Newcastle College's Construction department is renowned for delivering state-of-the-art construction training in the North East of England. Our teaching staff are experienced in industry as both practitioners and business leaders and remain highly skilled in current industry practice. We have especially strong links in bricklaying, plastering, roofing, slating and tiling, painting and decorating, plumbing and carpentry.
Construction involves the whole building process, from planning, to building services, to becoming a craftsman. Our wide range of courses focus on developing practical sought-after skills required in the industry and our strong links with employers help you get the hands-on experience you need to make a seamless transition into employment.
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Construction at Newcastle College
What can I do with a qualification in Construction?
Bricklayers and Masons
Roofers, Roof Tilers and Slaters
Plumbers and Heating and Ventilating Engineers
Carpenters and Joiners
Construction and Building Trades n.e.c.
Plasterers
Floorers and Wall Tilers
Painters and Decorators
Construction and Building Trades Supervisors
Glass and Ceramics Makers, Decorators and Finishers
Daily tasks:
- Levels, aligns and embeds stone in mortar and faces brick, concrete or steel frame with stone to make and repair structures.
- Uses hand and power tools to shape, trim, carve, cut letters in and polish stone.
- Spreads mortar on foundations and bricks, and places, levels and aligns bricks in mortar bed.
- Marks and cuts stone using hammers, mallet and hand or pneumatic chisels.
- Examines drawings, photographs and specifications to determine job requirements.
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Daily tasks:
- Seals edges of roof with mortar and ensures that joints are watertight.
- Lays, aligns and secures successive overlapping layers of roofing material.
- Lays and secures underfelt and covers with hot bitumen or other adhesive compound.
- Cuts wooden battens, felt and underfelt to required size.
- Measures roof or exterior wall and calculates required amounts of underfelt, tiles, slates or thatching material.
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Daily tasks:
- Repairs burst pipes and mechanical and combustion faults and replaces faulty taps, washers, valves, etc.
- Attaches fittings and joins piping by welding, soldering, cementing, fusing, screwing or other methods.
- Tests completed installation for leaks and makes any necessary adjustments.
- Installs fittings such as storage tanks, cookers, baths, toilets, taps and valves, refrigerators, boilers, radiators and fires.
- Measures and cuts required lengths of copper, lead, steel, iron, aluminium or plastic using hand or machine tools.
- Examines drawings and specifications to determine layout of system.
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Daily tasks:
- Maintains and repairs woodwork and fittings.
- Checks accuracy of work with square, rule and spirit level.
- Aligns and fixes prepared wood pieces by screwing, nailing, gluing and dowelling to form frames, shop fronts, counter units, decking, theatrical sets, furniture, small wooden craft, scale models and wooden templates.
- Selects and measures appropriate wood and cuts, shapes and drills to specification using saws, planes, chisels and other power or hand tools.
- Examines drawings and specifications to determine job requirements.
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Daily tasks:
- Checks and puts on diving suit and equipment and descends underwater to carry out construction, maintenance and repair tasks on sites such as oil rigs, harbours, bridges etc.
- Erects and repairs fencing.
- Maintains and repairs steeples, industrial chimneys and other high structures, and installs and replaces lightning conductors.
- Installs plumbing fixtures, woodwork structures and fittings, and sets glass in frames.
- Pours and levels concrete, prepares surfaces for painting and plastering, and mixes and applies plaster and paint.
- Lays bricks, tiles and building blocks to construct, repair and decorate buildings.
- Selects, measures and cuts steel bars, rods and wire to required lengths, positions and fixes reinforcements into position and tensions as required using hydraulic jacks.
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Daily tasks:
- Checks surface level using line, spirit level and straight edge.
- Covers and seals joints between boards and finishes surface.
- Measures, cuts, installs and secures plaster board and/or ornamental plasterwork to walls and ceilings.
- Pours liquid plaster into mould to cast ornamental plaster work.
- Applies and smoothes one or more coats of plaster and produces a finished surface, using hand tools or mechanical spray.
- Mixes, or directs the mixing of, plaster to desired consistency.
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Daily tasks:
- Mixes cement screed or other adhesive, cuts and positions floor and wall tiles and checks alignment of tiling with spirit level.
- Finishes covering by rolling, smoothing, grouting or polishing.
- Examines premises to plan suitable layout and cuts, lays and secures underlay, carpet and linoleum.
- Cleans floor surface, fixes wooden laying guides and mixes, pours and levels granite and terrazzo mixtures, bitumen, synthetic resin or other composition mixtures to form flooring.
- Examines drawings and specifications to determine job requirements.
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Daily tasks:
- Stains, waxes and french polishes wood surfaces by hand.
- Mixes adhesive or removes self-adhesive backing and positions covering material on wall, matching up patterns where appropriate and removing wrinkles and air bubbles by hand or brush.
- Applies primer, undercoat and finishing coat(s) using brush, roller, or spray equipment.
- Prepares surfaces by cleaning, sanding and filling cracks and holes with appropriate filler.
- Erects working platform or scaffolding up to five metres in height.
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Daily tasks:
- Reports as required to managerial staff on work-related matters.
- Determines or recommends staffing and other needs to meet productivity requirements.
- Liaises with managers and contractors to resolve operational problems.
- Establishes and monitors work schedules to meet productivity requirements.
- Directly supervises and coordinates the activities of construction and building workers and/or subcontractors.
Powered by EMSI
Daily tasks:
- Applies decorative designs and finishes to glassware, optical glass and ceramic goods by grinding, smoothing, polishing, cutting, etching, dipping, painting or transferring patterns or labels.
- Cuts and joins unfired stoneware pipes to form junctions and gullies, moulds sealing bands on clay pipes, prepares and joins porcelain or earthenware components and assists crucible makers and stone workers with their tasks.
- Throws, casts and presses clay by hand or machine to form pottery, stoneware or refractory goods such as bricks, crucibles, ornaments, sanitary furnishings, saggars, cups, saucers, plates and roofing tiles.
- Makes models and moulds from moulding clay and plaster for use in the making and casting of pottery and other ceramic goods.
- Makes artificial eyes, laminated glass sheets or blocks, glass fibre tissue, wool, filament and matting, marks optical lenses and assembles rimless spectacles.
- Uses hand tools and operates machinery to heat, bend, shape, press, drill and cut glass.
Powered by EMSI
What can I do with a qualification in Construction?
Bricklayers and Masons
Daily tasks:
- Levels, aligns and embeds stone in mortar and faces brick, concrete or steel frame with stone to make and repair structures.
- Uses hand and power tools to shape, trim, carve, cut letters in and polish stone.
- Spreads mortar on foundations and bricks, and places, levels and aligns bricks in mortar bed.
- Marks and cuts stone using hammers, mallet and hand or pneumatic chisels.
- Examines drawings, photographs and specifications to determine job requirements.
Powered by EMSI
Roofers, Roof Tilers and Slaters
Daily tasks:
- Seals edges of roof with mortar and ensures that joints are watertight.
- Lays, aligns and secures successive overlapping layers of roofing material.
- Lays and secures underfelt and covers with hot bitumen or other adhesive compound.
- Cuts wooden battens, felt and underfelt to required size.
- Measures roof or exterior wall and calculates required amounts of underfelt, tiles, slates or thatching material.
Powered by EMSI
Plumbers and Heating and Ventilating Engineers
Daily tasks:
- Repairs burst pipes and mechanical and combustion faults and replaces faulty taps, washers, valves, etc.
- Attaches fittings and joins piping by welding, soldering, cementing, fusing, screwing or other methods.
- Tests completed installation for leaks and makes any necessary adjustments.
- Installs fittings such as storage tanks, cookers, baths, toilets, taps and valves, refrigerators, boilers, radiators and fires.
- Measures and cuts required lengths of copper, lead, steel, iron, aluminium or plastic using hand or machine tools.
- Examines drawings and specifications to determine layout of system.
Powered by EMSI
Carpenters and Joiners
Daily tasks:
- Maintains and repairs woodwork and fittings.
- Checks accuracy of work with square, rule and spirit level.
- Aligns and fixes prepared wood pieces by screwing, nailing, gluing and dowelling to form frames, shop fronts, counter units, decking, theatrical sets, furniture, small wooden craft, scale models and wooden templates.
- Selects and measures appropriate wood and cuts, shapes and drills to specification using saws, planes, chisels and other power or hand tools.
- Examines drawings and specifications to determine job requirements.
Powered by EMSI
Construction and Building Trades n.e.c.
Daily tasks:
- Checks and puts on diving suit and equipment and descends underwater to carry out construction, maintenance and repair tasks on sites such as oil rigs, harbours, bridges etc.
- Erects and repairs fencing.
- Maintains and repairs steeples, industrial chimneys and other high structures, and installs and replaces lightning conductors.
- Installs plumbing fixtures, woodwork structures and fittings, and sets glass in frames.
- Pours and levels concrete, prepares surfaces for painting and plastering, and mixes and applies plaster and paint.
- Lays bricks, tiles and building blocks to construct, repair and decorate buildings.
- Selects, measures and cuts steel bars, rods and wire to required lengths, positions and fixes reinforcements into position and tensions as required using hydraulic jacks.
Powered by EMSI
Plasterers
Daily tasks:
- Checks surface level using line, spirit level and straight edge.
- Covers and seals joints between boards and finishes surface.
- Measures, cuts, installs and secures plaster board and/or ornamental plasterwork to walls and ceilings.
- Pours liquid plaster into mould to cast ornamental plaster work.
- Applies and smoothes one or more coats of plaster and produces a finished surface, using hand tools or mechanical spray.
- Mixes, or directs the mixing of, plaster to desired consistency.
Powered by EMSI
Floorers and Wall Tilers
Daily tasks:
- Mixes cement screed or other adhesive, cuts and positions floor and wall tiles and checks alignment of tiling with spirit level.
- Finishes covering by rolling, smoothing, grouting or polishing.
- Examines premises to plan suitable layout and cuts, lays and secures underlay, carpet and linoleum.
- Cleans floor surface, fixes wooden laying guides and mixes, pours and levels granite and terrazzo mixtures, bitumen, synthetic resin or other composition mixtures to form flooring.
- Examines drawings and specifications to determine job requirements.
Powered by EMSI
Painters and Decorators
Daily tasks:
- Stains, waxes and french polishes wood surfaces by hand.
- Mixes adhesive or removes self-adhesive backing and positions covering material on wall, matching up patterns where appropriate and removing wrinkles and air bubbles by hand or brush.
- Applies primer, undercoat and finishing coat(s) using brush, roller, or spray equipment.
- Prepares surfaces by cleaning, sanding and filling cracks and holes with appropriate filler.
- Erects working platform or scaffolding up to five metres in height.
Powered by EMSI
Construction and Building Trades Supervisors
Daily tasks:
- Reports as required to managerial staff on work-related matters.
- Determines or recommends staffing and other needs to meet productivity requirements.
- Liaises with managers and contractors to resolve operational problems.
- Establishes and monitors work schedules to meet productivity requirements.
- Directly supervises and coordinates the activities of construction and building workers and/or subcontractors.
Powered by EMSI
Glass and Ceramics Makers, Decorators and Finishers
Daily tasks:
- Applies decorative designs and finishes to glassware, optical glass and ceramic goods by grinding, smoothing, polishing, cutting, etching, dipping, painting or transferring patterns or labels.
- Cuts and joins unfired stoneware pipes to form junctions and gullies, moulds sealing bands on clay pipes, prepares and joins porcelain or earthenware components and assists crucible makers and stone workers with their tasks.
- Throws, casts and presses clay by hand or machine to form pottery, stoneware or refractory goods such as bricks, crucibles, ornaments, sanitary furnishings, saggars, cups, saucers, plates and roofing tiles.
- Makes models and moulds from moulding clay and plaster for use in the making and casting of pottery and other ceramic goods.
- Makes artificial eyes, laminated glass sheets or blocks, glass fibre tissue, wool, filament and matting, marks optical lenses and assembles rimless spectacles.
- Uses hand tools and operates machinery to heat, bend, shape, press, drill and cut glass.
Powered by EMSI
Meet our students and tutors
Thomas Maddison Todd
Level 2 in Bricklaying"I wanted to go to sixth form because that’s what my friends were doing but because of my grades I wasn’t able to. I was terrified about coming to college on my own but it's been the right choice for me."
Colin Parnaby
Programme Leader - Carpentry & Joinery"I started my working career as an apprentice in a joinery machine shop, since then I have worked on many sites and enjoyed working abroad on a house renovation. One day work was called off due to weather and I heard an advert on the radio for trades people to go into teaching! Just knowing I can pass on my knowledge to the younger generation makes me feel good. I like to see how students mature as a person from when they join us to getting their first job in the trade."
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