A group of students from St Patrick's College, Ballymena have been the first to be involved in an integrated pilot programme for vocational education and communication sponsored by CITB-ConstructionSkills Northern Ireland and delivered by Northern Regional College (NRC).

The students have been studying Occupational Studies at NRC and have successfully achieved Essential Skills certificates for communication and literacy work on construction related themes.

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This CCEA Level 2 qualification focuses on construction related activities including wall tiling, brickwork and carpentry & joinery and is equivalent to GCSE level.

Barry Neilson, Chief Executive, CITB-ConstructionSkills Northern Ireland said: "It is fantastic to see the students achieving this Essential Skills qualification as part of this project. Not only are they focusing on vocational topics relevant to construction they are incorporating the life skills of communication to interpret and implement their learning. This is a perfect example of education and industry working successfully together."

The students of St Patrick's are to be congratulated on their achievements to date. Through detailed career guidance the students understand the benefits of completing the Essential Skills qualifications and have commented that they have found it useful to their mainstream GCSE English qualification.

(CD)