Almost a third of adults (31%) say avoiding student debt would make them more likely to encourage a young person into a career in construction, according to new research published by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).
The Savanta polling of 2,107 UK adults, for the FMB, comes as the average student loan debt in England reaches £47,900 for those who finished their course in 2023 and became liable to repay in April 2026, according to the House of Commons Library.
Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB said:
“Starting out debt free should be an encouraging starting point to get new starters into construction. But clearly there is a way to go to encourage people into the industry. While we want to encourage students of all routes into the industry, the reality is that a generation has been encouraged to go to university with the result that graduates are saddled with debt. Nobody is telling them there is another way - one where you could earn from day one. We want more young people to learn a trade as these are the people who can end up running their own business.”
Berry continued:
“A third of adults already say avoiding debt would make them back a building career. But what's also needed is support for small building companies to take young people on in the first place, including work placements. Training an apprentice is a costly and administratively heavy endeavour for a small building company - the Government needs to look hard at this if we are to build up the next generation of tradespeople.”
