Four BTEC Higher Nationals in Construction receive HTQ status

Our four new HTQs in Construction available for first teach in September 2025 are: 

• HNC Building Services Engineering for England (2025)
• HND Building Services Engineering for England (2025)
• HNC Civil Engineering for England (2025)
• HND Civil Engineering for England (2025) 

These new qualifications sit alongside our previously approved HTQs in Construction, which also include: HNC and HND Construction Management for England (2023), HNC and HND Architectural Technology for England (2023), HNC and HND Modern Methods of Construction for England (2023), and HNC and HND Quantity Surveying for England (2023). Pearson now offers a total of 12 HTQs in the Construction suite!  

This new suite of Pearson Higher Nationals in Construction has been developed to meet the needs of the modern-day construction industry, with more focus on digital skills, sustainability, and modern methods. The new units allow for more frequent changes in modern-day technology and localised differences, whilst still maintaining essential content coverage and assessment requirements. 

HTQ approved qualification content aligns with 'occupational standards' to ensure their content covers current industry needs, as set out by sector route panels and trailblazer group. In addition, all HTQ approved qualifications undertake a rigorous review by IfATE to be awarded the HTQ quality mark. Therefore, Centres can be confident that Pearson Higher National HTQ qualifications have comprehensive coverage of knowledge, skills, and behaviors for Apprentices, and importantly they also provide robust level 4 and 5 HE qualifications for non-apprentice students looking for alternative progression options from level 3 or initial steps towards a degree. 

Throughout the development of these qualifications, Pearson collaborated with a range of employers within the Construction sector, including BAM Construction, Cundall, Derry Building Services, Kier Group, Rodgers Leask, Vinci Construction, and Wates Construction. In addition to these employers, Pearson also continue to work closely with relevant sector Professional Bodies to ensure content meets the highest level of standards. These include: Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) & the Joint Board of Moderators (JBM), Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE), Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors (CICES), and Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE). 

Andrew Stokes (Principal Design Engineer at Derry Building Services), who supported the qualification development of both Building Services Engineering qualifications stated that:

“Derry Building Services (DBS) strongly believe that the new Building Services Engineering HTQ provides more flexibility with options for future trainees and apprentices, allowing DBS to select the most applicable course to suit their job role. The course content fully aligns with our business needs and the expectations we have from the training routes we pursue for the development of our trainees and apprentices to become competent engineers in the future.” 
- Andrew Stokes, Principal Design Engineer at Derry Building Services 

Phil Eves (Education Coordinator at BAM Construction) has supported Pearson across a range of different Construction qualifications, including our four new HTQs. He shared that:

"We were pleased to be approached to contribute towards the new HTQ’s in Construction, reflecting the ambitions of the construction industry to attract the highest calibre of technical staff, which allows progression from courses such as T Levels (at Level 3) across a range of pathways. 
As employers, we see an ever-evolving skillset requirement for management roles at all levels, linked to ‘Zero Carbon’ targets, which requires underpinning by qualifications such as the new suite of construction HTQ’s in Construction. 
Having completed similar qualifications – as part of my own training back in the early 1990s – it was interesting to reflect on what was learnt all those years ago, which pre-dates any technology introduced into construction (before 1992 in my case). This included anything related to digital construction, which is in stark contrast to the digital technology we’re currently developing alongside our clients and supply partners. Indeed, future construction professionals will encounter very different challenges to those we faced, as young professionals, back in the 1990s."

- Phil Eves FICRS, Education Coordinator at BAM Construction

These new HTQs are available as additional qualifications for centres in England only. We will inform all England-based centres once the specifications are available on the Pearson qualifications website. If you would like to speak to us about delivering any of our HTQs, please leave your details below and we will get back to you.