Current opportunities

This section contains all current opportunities that are open, or soon to be open, for application.

On this page:

• England Construction Opportunities (ECO 25) commission
• CITB’s Onsite Experience programme

England Construction Opportunities (ECO 25) commission

CITB is extending the England Construction Opportunities (ECO 25) commission, that supports new entrants into the construction industry, for a further 12 months. The commission will require providers to have in place pre-existing relationships with other agencies to manage the training and development required for an individual to enter a construction job.  Evidence of job availability and employer engagement will be required.

The budget for this commission is £2m with no capital expenditure. Contract starts 1st March 2025 for 12 months.

The specific criteria in the tender will focus on the support provided in the workplace through job coaching, mentoring, employer engagement, peer and buddy systems or other appropriate support measures to improve the quality and sustainability of work outcomes. This support will be reviewed at 3 and 6 months sustained employment outputs with destination tracking of individuals through a 12-month cycle to evidence outcomes of the support.

An instructional webinar to the tender and application process was held on Monday 13th January 2025.

The recording is now available:

The tender can be accessed through delta-esourcing.com and all queries will be answered on this platform.

Delta Access code for the tender is 74MN6B28CA

CITB’s Onsite Experience programme

CITB’s Onsite Experience programme is in its fifth year of operation, delivering pre-employment and work trial interventions in England and Wales. CITB’s hub model is in a period of transition defined by our 2024-28 Strategic Plan in which alternative provision and/or new commissions will be developed to provide ‘taster’ opportunities for potential new entrants to Construction. During this transition, CITB wish to continue delivery of the Onsite Experience hub model in selected existing locations in England and Wales for a minimum of 12 months from April 2025. CITB are inviting applications for funding to continue delivery of the Onsite Experience solution in 6 locations in England and Wales.

What is an ‘Onsite Experience Hub’?
The term ‘hub’ describes the infrastructure encompassing the facilities, people and equipment required to deliver the pre-employment interventions required by the Fund. This opportunity requires applicants to operate the most appropriate hub specification for delivery of the desired outcomes. Any physical Onsite Experience hub facilities should be situated within proximity of the construction project/s which will be utilised to deliver Onsite Experience work placements and provide ease of access for employers with recruitment needs and individuals seeking a career in construction.

LEP areas and Welsh regions for continuation of hub model:

• Cardiff City Region
• Greater London
• Lancashire
• Leicestershire
• South West England
• South West Wales

Application form and supporting documents

• Application Form (Word, 194KB)
• Guidance Notes (PDF, 153KB)
• Terms of Bidding (PDF, 140KB)
• Funding Agreement (PDF, 335KB).

Application window

The window for applications will be open from Monday 3rd February 2025 and will close at 5pm Friday 21st February 2025.

Important: any applications received after 5pm on 21st February will not be considered.

During the application window, any queries or clarifications concerning the application process or opportunity can be submitted via the Fund mailbox, onsite.experience@citb.co.uk.

Funding available and required deliverables:

CITB wish to fund continuation of the Onsite Experience hub model in the following areas:

The successful applicant in each area will be required to:

• Recruit candidates, select those suitable for your pre-employment programme, work with referral partners to signpost and/or support unsuitable candidates;
• Work closely with recruiting employers to progress individuals to employment and site-ready status (to include a mandatory Onsite Experience work placement);
• Enable individuals to quickly secure employment in occupations in-scope to CITB;
• Support both candidates and employers to enable individuals recruited through the hub to achieve a minimum of three months of sustained employment (84 days).
• Ensure that a proportion of individuals who sustain employment are from under-represented groups. “Under-represented” refers to people with protected characteristics as defined in the Equality Act 2010. For guidance on this requirement, please contact the CITB Commissioner at experience@citb.co.uk.

Definition of training interventions and ‘Onsite Experience’

This fund is designed to support pre-employment interventions, exclusively for new entrants to construction with some limited exceptions (see Funding Agreement template for eligibility criteria and exceptions).

The intervention must include an onsite experience work placement, and can include short duration construction training, coaching, careers information, advice and guidance, observation and coaching in soft skills, and CSCS or other training and testing. The components of your pre-employment programme must be developed in conjunction with construction employers and must meet their standards for potential new recruits.

The entire pre-employment programme, including the work placement, should be short term (typically 2-4 weeks) and the Fund excludes longer term qualifications or reskilling/upskilling for the existing workforce.

An onsite experience is a site-based work placement, which must take place on a live construction site and not a simulated construction environment, such as a training facility or practice area. The placement must allow the candidate to participate in real construction activities in order to expose them to the realities of the occupation they are pursuing, as well as the construction environment and culture. The placement will must also give the host employer the opportunity to observe the candidate’s soft skills and technical attributes whilst taking part in hands on construction activities.

The placement duration and structure should not be defined by the hub provider, and should be led by the prospective employer’s requirements. For funding purposes, all individuals signed off as employment and site-ready and moving into employment must have completed an onsite experience placement.