trust, CIOB is sponsoring prizes for a student challenge designed to encourage engagement with real-world construction and built environment themes. This helps bring the industry into the classroom in a practical and engaging way.

CIOB’s collaboration with STEM Learning continues to grow our pool of Construction Ambassadors, with 211 CIOB ambassadors now active across the UK and Northern Ireland. These ambassadors play a key role in connecting industry with education, sharing insight and experience directly with learners. The construction ambassador role is not limited to the UK, and construction professionals around the world are encouraged to get involved through the Aspire platform, extending its reach internationally. 

Working with Futures for All, CIOB has been paired with Sandhurst School and will deliver two engagement sessions at the end of April. These sessions introduce students to CIOB and the role of professional bodies, explore career pathways in construction including apprenticeships, and share personal career stories from CIOB staff. They also incorporate interactive elements focused on video production and the use of social media in a professional context, aligning with Aspire’s emphasis on hands-on, engaging learning experiences.

Campaign activity

Alongside these partnerships, we are delivering a coordinated programme of campaign activity aimed at students, teachers, careers advisers and parents. 

In collaboration with Careermap, CIOB delivered a campaign targeting parents that reached more than 90,000 contacts through email, alongside an advertisement in Careermag for Parents, Carers and Guardians. 

A school postal campaign across the UK and Ireland has also been rolled out, providing careers contacts with direct access to Aspire resources such as the Mythbusters and Wembley Build brochures. The Mythbusters campaign is already underway, with the Wembley-focused materials set to follow later in the year, and early engagement has seen schools proactively reaching out and connecting with local hubs.

This activity has been supported by digital promotion through Google and LinkedIn advertising, as well as a targeted email campaign to CIOB members. Members have been encouraged to direct their own networks to the Aspire platform and to sign up as Construction Ambassadors, helping to amplify the initiative’s reach through industry advocacy.

Expanding the Aspire resource base

A key achievement has been the continued development of practical, high-quality resources to support both educators and employers. 

New materials include the Education Landscape in Construction guide, which helps employers navigate qualifications and entry routes into the industry, alongside the Wembley Build brochure, which showcases the range of careers involved in delivering a landmark project, and the Mythbusters brochure, which addresses common misconceptions about construction careers, providing a more accurate and compelling picture of the sector.

The Think Construction Toolkit has also been expanded, now featuring a sustainability presentation template and a tower-building activity designed to support interactive learning. In addition to these resources, CIOB has strengthened its digital content offering. The Leadership Insights webinar series is now available on YouTube here and here, providing accessible career insights and guidance for companies to support industry talent, and a joint webinar with the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management highlights the connections between construction and wider sustainability and resource management careers.

Looking ahead

The next phase of Aspire will focus on scaling engagement, deepening international reach, and continuing to align industry needs with education pathways. While the underlying challenge of ensuring construction is clearly understood and actively considered by those entering the workforce remains the same, we now have a structured, collaborative framework to address it, with a solid foundation in place for future growth.