Teachers should not give careers advice, schools should be rated by Ofsted on their advice and construction firms should team up with schools.

These were just some of the hard-hitting points made by one of the county's education experts as he addressed what he called some of the major challenges facing the construction sector.

Peter White, the business development manager for the University of Gloucestershire and the former deputy vice principal at Gloucestershire College, was speaking to members of Constructing Excellence Gloucestershire.

If the sector is to meet the immense challenges it faces it needs to tackle four fundamental issues - the availability of quality careers advice, an education culture that rates academic achievement over technical skills, a poor reputation, and the development of skilled managers and leaders.

Read more: Team from Constructing Excellence wins at Kingsholm 

He added: "Careers education in this country is broken and it is affecting the number of people entering the industry.

"Almost every industry is facing problems recruiting good people .... and it's going to get a lot harder... and I mean a lot harder.

"Recent research by Arcadis highlights the 'astonishing' scale of the skills shortage facing the UK construction industry, which must now become a priority for the Government.

"The UK will require 400,000 new workers every year until 2021 to meet predicted demand, regardless of post-Brexit immigration issues.

"The construction industry will be required to recruit from other industries, increase productivity and dramatically reduce waste if it is to overcome this problem."

He added: "Careers education in this country is broken and it is affecting the number of people entering the industry."

Referring to a recent report by construction giants Kier, a member of Constructing Excellence, 74 per cent of people felt careers advice was too focused on academic pathways, and 68 per cent of parents felt that children do not receive enough advice.

"The research also says that the construction industry is battling with a fundamental image problem with pupils and parents not appreciating the breadth of career opportunities on offer.

"The study found that 90 per cent of teachers are unaware of the scale of the recruitment shortfall in the construction sector, with 41 per cent not realizing that there is an issue at all.

"This is why I think that teachers should stay out of careers advice, as most don't know and simply can't know what is going on in the employment market."

Partnering with schools, in the fashion of Constructing Excellence's adopt a school programme, was key to getting in front of young people and delivering the right messages about the sector.

To read the full speech see below ....

What I'll try to do over the next 10 minutes or so is give you my perspective on two aspects of education, Peter White told a gathering of Constructing Excellence Gloucestershire.

Firstly, looking at whether we can expect our state system to address the growing skills problem we have in this country and secondly looking at management training ......and the development of the next generation of leaders in the construction industry.

Let me set the scene and be clear about why the system and process of education within the context of the labour market is important:

Almost every industry is facing problems recruiting good people ....and it's going to get a lot harder... and I mean a lot harder. There are many reasons for this and we could actually spend hours on that topic alone.

Recent research by Arcadis highlights the "astonishing" scale (as thy put it) of the skills shortage facing the UK construction industry, which must now become a priority for the government.

The UK will require 400,000 new workers every year until 2021 to meet predicted demand, regardless of post-Brexit immigration issues.

The Construction Industry will be required to recruit from other industries, increase productivity and dramatically reduce waste if it is to overcome this problem.

So, what's going on upstream in education that might help or hinder the supply of young people entering the construction industry?

Here are the biggest issues that I think are at play - and these are not in any order of priority:

Firstly......The availability and quality of careers advice.

Secondly..... The education culture in this country that rates academic achievement more highly than technical skills (lets drop the word vocational as it has poor connotations and let's call this area technical and professional).

Thirdly..... Misperceptions of the construction industry- or call it reputation if you like and as a lifelong marketer I can tell you that reputation matters ......whether its real or not.

And fourth ...The development of skilled managers and leaders.

So first let's take Careers education as it's part of the education process .... and it is a problem. In fact, I'd go further and say that careers education in this country is broken and it is affecting the number of young people entering the industry.

So where does it go wrong?

There is no systematic, national approach to careers education...it is left to schools, colleges and universities to do whatever they can...and regardless of what you read or are told, careers education is not under serious scrutiny by anyone.

No-one fails an Ofsted inspection because of poor careers advice and many including me think that is wrong.

So, when it comes to selecting post 16 options parents and teachers are the usually the most influential people.

And parents tend to be most influenced by teachers because they know them ... trust them and let's face it post 16 choices are complex so parents need help.

But teachers are not usually the best people to give careers advice so at best parents are not given the complete picture about career options. At worst teachers direct the pupils who they regard as high performers into A level programmes rather than let them see all the opportunities and options available to them.

Careers education needs to be accessible to all that is every pupil be impartial, offer live practical experience and be comprehensive.

I know that even with the best careers advice available a proportion of young people still wouldn't know what they wanted to do but I think more would and at least those who don't know what to do would have been better informed.

I have to say at this point that there are some schools in the county that are very good at careers advice but too many are not, especially the ones with 6th forms.

But maybe parents are waking up to the careers guidance problem - I hope so.

A report published at the end of last year shows that parents have significant concerns about the quality of careers advice on offer to secondary school pupils.

The report, commissioned by Kier, points to a need for business and government to do more to improve out of date advice.

74 per cent of those surveyed felt careers advice is too focused on academic pathways, and 68 per cent of parents felt that children don't receive enough advice.

The research also says that the construction industry is battling with a fundamental image problem with pupils and parents not appreciating the breadth of career opportunities on offer.

The study found that 90 per cent of teachers are unaware of the scale of the recruitment shortfall in the construction sector, with 41 per cent not realizing that there is an issue at all. This is why I think that teachers should stay out of careers advice, as most don't know and simply can't know what is going on in the employment market.

This is backed up by research from the Association of Accounting Technicians that suggests that 63 per cent of parents don't understand apprenticeships well enough to explain them to their kids and 81 per cent don't realise that higher apprenticeships are on a par with degrees.

But let's not get carried away with the thought that if careers education was better it would be the answer to all our problems. The construction industry has to outperform competition from other industries who are battling for the attention of young people in the recruitment market place.

Let's take a look at what's happening.

Careers have changed massively over the past 15 -20 years especially as digital technologies have developed.

There is a much-quoted sound bite statistic that says the top 10 most in demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004. This is 'in demand jobs' not job vacancies.

Technology is moving quickly and that will directly or indirectly affect all jobs ... including the construction industry either by eliminating them or changing them - so we have to be ready.

Jobs exist now that we hadn't heard of a decade ago.

The World Economic Forum says that 65 per cent of children entering primary school today will ultimately end up working in completely new job types that don't yet exist. That creates challenges for education providers as you can imagine, especially in post 16 education.

The construction industry has to recognise this

So, can we do anything to present the industry as a great career choice and change perceptions?

I think it's already started. The adopt a school programme started by constructing excellence looks like something that should be supported by the colleges and university and be extended. It provides the opportunity to join up and take the game to the education market and parents with events, presentations and practical experience. To promote the industry as a dynamic place and first choice to develop a career.

Future Collaborations like this between employers and education will be crucial given the scale of what needs to be done. And the fact that careers education is not going to get any better any time soon so the industry has to do it for themselves.... as will others.

But, let's try to get schools to be inclusive and include all pupils and not just those selected by a school who they don't want to keep post 16!!

So, what about the structure of education itself?

Well the structure of the education landscape is changing which is good.

It's worth remembering that In 1950, just 3.4 per cent of young people went to university. In January this year, UCAS reported that over 37 per cent of 18 year olds have applied for university this autumn which illustrates how higher education has moved from the margins to centre stage in British public life and why the cost of higher education has shifted to the individual away from the state.

Interestingly though applications from the 19-plus age group is down quite a bit, which I think is significant and maybe is an indication of change coming.

What will be the drivers for change? I think it will be a combination of factors.

The one most often mentioned is the cost - I believe cost is a certainly a consideration but I don't think it is the deciding factor as the evidence doesn't fully bear that out.

So what makes me believe that things will change? Well a few things:

First ... I think choosing an education route is becoming more about value over cost ... and the rise of alternatives, the leading alternative being apprenticeships, ... especially now that higher level apprenticeships have been introduced and apprenticeships range all the way from level 2 through degree to masters level.

Second ...... The earnings potential is shifting. The average gap between the lifetime earnings of apprentices and university graduates has narrowed over recent years and currently stands at just 1.8 per cent ....and the gap will continue to close. And, apprentices in some fields are likely to outperform their graduate counterparts by up to 270 per cent, according to a new report from Barclays and the Centre for Economics and Business Research.

Let me be absolutely clear, I am not knocking full time degree programmes as for some it is exactly the right thing to do.

As someone from the University of Gloucestershire I can also say that the higher education sector including ourselves recognizes this and have introduced degree level apprenticeships into the university and will continue to develop more.

Finally, management and productivity

So, the Keir research says that the construction industry will be required to increase productivity if it is to overcome the skills shortage.

Productivity is a complex thing and involves many parts, but in my opinion one of the most important aspects is creating good managers and leaders .... And I don't think that as a country we are very good at doing this.

Why should we do it? It's been said that we are now facing an era of unprecedented accelerations in technology, environmental, and globalisation. This is transforming everything and what we expect of our leaders.

Much of the problem with leadership training is that we are trying to develop something in our leader's after the train has left the station. It's not that it can't be done, it's just much harder. Good leadership development should start early.

What often happens is people who are good at their job or in the right place at the right time are promoted to positions with increased responsibility where they manage people, projects and budgets and they are just expected to be good at it. Managing and leading is complex and challenging and yet we often throw staff into these roles without help.

I'm sure that a large proportion of those assigned to management roles without any training or support eventually become good at it but that takes time.

What can be done through proper support and training is to shorten the time it takes to become an effective manager and set managers on the path of becoming good leaders by giving individuals the tools they need to build confidence

Confidence - that illusive quality which is the building block of good leadership ....and education and training can help develop it.

It is also good for Retention which is a crucial part of the workforce plan. Developing leadership pipelines in most business should be written into long term plans. Losing managers and leaders should be on your risk register.

And.... think about management apprenticeships. They are a new way of developing managers and very cost effective.

We know through research that apprentices tend to stay with the employer who trained them. The national figure I think is over 70 per cent of apprentices stay. The point is... that investing in staff development helps retention, at whatever level.

Identifying and developing leaders is not just about identifying staff for first steps on the management ladder either, it's also about executive development - developing those already in management roles to be the next generation of senior managers and directors.

One of my roles at UoG is developing degree and masters level apprenticeships and there are two leadership and management apprenticeships available.

The CMDA is degree level management apprenticeship and the lead body is the CMI, it takes three years.

The SLMDA is an MBA apprenticeship and takes two years. Think about the CMDA for your up and coming staff and the SLMDA for your next generation of directors.