Celebrating 10 years of DEC at the House of Lords

On July 5th, Simon Ashton, our Assistant Principal of Nacro Education, attended an event at the House of Lords, hosted by The Rt Hon. The Lord Knight of Weymouth, celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the ‘Design Engineer Construct!’ (DEC) Learning Programme. Introduced in 2013 by Alison Watson MBE from Class of Your Own, DEC offers young people a pathway to explore various roles in the construction industry and connect with industry professionals through the ‘Adopt a School’ scheme. These qualifications have gained global recognition and have opened numerous employment opportunities for young people.

The event featured inspiring stories from 30 young people who had completed DEC qualifications since 2013. They shared how these qualifications have propelled them into successful careers, including in architecture and surveying. Additionally, teachers from various locations discussed teaching DEC and highlighted the positive impact it has had on many students. Unfortunately, our Newcastle Centre tutor, Chris Stevenson, and Nacro learner, Roberto Sow, were unable to attend in person, however they have recorded videos about the programme, which you can watch below.

Nacro has worked with DEC for nearly three years, providing DEC Level 1 qualifications in Newcastle, which have been adopted by Turner & Townsend. As part of our national work experience programme with Class of Your Own, we have also awarded DEC qualifications to learners nationwide. Through this programme, learners from all over the country had the opportunity to engage in high-quality virtual work experience projects for one week, collaborating with industry professionals. Notable organisations such as SCAPE, Hoare Lea and McDonald’s have supported these initiatives.