Skills shortages was the overwhelming category of choice for students taking part in the JCT Student Competition 2017, with the overall winner and both runners-up providing unique and interesting takes on the topic.
Creativity, original tone of voice, and clarity of ideas were all on show, whether using the written word, photography, visual graphics or designs, highlighting the depth of talent and broad range of skills of the students who enter each year.
The 2017 competition ran from September 2016 to March 2017 with judging taking place in May. Students from a number of high-level institutions from around the UK, including Queens University Belfast, Oxford Brookes University, University of Bath, University of Wolverhampton, and others entered the competition, continuing the high level of interest and value that the competition generates for construction students.
Categories for this year included: skills shortages, sustainability, collaboration, BIM, technology, and health and wellbeing. In line with the creative and open nature of the competition, students submitted traditional essays, journalistic articles, photographic essays, architectural designs and drawings, graphic essays, and presentations.
The JCT student competition continues to be a success. JCT is committed to improving the understanding and learning of construction contracts and the competition is an important feature to enable us to provide contact and support to students, strengthening our profile with future JCT contract users. As the competition has become established, it has also evolved over time, recognising the different ways in which construction students learn and the various industry backgrounds and disciplines from which students are drawn.
The JCT Student Competition aims to provide a significant boost to construction students, to assist with their studies, and provide development opportunities. This year a winning prize of £1,000 was awarded, with £250 prizes for runners-up. The winners were announced on Thursday 8 June via press release, and on JCT’s social media pages.
The winning entries are also available to view in full on the JCT website at: http://corporate.jctltd.co.uk/initiatives/education-students/jctstudent-competition/.
JCT Student Competition 2017: Winners
OVERALL WINNER
Mirona Tomala, Oxford Brookes University, MSc Project Management in the Built Environment
“Confessions of a female conversion MSc student: an essay addressing the factors contributing to skills shortage in the UK construction industry, focusing
on the poor industry awareness and draconian expectations.”
RUNNER-UP
Paul Winfield, UCEM, MSc Quantity Surveying
“Addressing the construction skills shortage: Is education enough? An essay addressing the skills shortage in the UK construction industry, analysing data to encourage the reformation of the UK education model amongst additional broad-based measures.”
RUNNER-UP
Arran Christopher Peters, Oxford Brookes University, MSc Project Management in the Built Environment
“Brick Laying in Brogues: how Project Managers can increase their on-site construction knowledge to better manage skilled labour shortages”