Is this the solution to skills in the built environment?
In our latest LMC Meets interview, we explore PlanBEE, an innovative approach to built environment education.
By Liz Male
08 Jul 2026
In our latest LMC Meets interview, Liz Male speaks to Peter Barker, consultant at Ryder Architecture and a long-standing advocate for reform in built environment education, about PlanBEE, the award-winning higher apprenticeship programme designed to give young people a broader, more practical route into the sector.
PlanBEE (Plan for Built Environment Education) grew from a concern about construction education shared by Ryder and other employers in the northeast of England.
Traditional architecture and construction education routes were producing talented graduates, but employers were often having to spend significant time filling gaps in practical knowledge, interdisciplinary understanding and workplace readiness. It’s a common complaint among employers, and we got talking to Peter about this following a fascinating roundtable debate with Building magazine in May.
Working collaboratively with other companies in related disciplines, Ryder set out to create a different model: a work-based, rotational programme that allows learners to earn while they learn.
The PlanBEE learners get to experience several built environment disciplines, and make better-informed career choices.
Rather than asking 18-year-old school leavers to commit immediately to architecture, contracting, engineering or cost consultancy, PlanBEE gives them structured exposure to each.
Traditional architecture and construction education routes were producing talented graduates, but employers were often having to spend significant time filling gaps in practical knowledge, interdisciplinary understanding and workplace readiness. It’s a common complaint among employers, and we got talking to Peter about this following a fascinating roundtable debate with Building magazine in May.
Working collaboratively with other companies in related disciplines, Ryder set out to create a different model: a work-based, rotational programme that allows learners to earn while they learn.
The PlanBEE learners get to experience several built environment disciplines, and make better-informed career choices.
Rather than asking 18-year-old school leavers to commit immediately to architecture, contracting, engineering or cost consultancy, PlanBEE gives them structured exposure to each.
PlanBEE - how it started
The programme began in 2016 with Gateshead College and a small group of employers, including Ryder, Sir Robert McAlpine and Cundall.
The programme now also runs in Manchester and London.
It was initially built around a Level 4 HNC and Level 5 HND qualifications, later aligning with the Level 4 Construction Design and Build Technician apprenticeship standard. Apprentices rotate between employers, typically spending four months with each discipline.They spend four days a week at work and one day at college, earning a living wage from day one and working on real projects.
Peter explained that this approach helps learners understand how buildings are actually designed, procured and delivered.
It’s also great for employers, giving them access to motivated apprentices who quickly become useful members of project teams. One story he told us about was of an apprentice who, after time on site with a contractor, was able to challenge an unbuildable detail in an architectural design review.
Just that one intervention could be worth its weight in gold for a project team, and is exactly the sort of cross-disciplinary knowledge and feedback loop that we need in order to improve quality outcomes in construction.
The programme now also runs in Manchester and London.
It was initially built around a Level 4 HNC and Level 5 HND qualifications, later aligning with the Level 4 Construction Design and Build Technician apprenticeship standard. Apprentices rotate between employers, typically spending four months with each discipline.They spend four days a week at work and one day at college, earning a living wage from day one and working on real projects.
Peter explained that this approach helps learners understand how buildings are actually designed, procured and delivered.
It’s also great for employers, giving them access to motivated apprentices who quickly become useful members of project teams. One story he told us about was of an apprentice who, after time on site with a contractor, was able to challenge an unbuildable detail in an architectural design review.
Just that one intervention could be worth its weight in gold for a project team, and is exactly the sort of cross-disciplinary knowledge and feedback loop that we need in order to improve quality outcomes in construction.
98% success rate
The results have been incredible. PlanBEE achieves a 98 percent success rate (graduation leading into permanent jobs), with almost all PlanBEE graduates moving into roles with sponsoring employers or elsewhere in the built environment. Peter attributes this to careful selection, strong employer involvement, mentoring and the intensity of the rotational experience.
Our discussion explored how the programme could be used as a foundation for wider change, not a finished answer. For example, Ryder and other employers have been developing a Level 6 design, construction and management degree apprenticeship, intended as the next evolution of the model.
Work on the new standard has reached an advanced stage, but approval from Skills England is proving frustratingly slow.
Peter’s broader message is that the industry already has evidence that employer-led, work-based, interdisciplinary education can work. The next step, he argues, is to scale it, regionally and nationally, while retaining the close links between employers, colleges and universities that have made PlanBEE effective.
Our discussion explored how the programme could be used as a foundation for wider change, not a finished answer. For example, Ryder and other employers have been developing a Level 6 design, construction and management degree apprenticeship, intended as the next evolution of the model.
Work on the new standard has reached an advanced stage, but approval from Skills England is proving frustratingly slow.
Peter’s broader message is that the industry already has evidence that employer-led, work-based, interdisciplinary education can work. The next step, he argues, is to scale it, regionally and nationally, while retaining the close links between employers, colleges and universities that have made PlanBEE effective.
The 5 most important lessons from PlanBEE
1. Employers need to shape education, not just complain about skills gaps
PlanBEE emerged because Ryder and other built environment employers could see that traditional routes were not always producing the practical, interdisciplinary competence they needed. But they didn’t just whinge about it.
Their initiative is proving that, if they're willing to collaborate and coordinate efforts, employers can help themselves, designing better routes into the sector, rather than waiting for colleges, universities or government to solve the problem alone.
2. Early career choices should not be forced too soon
A major strength of PlanBEE is that it gives young people time to understand the built environment before committing to one discipline.
So many school leavers are asked to choose between architecture, contracting, engineering or surveying before they properly understand what those roles involve. The rotational model gives learners direct exposure to different professions, helping them make better-informed decisions.
3. Cross-disciplinary learning improves project understanding (and shares the cost)
PlanBEE’s rotational structure gives apprentices practical experience across a wide range of design, construction and engineering skills. That matters because the best built environment projects always depend on effective collaboration.
It’s also a clever way to share the cost and time that is needed in apprenticeships. The HR burden is also taken away because the sponsoring companies do not employ the learners direct – instead they are employed by a shell company which invoices the sponsors and ensures everyone gets paid correctly.
4. Work-based learning can widen access without lowering standards
PlanBEE is presented as a route for people who may not be able to afford traditional full-time study, but Peter is clear that it is not an easy option. Selection is based on attitude, curiosity and commitment.
Apprentices earn while they learn, avoid taking on eye-watering levels of debt, and build recognised qualifications while gaining workplace experience. The reported 98 percent success rate shows that widening access and maintaining quality can be compatible.
5. The model works because it is structured, mentored and sustained
The PlanBEE initiative is a programme built on employer collaboration and careful preparation, induction, mentoring, feedback and regular communication between sponsors.
Employers must be ready to receive apprentices, give them meaningful work and support their development. That structure is what allows a four-month placement to be productive for both apprentice and employer.
The wider lesson is that PlanBEE’s value lies in its combination of employer leadership, college partnership and regional collaboration.
Its success shows that the built environment can create more effective talent pipelines when education is designed around how the industry actually works. And I suspect it’s an approach that could be adopted in many other sectors too.
PlanBEE emerged because Ryder and other built environment employers could see that traditional routes were not always producing the practical, interdisciplinary competence they needed. But they didn’t just whinge about it.
Their initiative is proving that, if they're willing to collaborate and coordinate efforts, employers can help themselves, designing better routes into the sector, rather than waiting for colleges, universities or government to solve the problem alone.
2. Early career choices should not be forced too soon
A major strength of PlanBEE is that it gives young people time to understand the built environment before committing to one discipline.
So many school leavers are asked to choose between architecture, contracting, engineering or surveying before they properly understand what those roles involve. The rotational model gives learners direct exposure to different professions, helping them make better-informed decisions.
3. Cross-disciplinary learning improves project understanding (and shares the cost)
PlanBEE’s rotational structure gives apprentices practical experience across a wide range of design, construction and engineering skills. That matters because the best built environment projects always depend on effective collaboration.
It’s also a clever way to share the cost and time that is needed in apprenticeships. The HR burden is also taken away because the sponsoring companies do not employ the learners direct – instead they are employed by a shell company which invoices the sponsors and ensures everyone gets paid correctly.
4. Work-based learning can widen access without lowering standards
PlanBEE is presented as a route for people who may not be able to afford traditional full-time study, but Peter is clear that it is not an easy option. Selection is based on attitude, curiosity and commitment.
Apprentices earn while they learn, avoid taking on eye-watering levels of debt, and build recognised qualifications while gaining workplace experience. The reported 98 percent success rate shows that widening access and maintaining quality can be compatible.
5. The model works because it is structured, mentored and sustained
The PlanBEE initiative is a programme built on employer collaboration and careful preparation, induction, mentoring, feedback and regular communication between sponsors.
Employers must be ready to receive apprentices, give them meaningful work and support their development. That structure is what allows a four-month placement to be productive for both apprentice and employer.
The wider lesson is that PlanBEE’s value lies in its combination of employer leadership, college partnership and regional collaboration.
Its success shows that the built environment can create more effective talent pipelines when education is designed around how the industry actually works. And I suspect it’s an approach that could be adopted in many other sectors too.
By Liz Male
08 Jul 2026
